| Antigone | Company B |
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 Chorus: When high gods shake a house that family is going to feel the blow generation after generation.
Company B is delighted to welcome 2006 Helpmann Award-winner Deborah Mailman back to Belvoir St Theatre this April as the third play in Company B’s acclaimed 2008 Season, Antigone, delivers audiences a fresh, contemporary rediscovery of arguably the greatest Ancient Greek classic in theatre history.
In Thebes, in the quiet dawn after the end of the latest war, one of the last surviving daughters of the ruling household slips away to bury her traitor brother. By the end of the day, her simple act of love has brought the state to its knees.
Sophocles’ magnificent tragedy cuts to the core of one of the most difficult conundrums in the twenty first century: how do we balance the rights of the people with the demands of the state? The fire-powered crusade between Antigone and her proud uncle, the ruler Creon, is still today one of the greatest battles in dramatic history. Along Creon’s insolent path to catastrophe, we get a deep and dazzling insight into the nature of humanity.
Company B is excited to welcome director Chris Kohn to Belvoir St Theatre for his Upstairs debut. Chris has previously enchanted B Sharp audiences Downstairs with The Black Swan of Trespass in 2005 and The Eisteddford in 2007.
“Antigone has resurfaced time and time again throughout history, in many different contexts, because at its heart are the questions which have always confounded us – questions of citizenship, family, love, regret, obligation and spirituality. It presents an argument between the rule of law and individual idealism, and shows us that there are no simple solutions,” he said.
Chris’s production will use the Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney's stunning translation, first produced in 2004. According to Chris, the script demonstrates the lyrical sense of a poet and cuts to the heart of the tragedy by uncovering its roots in the personal.
“These are figures born in antiquity, yet also everyday people, familiar, recognisable, and very much alive in the here and now. While faithful to the original, Heaney’s translation is clearly written in the shadow of recent history, as dogmatic rulers stake their claims on history with blind devotion to harmful and extremist positions, unable and unwilling to see eye-to-eye. It is, as much as ever, a play of our times,” he said.
The phenomenal cast comprises Katie Fitchett (Holding the Man, All Saints, A View from the Bridge), Gillian Jones (Exit the King, Cloudstreet, A Cheery Soul), Deborah Mailman (Tales from the Vienna Woods, The Sapphires, The Secret Life of Us), Pacharo Mzembe (Class Enemy, Sweet Charity (NIDA)), Boris Radmilovich (The Bald Prima Dona, Kokoschka’s Doll, I Am Nijinsky), James Saunders (Small Metal Objects, Fat Pig, The Black Swan of Trespass), Hazem Shammas (The Gates of Egypt, Paul, Peribanez) and Paul Tassone (All Saints, Men’s Group).
Company B’s Antigone incidentally opens at Belvoir St Theatre during the 26th annual Greek Festival of Sydney, which takes place from 29th March to the end of May.
Chorus: O Zeus on high, beyond all human reach, nothing outwits you and nothing ever will.
Company B presents
ANTIGONE
The Burial at Thebes
a version of Sophocles’ play by Seamus Heaney
Directed by Chris Kohn
Set and Costume Designer Dale Ferguson
Lighting Designer Luiz Pampolha
Composer and Sound Designer Jethro Woodward
Assistant Director Janice Muller
With Katie Fitchett, Gillian Jones, Deborah Mailman, Pacharo Mzembe,
Boris Radmilovich, James Saunders, Hazem Shammas, Paul Tassone
Venue: Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills
Dates: 10 April – 25 May
Previews: Saturday 5 April at 8pm and Sunday 6 April at 5pm. All preview tickets $33
Opening night: Wednesday 9 April, 2008
Times: Tuesday 6.30pm, Wednesday to Friday 8pm, Saturday 2pm & 8pm, Sunday 5pm.
Tickets: Full $54. Seniors (excluding Fri/Sat evenings) and Groups 10+ $45. Concession $33.
Student Rush $25 for Tuesday 6.30pm and Saturday 2pm, available from 10am on the day (subject to availability)
Bookings: 9699 3444 or www.belvoir.com.au
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