antigone

I did see it, on the final Saturday. I've been meaning to give a quick mention, sorry haven't gotten to it til now.

Overall, I thought it was extremely well done.

Set design was stark and beautiful. The hazy opening atmosphere, the clean and geometric set design with the floor of salt reminded me of an austere Japanese garden (although it was not particularly Asian and suited the Greek setting very well).

I was very impressed with the continous live music soundtrack played by the duo "Harem Bug One"; it underpinned all of the dramatic scenes but never really intruded (apart from just a few times seeming too loud). I really noticed how effective they were about halfway through the show, when suddenly I noticed silence for the first time. Up til then, (and afterwards) they had meshed completely with the action.
They were particularly effective in underscoring the words of the Chorus, - possibly assisting them to keep such perfect unity, which is worth remarking on. The Chorus really did speak as one voice, not as the messy rabble it can descend to in some productions.

The key element Peter Kingston has achieved in his direction of these young players is their focus. Any perceived lack of experience or performance skill in the cast was anulled by being constantly engaged by their clarity of focus in thought and action. The dialogue was almost always clear to follow, because the thought processes were clearly readable.
The modern translation may have helped a little, (particularly in the style of the humorous scenes with the guard), but the language was still very dense and difficult. The slightly stylised delivery helped to carry us through the text, while giving it that epic Greek manner.

Too many excellent cast members to give separate mention, but Luke Reudavey as Creon gave a terrific performance. His character's fall is the backbone of the play, and he commanded the emotional journey extremely well for a lad of 16. Alex Milne as Antigone and Carla Nirella as Ismene were great as the young protagonists, particularly in their clarity and energy in the very first scene, and for their very truthful displays of emotion throughout. And Amanda Chesterton's brief but controlled appearance as Teiresias (I hardly recognised her at first with the makeup and contact lenses) was strong and well-measured...no tendancy in this play to look like a dancer(!)...it didn't matter that her "old man" was neither old nor a man, she delivered all the essence of the character without resorting to any cliched portrayal.

All the other speaking roles were very well handled, giving the production a great unity and energy.

I only got to see this as a last minute decision, but was quite impressed, and glad I did.

Cheers,
Craig