Sport for Jove presents Antigone
Image: Photo: Marnya Rothe
Sport for Jove theatre company close out their 2016 season with a new adaptation of a very old play, Sophocles’ Antigone, which dates back to the 5th Century in Athens.
The play is directed in a very contemporary style and setting by Damien Ryan and Terry Karabelas, who said: “The play still has deep relevance and importance to our contemporary society in regards to the duty we have to ourselves, our community and our government. It also helps us to understand the way we live in modern times as it also questions ‘what is justice? What is moral responsibility? And how are we to live good lives?’”
In a time of exaggerated fear of global terrorism and organised crime, this production challenges our idea of personal conscience over law and order. The main protagonist is a woman named Antigone who struggles with very confronting but timeless questions – how do we punish people who cause terror or harm to us? And as there is always the risk of turning them into martyrs if we execute them, how do we dispose of their bodies? After all, don’t they deserve the same basic human respect just like the rest of us?
Theatre has always been a mirror to society, and Antigone provokes us to think not just about our respective places in our communities, but also grapples with ideas such as the political, cultural and social structures of our time.
What hasn’t changed in the 1600 years since the original play was written is our duty and obligations in dealing with capital punishment, especially in the case of murderers or terrorists.
This production comes to Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres after residing at the Seymour Centre last month. If you are interested in the morality of legally killing someone as punishment for a violent crime, this is a play not to be missed. A special new adaption of a timeless story that needs to be told. (DJ)
Nov 9–12, evenings & matinees. Riverside Theatres, cnr Church and Market Streets, Parramatta. $39-$19. Tickets & info: www.riversideparramatta.com.au or (02) 8839 3399
BY DANIEL JARAMILLO
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