‘ANNE-TIG-UH-KNEE’ @ Second Thought Theatre
Photos by Evan Michael Woods
—Martha Heimberg
We know from the phonetic spelling of Antigone’s name on the program—ANNE-TIG-UH-KNEE— that Janielle Kastner’s adaption of Sophocles’ ancient Greek tragedy aims to spell things out in everyday language. Five actors in contemporary dress bring us swiftly to the ethical question the play poses in 90 compelling minutes. Do we live by the law each new ruler declares, or do we have a deeper sense of justice?
When we enter Second Thought Theatre’s intimate playing space, friendly actors offer everyone a glass of wine. We see a large screen posting Rules for Audience, including turning off our phones and leaving via clearly marked exits. While other actors pour refills, Parker Gray, soon to assume his role as Messenger, asks us questions, including: “Have you ever been locked in a tomb? Is this audience biased? Is serving wine tampering with the verdict?”
Gray steps onto the elegant white proscenium stage, designed by Jose Torres to reflect the style of early Greek theaters. He unfolds the Messenger’s scroll, and announces: “They lost, and we won, so the right side won.” The ancient battle code that the winner takes all, no questions asked, is established at the outset. He continues: “No one can touch the bodies of the ones who lost. That’s the law.” Kreon (a smiling, condescending Amber Bonasso), the newly crowned King of Thebes, is in charge.
Director Carson McCain moves the actors from waiters serving wine to a sharp ensemble performance that frames age-old human questions in language pared down to basics. Greek playwrights famously remind us that, however hip and up-to-the-minute we think we are, we still haven’t figured it all out.
Noble Antigone (a calmly determined Kelsey Milbourn sporting a cropped haircut and tattoos) has ignored the king’s law and buried her beloved brother. We laugh when the flummoxed, frightened Messenger can’t even say her name right until she sounds it out for him, as per the title. Mispronounced and misunderstood, Antigone must own up to her rebellious act—impelled by a higher power than Kreon’s rule—even though her punishment is death.
Her terrified Sister (a trembling Kristen Lazarchick) begs Antigone to apologize and pleads with the king to release her sister, reminding him that Antigone “never does anything wrong, ever.” Once, she even gave him a favorite gift back in the old days, before their father Oedipus discovered that he unwittingly married his own mother and thereby cursed the whole family forever. (That’s a whole other series of Greek tragedies). The poor girl, touching in her fear of losing her only remaining sibling, resorts to shameless flattery. “You look so good up there. We’re so lucky you’re in charge,” she tells the vain Kreon.
Antigone’s Boyfriend (Francisco Grifaldo) wants his beautiful fiancée to just “say whatever they want you to say” so she doesn’t have to die. He tells her that his father Kreon “loves rules the way I love you.” He tries to persuade her with a pop-up vision of their future together: a new house, wonderful children and a crowded, happy family table. He’s offering this woman the American dream! He appeals to Kreon’s pride and vanity by promising many grandchildren, but his resolute father is unmoved, even by the threat of his only son’s suicide if Antigone is put to death.
Milbourn’s Antigone is touchingly sensual when wooed by Grifaldo’s amorous Boyfriend, but even the love of a fiancé and the pleadings of a piteous sister can’t make Antigone repent the deeper responsibility of burying her dead brother.
Bonasso’s Kreon is arrogant and stubborn, pacing the stage as if it were a boardroom, her face smiling and grimacing by turns. This Kreon claims she wants to build libraries to educate kids who’ll read about all this later, and make their own decisions about gods and governing. Sounds good. What’s not to love about that? Bonasso’s rational king is not shouting commands, but rather using a lawyer’s coaxing voice when telling Antigone that her royal background does not excuse her open defiance of the law. “I need you to see the big picture,” the king says, explaining that the greater good now and in the future depends on law and order. Where have we heard this before?
Antigone stubbornly replies, “I need you to see the bigger picture.” Can rulers like Kreon even imagine a power bigger than that of a king?
Gray’s Messenger is funny and familiar as the quivering bearer of bad news, unfurling his scroll with shaking hands. Carrying a spear doing his duty as the guard, we all recognize his sympathy for this graceful prisoner, and his stunned expression (held for a full two minutes) when he stops to think about what’s at stake. We all know that thinking about heavy stuff can drive people to video games.
The audience briefly stands in for the Greek chorus of Sophocles’ nearly 2,500-year-old play, reading our scripted responses to questions raised by the adaptation at hand. The depth of our ignorance is made comically clear in this scene. But wait, there’s more. We also have input from some surprise young students in their school uniforms weighing in on those old Greek characters. Kids argue about the darndest things.
Kastner’s stripped-down, updated take on this classic tragedy moves quickly to the dilemma. Does Antigone’s driven moral martyrdom represent the good? Or do we believe Kreon’s ardent pitch that following rules will result in a future where all people love libraries and make their own decisions based on education? What’s not to like about that? Sophocles’ favorite blind prophet is not here to stir up hellish visions of a future where human pride and arrogance govern our actions, but we’ve got some idea. What happens if we just sit back, and do (or think) whatever causes the least trouble?
ANNE-TIG-UH-KNEE not only sends us home pondering ethical questions, but leaves us smiling ruefully about this clever, classy production that reminds us of people and politicians we know all too well.
WHEN: October 11-28, 2023
WHERE: 3400 Blackburn St. (Kalita Humphreys campus), Dallas TX
