·Provide
an introduction to the era/s in which your performances were written?
Antigone
was written around 441 BC, and was produced in Athens in Greece. It is a
tragedy by Sophocles (who was a Greek Tragedian). This play was set in the
mythical past of Ancient Greece.
Which
playwright wrote the script? (Famous? Lifestyle? Respected? Style?)
Sophocles
was one of the only three Ancient Greek tragedians to still have surviving
plays, in which he had 7 out of 120+ (one of which was Antigone). He was to
become one of the great playwrights of the golden age.
Sophocles
was born into wealth and studied all the arts including music and theatre. At
the age of 28, he competed in the city of Dionysia (a festival held every year
at the theatre of Dionysus, where new plays were presented - Greek comedies and
Tragedies). Competing with more than 120 plays, he went on to win 18 1st place
prizes, and always took at least 2nd place. He was also an actor performing in
many of his own places, however his voice was no strong enough so he gave up
this career and looked into others.
Sophocles
became one of the great modernisers of the theatre, as he was the 1st to add a
third actor (originally, only 2 actors were allowed on stage at a time). This
made the plot and characters more interesting and complex. He also removed the
trilogic form, for example Aeschylus used three tragedies forming a single
story. Sophocles decided to create separate tragedies in themselves e.g the
Theban plays, which although all link, have their own tragedy in each play.
He
also invented scene-painting and periaktoi (a device used for displaying and
rapidly changing theatre scenes). Example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvKPolqM004
According
to Plutarch (a greek historian, essayist etc.), Sophocles' writing style was
originally harsh, artificial and high-flown. His final style which was seen in
the seven surviving plays, is dignified and more natural, depicting people as
they should be. It is not idealized (representing something as perfect or
better than reality), but very humanised. The 'tragedy' in his plays would grow
out of the innate character of these characters in the plays, incliuding
Antigone, and the end cannot be otherwise (e.g with Antigone, her ending is
tragic as she kills herself). By handling universal themes (which are ideas
that can apply to everyone regardless of cultural differences or geographical
location, connecting ideas across all discipline), Sophocles' plays have been imitated
largely in paintings, poetry and films.
Antigone was the first of the three Theban plays
Sophocles wrote (Oedipus the king, Oedipus at Colonus). The Theban plays tell
the story of the mythical king Oedipus of Thebes and his children/descedants.
The plays evolve around the destiny of Thebes throughout and after the reign of
King Oedipus:
·
Oedipus The King: In brief, this explains how Thebes is plagued because
of injustice (the murderer of the previous king Laius has not been found), and
an oracle states how they must find and punish them. Through Tiresias, Oedipus
finds out he is the murderer of his own father and has married his own mother
Jocasta and had children through incestry. Jocasta in result kills herself, and
Oedipus blinds himself as he is exiled from the land
·
Oedipus at Colonus: The blind former King enters Colonus, with the
guidance of his daughter Antigone and lives out the last of his life there,
refusing to return to Thebes and die there so they receive his blessing and
protection. Even when his son 'Polyneices' begs him to support him in his war
to regain the throme from his brother 'Eteocles' and 'Creon', Because his
resting place was the Athens, they receive Oedipus' blessing andprotection and
the Thebes earn their curse (the murderer of Laius has died). The story ends
with Antigone and Ismene returning to Thebes,
·
In Antigone, it tells the story of Antigone who defies the law against
Creon (brother in law of Oedipus), now ruler of Thebes as both Eteocles and
Polyneices were killed in the war. Polyneices was ordered to be left unburied,
so Antigone took matters into her own hands. She was captured, and accepted her
fate by hanging herself. This caused her loved one Haemonn, Creon's son to kill
himself, and Eurydice, his wife to kill herself in sadness of her son, leaving
Creon alone.
Is your play a translation? Discuss the translator
and the purpose of the translation? (Antigone by David Feldshuh)
One
of Antigone's many adaptations was by playwright David Feldshuh. In his notes
in the script, he explains how his main objective in this edition was to
"tell the story with clarity, immediacy and theatricality". He wanted
to evade "stilted literalism", which was avoiding the lack of
imagination.
