spindizzy | I just went to see a cyberpunk post-apocalyptic version of Antigone and it was AMAZING.

(This one in fact!)

IT WAS SO GREAT! It was cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic and I loved it. I am absolutely spoiling the details of the staging here because I loved it a lot.

The problem with a lot of performances of tragedies is that they're not sure what to do with the chorus? And in this one, because they'd gone for the cyberpunk theme, they had it as the City Archives, playing back scenes and reporting information as requested.

I am learning that I really love casts where everyone plays multiple roles, it means that people get to be inventive and show off how different they can be in one show? And of course Ancient Greek plays were designed for that, so I was delighted by it.

Okay, the inciting incident of Antigone isn Eteoclyes and Polyneices killing each other, right? The way they show this fight is by having the two actors on separate sides of the stage fighting in the direction of the audience? But it was so perfectly co-ordinated, it must have taken so much rehearsal to get that timing right. And because it's a cyberpunk setting, Polyneices' soul being unable to rest is very very literal. Polyneices dies howling "DAMN YOU!" at his brother, on his knees, then Eteoclyes cuts his throat and he collapses.

Then he jerks back up to his knees.

And howls "DAMN YOU!" at his brother. And jerks like he's had his throat cut. And collapses.

Then he jerks back up to his knees.

(The actor is wearing kneepads and it is really obvious why.)

GOD I WISH I HAD WRITTEN THAT, THAT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL AND HORRIFIC WAY OF DOING IT! I covet it, I want it because it was so good and visceral and I want it.

Antigone laying him to rest is her trying to deactive his implants, and when that doesn't work she carves them out of him. They really did well with using the tech they had, because whenever someone brought out the implant, that "DAMN YOU!" echoed.

And when Tireisias forces Creon to face what he's done and what he's continuing to do, Tireisias forces him to access that memory, so his head was doing the same jerk with the yelling and I adored that.

I loved the way that they used the scenery btw, because literally what they had were two curved mesh fences and a... Small platform with ladders? (If you look at the pictures at the bottom of the website you can see what I mean.) That served as podium and house and everything else they needed. But the way they used it was great, especially when it came to who was inside those fences and who was outside, and when it meant "together" and when it meant "imprisoned."

It's not the strictest of adaptations, because of the setting, and I found it really interesting the things they put in. Like, they had an interlude where Eurydice was looking up information about men and women, because all of the men in her life are not listening, it brings up Trumps "Grab 'em by the pussy" speech – which she immediately tries to delete forever. And Antigone, locked away to die, tries to find historical sources to provide her with comfort and resolve, and it brings her Jeanne D'Arc, Emily Davison, and Malala Yousafzai (although they're not named) – and her question isn't just about their fates, it's about their impact, which means that you can pretty much draw a straight line between that and her choice at the end.

Eurydice explicitly called out that Antigone doesn't think of Hamon at all, which is a thing that I remember being highlighted in class when we studied it. The closest she gets is declaring that Ismene and Hamon are weak for caring about her, and if they were stronger they wouldn't.

When someone swears an oath or makes a prediction, they say "Enter the command," so that the computer has a record. It was really interesting that Creon, whose entire arc was frantically clinging to power even as it slipped through his fingers, would issue commands and either have to prompt the computer to enter them again, or would have long delays between the command and the acknowledgement.

I loved that Ismene got to be the last one standing and the one with the last word, because my memory of her is that she leaves the stage after saying goodbye to Antigone and then just never re-enters.

I can't remember what else I was excited about but it was just really fun!

ETA: AND BECAUSE I'M STILL THINKING ABOUT IT: I really loved the way that they did a dream sequence explaining Antigone's family and how they left her. Antigone had been so serious and angry throughout, but when they were all together the actress put on this HUGE smile – like a kid in a family photo, A+ work giving that impression. And Jocasta was wearing a scarf and walked off the line of boxes they were standing on – Antigone holding onto one end of it to try to keep her, not like it was going to unravel but like it was going to choke Jocasta. I UNDERSTOOD THAT REFERENCE. And the boxes got moved apart to function like stepping stones? And as Oedipus got further away from Antigone the other actors took out the boxes between them so that she couldn't keep up.

These are such cool visual metaphors, okay.