Theater Department stages ‘Burial at Thebes’
The Theater Department’s fall production of “The Burial at Thebes,” Seamus Heaney’s version of Sophocles’ tragedy “Antigone,” will be staged Thursday, Oct. 29-30, Nov. 3-7 at 8 p.m., and Oct. 31 and Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. in the Curtain Theater.
In 2004, Seamus Heaney developed a modern take on this Greek tragedy that is nearly 2,500 years old.
In a future time, the citizenry has been pushed to chaos by a civil war. Attempting to consolidate his power in a fragile peace, newly crowned King Creon takes a harsh stand against dissent. Antigone faces a terrible choice. A brother who died in the war lies unburied outside the city gates. If she leaves his corpse to rot, she dishonors her brother. If she buries him, she commits treason against her uncle, a crime punishable by death.
“We are following in the tradition of the Greeks by using things in the culture of the moment to make things explode on the stage,” said Dawn Monique Williams, second-year graduate student and director of the play.
Williams is working with composer April Rodriguez to create music that evokes current genres, and the costumes in the production will echo elements of hip-hop and skate culture. The chorus that figures strongly in the play offers an element of performance poetry.
One of the guiding images in this production has been a single light bulb shinning in the darkness. “Light is a great metaphor for Antigone. Antigone is, in turn, a metaphor for a higher sense of spiritual duty,” Williams said.
The performance on Friday, Oct. 30 will be followed by a “First Friday Question and Answer” period, where the actors will answer questions from members of the audience.
Tickets are $15 for the general public, $7 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the Fine Arts Center Box Office, 545-2511.
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November 1, 2009.
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