The Princeton Review recently named Gordon in its top 20 Best College Theater list, based on the rankings of fellow students. Gordon’s theatre department continues to live up to its newfound reputation with their most recent show, Antigone.
Antigone believes in right and wrong, but her family does not seem to be on the same page. In this play written by Jean Anouilh, Antigone enters into battle to ask the question: Is peace worth more than dignity? A modern adaption of the Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, this play will leave you on the edge of your seat asking yourself: “What is worth dying for?”
From beginning to end, this play takes you on a journey through Antigone’s life from joy to sorrow to anguish to laughter and back again. All the while, I never once doubted the emotions I felt because I was able to empathize with the characters.
What made the emotion so raw was the incredible acting, especially the intimate chemistry between the two main characters, Antigone, played by Hannah Schuurman, and her uncle Creon, played by Norm Jones. Their relationship took the play to a whole new level. Each scene between them flowed naturally and captivated your attention the entire time. Even if you needed to blink, you couldn’t because of the energy and passion heightened between them.
When Creon and Antigone are in the middle of a fight, Creon rolls up his sleeves and tells Antigone to, “plunge your arm into life.” He takes these phrases and builds them up with such poise, it is hard to remember you are just a member of the audience. Not only with the tension created between Antigone and Creon, but also between her fiancé Haemon and the guards.The play makes you feel as if you were part of their lives, a part of their story.
Between the pounding of fists, the characters’ wriggling in want, the imagery is stunning. Before the show began, I was able to watch as Director Kimberly LaCroix led the cast in a warm-up. She gave them two reminders that really stuck out to me. She said, “we think with our bodies” and “make sure to land with what you know to be true.” I found this fulfilled in between the scenes when the cast would come out almost as shadows in their grey and taupe to create beautifully vivid and powerful images that only enhanced the story further.
And yet, with all plays and stories, it must come to an end. The ending of Antigone was abrupt; and I was suddenly forced to reflect. But I truly could not have seen it end any other way. The story finished honestly and realistically and because of that I left with more respect for Antigone and her story.
Tickets for the show are available online at $12 for students and faculty, and $15 for general admission. If you want to see this beautiful story live, head to one of these showings at The Margaret Jensen Theatre, Barrington Center for the Arts: Sept. 26 (7:30 p.m.), Sept. 27 (7:30 p.m.), Sept. 28 (4 p.m., 7:30 p.m.), Oct. 3 (7:30 p.m.), or Oct. 5 (4 p.m., 7:30 p.m.)
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