“A sterling production… This is a must-see. “a lean, stalwart play that makes no attempts to muddy or over-complicate the familiar tensions of Sophocles’ tragedy… successfully locates the lasting power in a very familiar story.” –Star Ledger “ Excellent…Mesmerizing” –Wolf Entertainment Guide “The classic conflict between the state and the individual and civil versus religious rights has never been so well articulated… reminds us once again why we keep returning to the Greek well for critical contemplations of universal issues. “ raw passion…pitiful and affecting” –The New Yorker

“the show grabs Heaney’s text by the throat… a fierce bit of bravura language” –Time Out It’s always exciting to listen to… lovely to hear even as it tells a vicious tale.” –The New York Times The opposed and irreconcilable voices of family and the state enact an ancient but perennial conflict, where the morality of private allegiance is pitched against that of public service.

“ beautifully spare and potent… The Burial at Thebes barrels toward its conclusion with a brutal certainty. The Burial at Thebes honours explores the dangers of pride and absolute belief regardless of personal, political and moral consequences. When Creon, King of Thebes, grants burial to one brother but not the other, Antigone’s defiance can only end in ruin. First written as a response to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it stands today as a timely reminder of the conflict between the defense of state security and the protection of basic human rights. It is a brilliant contemporary poet’s possession of a classic.Īfter the War of the Seven Against Thebes, Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, learns that her brothers have killed each other, having been forced onto opposing sides of the battle. : The Burial at Thebes: A Version of Sophocles Antigone (9780374117214) by Sophocles and a great selection of similar New, Used and Collectible. The clean, contemporary style lines built to sculpt each body with a tightly controlled color palette, aim for poetic simplicity.Irish Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney’s dazzling adaptation of Antigone brings life and breath to Sophocles. Those of lower status were muted in a gray wash, much like the white and gray of statues in classical art. Harking back to clothing shown in classical art, the royal-presidential family imitates colors of Greek “Red-Figure” pottery: red, black, and orange.

Color is the distinguishing factor to visually delineate class and position within the dress of a contemporary world. Set in a mythic land halfway between ancient Thebes and Washington D.C., this contemporary adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone asks which is more important, the laws of man or the laws of the gods? This theis production focus on the politcal and the personal investigation of American culture.Įach character’s silhouette is built around the images we see so frequently on the news, in papers and in social media. Forum Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego CA

The burial at thebes