Theatre Review: Antigone
Written by Sophocles
Adapted by Holly McNish
Directed by Isabelle Cory
Produced by Alex Flagg
Reviewed by Nicole Sellew
I came to Antigone with no knowledge of Sophocles, or of Greek tragedy more generally, really. Luckily, I was about to be educated.
When I first sat down there was fun music playing (Little Simz) and a scannable program. I perused the program, which contained a note from the director and photos of the cast and crew. It was very nicely designed and cool to see something like that at a student production, where there usually aren’t programs.
The play began with a campy emcee moment. The first five minutes were loads of fun and brilliantly acted by the electric Freddie Lawson. There was audience participation (a few people standing up, shouting, and being faux-escorted out of the theatre), contemporary references that made everyone laugh (invoking Fleabag as the muse), and the projection of a very helpful family tree.
After that introduction ended, I found myself wishing that the cheek and light-hearted spirit would have carried through to the rest of the play. That being said, there were some excellent dramatic moments. One of Antigone’s monologues towards the end of the play was a particularly poignant treatise on how dying is a little bit like having a child. There’s also a moment where flower petals rain down on Antigone’s corpse, which I thought was beautiful and a very clever use of the tech that the Byre has to offer!
The set design was balanced but gorgeous, with sumptuous rugs and warm tones. The show’s creative director (Emma Dalton) designed ornate wooden set pieces that hung from the ceiling and lined the back of the stage. There was a very warm and natural feel to the space, and much of the characters’ costuming matched this. The few characters who did not were the play’s villains, King Kreon and The Guard, in standout performances by Buster Van Der Geest and Nell Lang. This made for a clever visual juxtaposition. Draped around one side of the stage were shawls and pillows, which made a lavish backdrop for the chorus and was pleasingly asymmetrical.
The chorus contained some other outstanding performances. The quintet of actors remained onstage for almost the entire show, narrating and helping to transition from scene to scene. Louise Windsor and Lauryn Perkins-Monney were particularly charismatic.
Overall, I was glad to see a shorter show at the Byre, where the shows are often three-hour affairs. There was some amazing acting, and they did some great things with the space they had.
