Antigone

About

The rules of the men below make no such laws/ that would prevail over the immortal, unrecorded laws of God. 

The war of the “Seven against Thebes”, fought between Oedipus’ sons Polynices and Eteocles, ended with the brothers’ mutual killing. Creon the king orders funeral rites of honour for Eteocles, as the defender of the country, yet forbids the same to be served to the defeated Polynices. Antigone, the sister of the two dead men, is the only one who dares to disobey Creon, serving the rites herself. When discovered, Creon opts for her exemplary punishment... Antigone, daughter of the Theban king Oedipus and his wife (and mother) Iokasta, is one of the greatest characters of Greek mythology and world drama. Sophocles in particular rose her to fame in his eponymous tragedy, written around 442 BC, a chief work of Ancient Greek theatre. For Jan Frič, this is the third ancient play he will direct at the NT Drama, again in a new translation and retelling by Matyáš Havrda and Petr Borkovec.

Sophocles’ archetypal tragedy confronts two ambivalent characters, two diametrically opposed principles of responsibility. On the one side stands a man representing the state authority and pursuing what he honestly believes is the best public interest, i.e. the well-being of the community and the observance of the rules; on the other side stands a woman determined to sacrifice her life in the name of the unrecorded laws of humanity. These two extreme principles impel us to react and take our own stance. Is there really a superior law that prevails over the rules adopted by humans? Is it true that our life is always directed by pre-mediated agreements? Are we – albeit barricaded in our ideological positions – able to empathise with the main characters? How would we act if placed in such an extreme situation?