He
started off analysing multiple translations/adaptations of the play, only to
find they were really all just adaptations. There are doubts in the original
text in terms of whose lines were whose, the true meaning behind certain words
etc.
Feldshuh
was planning for the production to use masks and music, and so was looking for
a script which had "the discipline of poetry" and the inner pace and
rise of song, while simultaneously sounding impulsive and personal. Shakespeare's
'iambic pentameter' rhythm was used (which was 5 sets of unstressed syllables
followed by stressed syllables). This would give the dialogue a dynamic tempo.
In
the 6 choruses of Antigone, Feldshuh's adaptation attempted to show a
distinctive tone and make each chorus have a specific dramatic function, in
exampe Chorus 6 (Bacchus) is a frantic begging call for the God Dionysus. Parts
that are chanted/sung were also bolded in the script.
Another adaptation he
made to Antigone was the structure of the text in the final messenger scene, in
which the messenger becomes the narrator for the audience, and in turn, each
character in 3rd person narrates their parts of the story. For example Creon
says "Creon moved quickly to escape". This let the characters be
present on stage for the action before the ending
What were the staging conventions of the time in
which your play was written? How was your production different? (design
of set, costume, props, etc.)
Original
Acting style - The original Acting
style in greek theatre was a largely projected performance style, and melo-dramatic.
·
The original venues for greek theatre
would take place in open air theatres, that were usually a bowl-shaped arena on
the side of hill. Some of the theatres could hold over 15,000 people. When
being set outdoors, there would be no use of curtains, lights or
intermissions. In the theatre, the ‘theatron’ is where the audience sit.
The ‘parados’ is the entrance giving access to either the stage for the actors,
or the ‘orchestra’ for the chorus. The ‘orchestra’ was a circular dancing area
where the actors and chorus would perform. The ‘thymele’ was an altar to
Dionysus which was set in the centre of the ‘orchestra’. This originally was
where a goat was sacrificed, in honor to the god.
·
Actors – The chorus always remained on
stage with the actors. Originally, there were 50 members in the chorus, but
Antigone play reduced theirs to 15. They would represent the audience, and make
democratic decisions in the platy. There was only 2 actors on stage at a time
(however we know that later changed with certain playwrights like Sophocles).
All the roles were played by men, and the playwright of the play would be one
of the actors. The rule of three was that the play was limited to 3 actors, so
each would play multiple roles. No women were allowed to take part in the
performances, so any female character roles were played by men.
·
Costumes – The actors would wear long,
flowing robes, high boots with raised soles, and masks that were made of linen,
wood or cork. The masks identified age, gender and emotion, and had exaggerated
features so the audience were able to see more easily. This is due to the
distance the audience were from the stage. Some experts claim that the masks
actually helped amplify the voice so it could be head at the back of large open-air
theatres.
·
The plays would be set in a 24 hour
timeframe, so previous events or background info would be recounted on stage.
No action or scene in the play was to be a deviation; all were to contribute
some way to the plot. The events of the play are also set in one unchanging
scene (but this also later developed with the invention of periaktos by
Sophocles).
·
Lighting – Plays were only performed
during the daytime as there was no artificial lighting. They would often be
designed to take advantage of the position of the sun, and theatre sites would
be well-placed to achieve the best effects of the natural light.
Difference
·
Acting style – Following the adaptation
of ‘Antigone’, our acting style was more naturalistic and not over exaggerated.
This type of tragedy we found was effective using some subtlety and
it didn’t need to be too extravagant.
·
Venue – We also performed in an open
air theatre. We included the area between the theatron and orchestra
for the chorus’ ‘trenches’ where we would wait there, still never leaving the
stage and going backstage.
·
Actors – For the chorus, we begin with
a choral harmonic sound. We also had both female and male actors and broke the
rule of three, and also had more than 2 actors on stage at a time.
