Giant Olive's - Antigone - Reviews

Published Monday 15 September 2008 at 11:00 by Jonathan Lovett

Freedom of expression in a time of terror, the individual versus the nanny state - Sophocles’ 2,500-year-old play still feels as sharply relevant as ever.

And yet, disappointingly, newly-formed company Giant Olive fails to cast any fresh light on the Greek tragedy, offering a mundane version rooted in loincloths and bare feet.

Nothing wrong in setting it in period, of course, if the whole production wasn’t so uninspiring and suffering from a sense of being rapidly thrown together with minimum attention paid to insight or, crucially, a sense of drama.

On a sparse set, save for Creon’s throne, a ten-strong cast drift through the truncated text.

Imogen Harris as Antigone lacks passion when pleading the case for burying her dead brother, and Rafe Beckley as Creon lacks the necessary authority to suggest here is a king of convictions, coming across as a lightweight Leslie Phillips-like character than a strong head of state.

It really is all Greek to us and Michael Christofs’ Teiresias, whom it’s hard to understand, so it’s left to Sarah Balding’s expressive face in the chorus to provide some much needed emotion, and prove that you really don’t need to say a word, sometimes, to quietly steal the show.

http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/21750/antigone

Antigone

September 17, 2008

Antigone at the Lion and UnicornLion and Unicorn
18-21 September and 9-19 October

4 stars

The third in the Oedipus Trilogy, Antigone is a very ambitious production by the youthful Giant Olive Company, some of whom are only a year or two out of dramatic academy, and it is to their credit and thanks to their director Andrea Hooymans that it comes off so well. The great advantage they have over other youngish companies is their ease in moving about the stage and, above all, the precision of their diction. Ian Johnston’s translation is exceptionally colloquial so they do have a fighting chance.

It is a simple play about the never ending war between human sensitivity and the edicts of a dictatorial establishment. Creon, the king of Thebes has taken over the throne from his nephews, sons of Oedipus who have killed each other fighting for supremacy. In order to show his disapproval he is refusing to give one of them a state funeral and wishes to leave his body unburied. The eponymous heroine, Antigone is determined to bury her brother and respect his dead body rather than allow him to be devoured by wild animals. Creon, angry at being thwarted and disrespected by a woman, condemns her to death despite the fact that she is the fiancée of his son Haemon.

Antigone is played with indomitable determination by Imogen Harris and Marian Bell plays her gentler sister Ismene who warns her against her course of action. Ismene believes in bending with the wind rather than standing firm – and she is determined to survive. A key player is Teiresias (Michael Christophs) the blind soothsayer who warns Creon that his autocratic behaviour will land the country in chaos as well as creating personal misery for him. Rafe Beckley is effective as the over- proud Creon, with Simon Mathis as his sympathetic son Haemon. To comment on the action and provide the links is an unusually graceful and well disciplined Greek chorus consisting of Denys Gaskill, Bridie Rowe and Sarah Balding.

The play is performed in stark black surroundings relieved only by the gold of Creon’s throne and the colour of the traditional Greek costumes by Prudence von Rohrbach.

As always, they play to an enthusiastic audience - this little theatre constantly grows in popularity and is well worth the trip to Kentish Town.

-Aline Waites

http://www.whatsonstage.com/blogs/offwestend/?p=474

"Well staged revival of classic"
by David Phipps-Davis for remotegoat on 16/09/08

Antigone is the third of Sophocles' trilogy of plays about the family of Oedipus (yes, THAT Oedipus). In Oedipus Rex, the King of Thebes discovers the horrific truth of his parentage. In Oedipus at Colonus, he wanders in exile while, back in Thebes, his sons Eteocles and Polynices are warring over the throne. The final play, Antigone, picks up the story following this bloody conflict in which the two brothers have killed one another, leaving Oedipus's brother-in-law (and Uncle) Creon as King.

Creon (played by Rafe Beckley), who fought on the side of Eteocles, has decreed that anyone who buries Polynices with the rites that Greek religious customs demanded will be put to death, and so the corpse is left outside the city to rot. Yet Antigone (Imogen Harris), Oedipus's daughter, cannot accept the sacrilege and betrayal of denying her beloved brother a proper burial, and despite protests from her sister Ismene, she defies Creon, setting off a major scandal when she is captured and admits her deed (which she considers morally correct).

After arguing with his son, Haemon, who is also Antigone's fiance, Creon decides to imprison Antigone in a cave instead of killing her. A prophet, Tiresias, warns Creon that the gods are on Antigone's side, so Creon reverses his decrees, but not before his son and wife, Eurydice (Denys Gaskill), have killed themselves.

The stakes for Antigone and Creon could not be greater, yet for Beckley and Harris, the stakes never seem nearly so high, and so, surprisingly, some of the most enthralling performances come from actors with the least amount to say. Mariam Bell gives a beautifully moving performance as Ismene; so much so that when she returns as the rather-too-leggy "boy" later on in the play, I was disappointed that she didn't say anything, especially as she accompanied Michael Christophs' Teiresias, who I did not understand a word of due to a bad diction and pronunciation, and, as I didn't know the plot before seeing the play, left me somewhat in the dark for the remainder. In fact, it wasn't until later that evening when I was watching Prophecy at the New End that I knew what was said - one of the characters in that play delivers Teiresias' speech in that!

As for the rest of the cast, Simon Mathis's Haemon projects his confused heart in a well-crafted subdued intensity and Bridie Rowe shines from within the chorus. In fact, the chorus are the heart of this production, and several chorus members fare well performing double duty (including Conrad Sharp who is very good as the messenger and Craig Tonks, who provides some much needed light relief as the northern guard), with nicely managed staging under Andrea Hooymans' direction (though she could do with making the opening dualogue a little less static).

http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/review_view.php?uid=2548

"Classical, but what's the message?"
by Andy Marchant for remotegoat on 14/09/08

The Greeks certainly knew how to keep family squabbles interesting.

In a post-war city, the law that no soldiers of the opposing, defeated army should be buried or honoured is defied by Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, who creeps out to bury her brother with all necessary rights. She's discovered, and Creon, ruler of the city stands by his proclamations and condemns her to death, despite warnings that he is being proud and angering the Gods. His determination leads to a conclusion of bloody tragedy and misfortune.

A lot is packed into Giant Olive's 1 hour 10 minute production; tragic recounts of suicide, omens and portents, and a Chorus.

What I was hoping for was not the story, but the message… what was this going to be about and how did it relate to me, seeing as I'm not an ancient Greek?

This is about pride, and it's destructive nature. Creon's pride at his own law turns against him. Antigone's pride at honouring her brother destroys her. But I was uncertain as to whether this had been the focus of the direction. For the most part it was an earnest retelling of a Greek Tragedy, but only occasionally dipped into the more intriguing moments on the nature of pride, and self-reflection from the two main characters.

The Chorus were choreographed, but were a little disjointed from the main body of the show (this will disappear as the run continues), and a guard played for laughs did not marry at all to the sobriety of the other performances. Most crucially, a soothsayer whose speech turns the play around unfortunately had such a thick accent that it was only due to me reading up on the play that I knew what was being said.

Perfomance wise, Rafe Beckley and Imogen Harris excelled as Creon and Antigone immersing themselves in these roles, Antigone; statuesque, defiant and self-assured, which did not always make her sympathetic, and Creon; determined but real, not a monster like he could be portrayed, but a person, with strong convictions and a tough job. They were ably supported by the rest of the cast, but, the direction of Andrea Hooymans needed to be tighter and more focussed on the overall message of the piece.

http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/review_view.php?uid=2543