Rememberance Day, lest we forget. 11/11 is a day around the world when people commemorate those who died in war. How appropriate then that tonight I watched a Greek theatre production of Antigone by Sophocles.
Antigone is a woman punished horribly for honoring both her war-dead brothers, one of whom the king expressly forbade the decency of a funeral because he fought for the opposition. By the end the King lives haunted by the deaths of his wife, his son (Antigone’s fiance) and Antigone.
It was a lean, modern minimalist production using barricade fences as the only set element. They were moved and dragged by the actors alone or in concert. Physical representations of each characters psychological limits and their intransigence. Barriers to communication and understanding.
Antigone is a woman punished horribly for honoring both her war-dead brothers, one of whom the king expressly forbade the decency of a funeral because he fought for the opposition. By the end the King lives haunted by the deaths of his wife, his son (Antigone’s fiance) and Antigone.
It was a lean, modern minimalist production using barricade fences as the only set element. They were moved and dragged by the actors alone or in concert. Physical representations of each characters psychological limits and their intransigence. Barriers to communication and understanding.
I do not speak a word of Greek and yet the performances were so powerful that I cried along with the other audience members at the end.
Tears for a tragedy of war and the ego of unbending authority, written 2459 years ago in a language I do not speak. That is the power of theatre. That is the horror of war. Remember indeed.