·
Costumes – For the chorus, we wore
boiler suits instead of cloak-style clothing, however we still kept similar as
we all wore the same suits with slightly different dye stains. In general our
character’s costumes were more contemporary, for example the guards wore camouflage jackets
relating to modern age warfare. The chorus also used masks in specific scenes,
but was not used among any other characters.
S/H/C/P context of Greek theatre
Greek drama
originates from the Greek God Dionysus (the god of vine, wine theatre and
dance) “God of the dance” – Antigone chorus. A festival honouring Dionysus
would be held annually in Athens, Greece. The festival would hold competitions
were playwrights would compete with new plays (greek comedies and
tragedies). This was the most famous and popular public festival of that era.
Prisoners were even let out of jail on bail just for this event. What started
as simply choral songs on the death and rise of Dionysus, became the theatrical
contest. You didn’t have to pay either, as it
was more a part of the cuture rather than a money-making
business.
Comparing to our performance, we performed as part of our course, and did charge for it in order to afford the venue we used.
· What were the themes in your script and how did you
practically explore them?
·
One of the themes in Antigone is ‘the
power of unwritten law’. This is represented through Creon’s unwritten law of
ordering one of the brothers ‘Polyneices’ to be left unburied, and punishing
anyone goes against it. Everyone in Thebes but one is submissive to the ruler,
even when it is not a true law.
·
Another is ‘fate vs. free will’.
Antigone’s own choice to go ahead and bury her brother, even though she is
aware of the consequences shows she accepts her fate through her use of free
will. She would rather follow her fate set by the gods than a law set by the
king. Throughout the play Antigone follows her fate and shows acceptance, by
allowing the guards to take her to Creon, admit her crime and kill herself
before they have a chance to.
·
Another theme is Mortality. Self-injury and
suicide is very dominant in the Theban plays, particularly Antigone. Antigone, Haemon and
Eurydice each commit suicide, and Polyneices and Eteocles take
actions that result in their deaths. This suggests that in the context life is
weak, and taking one’s own life is an acceptable way of dying.
·
‘Power and pride’, is shown through
Creon’s arrogance and how he takes his advantage of being the ruler to oppress
the city of thebes, and eventually become the cause of his own destruction
and downfall by the end of the play.
·
‘Determination’ is portrayed through
Antigone, as she fights injustice and manages to give her brother a proper
burial
·
‘Consequences of choice’ is shown
through both Creon and Antigone. Creon’s decision to order the non-burial of Polyneices caused
him to make another decision of punishing Antigone, resulting in devastating
consequences as his son and wife both die. Antigone’s own consequences are that
she must die, however her acceptance of fate
Describe the importance of a few characters in the
piece and how your production interpreted them for a contemporary audience?
We interpreted the chorus in linking them to refugees, in terms of their situation, their ‘importance’ from certain perspectives, appearance and behaviour in performance.
The chorus wear dirty stained boiler suits which could reflect how they are displaced and have nothing. They are on the bottom of the hierarchy and obey the royal family (who can be seen as the government) are at the top. They have little importance and say in their life in Thebes, which is similar to refugees as they are moved to unknown locations and have no voice. The chorus’ behaviour is originally submissive and afraid, echoing the fearful state of the refugees as they have lost their homes and possibly families.
What were the most popular styles of performance when your play was originally performed? (acting or dance styles)
The term 'tragedy' mean 'goat-song', in which performers would do goat-like dancing around the stage of sacrificial goats for prizes. The chorus would sing and dance as they chant their lines.
What was the style of the piece? How did this
compare with the original?
The
best things about working with the particular classical script I performed:
I
came to further understand the language and writing style of this type of play,
as well as researching into the history of Antigone to produce elements of the
original performance back in 441BC, to our performance. It was also interesting
to find Antigone actually can apply to our modern world politically and
socially. For example, the theme 'power of unwritten law' can link to today's
society, and how deviation from the social norms can make you an outcast.
Presentation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZcGWStydEc&feature=youtu.be
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