Theater review: Reduxion Theatre Company’s “Antigone”
From left, Aimee Crowther plays Antigone, Hannah Broom plays her sister Ismene and Will Gardner plays Creon in the Reduxion Theatre production of “Antigone.”
Oklahoma City’s Reduxion Theatre Company opened its second season Thursday night with the classic Greek drama “Antigone.”
Though it was depicting a heartbreaking tragedy, strong performances and sharp staging made the production a triumph.
Written around 440 B.C., Sophocles’ play still has great relevance, touching on issues such as family loyalties, religious beliefs, civil disobedience and gender inequity. Reduxion’s production stays true to the the ancient dialogue and context of the drama while subtly emphasizing those universal themes.
The mythical drama is set in the ancient city-state of Thebes, where civil war has just been waged. Brothers Eteocles and Polyneices, the sons of Oedipus, have fought and died on opposite sides.
The new King of Thebes, Creon (Will Gardner), decrees that Eteocles be buried with honor, but he denies burial for the rebel Polyneices, leaving his body on the battlefield for the wild dogs and carrion birds.
As the play opens, Eteocles’ and Polyneices’ sisters meet in secret to discuss the king’s harsh ruling. Ismene (Hannah Broom) insists that they have no choice but to obey Creon’s order. But Antigone (Aimee Crowther) refuses to leave her dead brother’s body in shame. She plots to bury Polyneices, even though Creon has said the punishment for defying his decree will be death.
As Creon meets with the elders of Thebes, who also serve as the play’s chorus (Brytanie Holbrook, Monica Gonzalez and Laura Stephenson), a terrified watchmen (Madison Niederhauser) reports that Polyneices’ body has been buried. The enraged king demands that the messenger find out who broke his law or face death.
Shortly, the messenger returns with the violator: Antigone, who argues passionately that Creon’s ruling is not only unjust but goes against the laws of the gods. Their run-in is complicated by family ties: Creon is not only Antigone’s uncle, he also is the father of her fiance, Haimon (Addison Miller).
The cast puts in uniformly powerful performances, and director Susan Shaughnessy, a drama professor at the University of Oklahoma, stages the play with great professionalism. Performing in the round, the actors managed to divide the action evenly among the different angles of seating so no part of the audience was excluded from the performance.
The production also looks wonderful: The small stage features a triangle motif and varying heights and levels so that the actors seemed to literally dance around each other as they argued essential issues of the human condition.
And Jennifer Cozens costume designs deserve particular praise for suggesting the time period without depending on the typical tired togas and laurel crowns. Plus, the contrast between the soft, beautiful, toga-like dresses of the women and the staunch military dress of the men sharpens the gender divide. (If I had a lovely taupe and purple gown like Antigone’s, I would add a little bit of ancient Greece to my regular wardrobe.)
The company is performing the Greek drama at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through Oct. 24 at City Arts Center, State Fair Park.
For more information, go to www.reduxiontheatre.com.
-BAM
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