ANTIGONE at the COTTIERS THEATRE

Its best to let Director and Set Designer introduce this production himself:

"The story is simple enough.The action takes place from dawn until dusk,following the Kings first day in office of the newly-appointed Creon.
Since King Oedipus death , a civil war has resulted in the death of both of his Sons - Polynices and Eteocles.Creon decrees the body of Polynices, now considered a traitor, must be denied proper burial.This act of defying the "Unwritten Law" that protects the rights of the dead fuels Antigones desire to honour the body of her sibling in an act of civil disobedience.As creon is torn and ruined by his decision to defy a devine law , Antigone pays for her defiance.
The play explanation of personal,political and religious tensions is as potent today as it was 2500 years ago.In fact , the paralells with events and issues in the Islamic World will be obvious to anyone who reads the news.In 2013, Sophocles tragedy speaks of the problems facing rulers emerging in todays Middle East.Will their rule be based on the same religiously motivated political regimes that function as totalitarian states , or will future leaders be able to negotiate these conflicts?
Undoublly , the way forward requires great discernment and wisdom if further tragedies are to be avoided , and this play offers politicians and activists a salutary reminder of the need for prudence,compassion and forgiveness.
I first directed antigone as a yound student back in the 1970s.As a younf punk with anarchist leanings i was intensely moved by Antigones heroism.I even defended her actions in a seminar when a middle-aged drama lecturer- no doubt playing devils advocate - dismissed her as "just a self-obsessed girl with a martyr complex".
Then i became a middle-aged drama teacher...!

Perhaps it was inevitable but i find myself now defending King Creons point of view- a fundamenatally good man stuck between a rock and a hard place!
Both antagonist and protagonist equally adament theyre operating according to the highest aims , principles and sense of justice.Both right:and both wrong...!

Let us continue to hope that again, and long last , the mighty blows of fate will teach us wisdom.

Enjoy the show.

Mark Coleman"

Slightly concerned about his staging to be based around "will their rule be based on the same religiously motivated political regimes that function as totalitarian states." because the major problem in the Islamic world is the totalitarianism of secularists ruling with elites who import their ideas wholesale from the dying embers of exported failed revolutions.Mubarak,Saddam,Assad,Gadaffi,Saleh and King Abdullah are maybe a lot of things from tyrannical to secular but one thing they are not is religious.The only religious forces in their territories are those of democrats and grassroots.From Western backed coups in Algeria , to occupation suppression in Palestine to the tacit support of military oligarchs in Egypt the religious democrats who won open elections hands down have been sidelined by tyrannical secularists posing as liberal stormtroopers even though it is always the privileges of the western educated elites that persevere in favour of the policies of poverty alleviation of the disenfranchised democrats which are crushed by live ammunition.

But these concerns were amply dispelled by the touching and delicate handling of not only Mark Colmans direction but also his apt and sparse Set Design which makes the words and universal warnings that have made Sophocles words so relevant for nearly three millennia centre stage as they should be.

The script follows Robert Eagles translation which does not make the error of "changing" the words attributed to the classical playwright to "iron out" some of the contradictions of the stance of Antigone and Creon which enriches the dilemmas and moral mazes of sincere people trying to navigate a sincere course for the benefit of the many as their responsibilities determine.