Monday, May 4, 2009

Voice of Reason

When I first read Antigone, I was pleasantly surprised that the text had been modernized, which for me is always easier to understand than Shakespearean language. Not only was the text modernized, but also the script was interpreted by Lewis Galantiere, who added his own touch to some ideas in the story. I was a little confused on his choices, but still loved the play. He talked about Polynices smoking cigarettes and he even mentioned cars, but even with those modern items thrown in, the audience was still able to understand and enjoy his interpretation of "Antigone."
The script of "Antigone" really makes you think hard. You really start to wonder who was right, Antigone or Creon? There is a lot of text for Creon and Antigone, and most of Creon's lines are in large monologues that you really have to pay attention to in order to understand the whole story. He talkes about the story of Polynices and Eteocles and it really makes the audience wonder why Antigone is wanting so badly to die. Creon also has a big speech about a ship. Hopefully the audience caught on that the ship was the city of Thebes, and he was the one who was chosen to captian the ship.
The story of Antigone is very intense and dark. It is also very sad. But it is very intriguing to watch because the story really pulls the audience in and makes them think. Did Antigone become too stubborn and need to prove a point? Or in her heart, was she just strongly loyal to her own blood? Was Creon really a brute? Or was he the voice of resason? I guess it's up to your own interpretation.

2 comments:

Moulin Rouge Girl(Ember) said...

I agree, if not a bit odd, it was still a great script. I am in the group that thinks they were both right, personally. Creon was completely right in the fact that Thebes did need to band together and move on. On the flipside, you can't say Antigone was wrong because she did what everyone should, standing up for what she believed in. Yes, sometimes our beliefs are a little misguided, but because of how passionately she felt about it, she couldn't have been happy without doing it, and in time would have done more harm to not only herself, but those around her if she didn't. So yes, both are right, it is just in this case two people being right conflict with each other.

Jordan said...

I guess I missed a few of those key phrases and was thrown off a couple times. I did like how they modernized it. Maybe not enough for me still though. It was hard to capture every little bit. I think you have a really nice way of spelling it out and having it all make sense.