THEATRE REVIEW: Antigone - The Storyhouse, Chester.

Have you ever wondered how palpable the atmosphere would have felt seeing a play intended to spark political debate back in Ancient Greece? Storyhouse’s production of ‘Antigone’, one of the most well-known Greek Tragedies, is probably the closest we will ever get.

A Storyhouse original production directed by Natasha Rickman and co-produced with TripleC - a company whose mission is to drive up the role of the disabled people in the arts & media. Sophocles’ tragedy ‘Antigone’ has been brought up to date by resident poet, playwright and Sunday Times Bestseller Hollie McNish. 

Antigone (Fatima Niemogha) and her sister Ismene (Raffie Julien) are princesses, born to Oedipus and his mother/wife Jocasta, through no fault of their own they are ill-fated by this incestuous birth. The play opens as their city recovers from civil war, the sisters’ brothers had fought over who should rule and killed each other, their uncle Kreon (Ken Christienson) has then proclaimed himself King. Kreon’s first act as king is to leave one of Antigone’s brothers dead, naked and humiliated on a hilltop, denied burial rights. Antigone makes the decision to defy her king and obey her gods by burying her brother.

This production doesn’t begin in the comfort and security of theatre, but out in ‘The Kitchen’ area of Storyhouse. As the audience are seated around large communal tables and milling around the bar enjoying pre-show drinks they are taken by surprise as the Compere (Matt Crosby) who dressed in Greek robes and face paint addresses the audience, giving backstory and songs, and warming the crowd with his skills taken from his stand-up comedy career. It was the director’s and writer’s intention to give that sense of a theatre piece being part of something bigger as it would have been back in Ancient Greek, a festival-like atmosphere, which worked most successfully.

Niemogha’s performance as Antigone was stand-out; stoic resignation defined her presence for most of the play, contrasted at crucial moments by her love for Haemon. Her softening and talking about having a baby together brought most of the house to tears.

I questioned why Kreon was not presented as more tyrannical and authoritative, but then reading the directors notes Rickman’s position had been she didn’t want simple ‘goodies and baddies’; these were characters we could relate to, they were human and fallible. This made Christienson’s performance a lot more politician-like than kingly, which linked nicely to the themes of this production.

Rachael Merry and Amy Helena are also worthy of merit in this production, as both were actors and BSL interpreters. Rather than having a single person dressed in black stood stage left signing for deaf members of the audience, this production incorporated BSL into the performance with most of the actors communicating with BSL. Merry and Helena both played fierce characters and it was great to see BSL incorporated into the show. A beautiful moment occurred leading up to the play's climax, the stage was dimly lit, the chorus had lanterns with them, and as Antigone asked for a ‘promise’ the whole chorus joined her in the sign for promise and the mass movement was most moving.

Part of the stage’s design had a large screen with captions running across it, not just plain captions scrolling across, but edited so backgrounds and text complimented the tone of the scene. The stage itself was quite simple; a circular platform, with a top section that raised above the stage and a trap door in its centre where Antigone disappeared into. Apse seating around the circular centre stage gave Storyhouse’s Young Players space to move and represent the crowds of people in an amphitheatre.

The Young Players had an important role in this production, Natasha Rickman’s intention for this piece was to question ‘who’s in power and whether they’re listening or not’, so the Young Players were the voice of Everyman and went on a journey from being unquestioning of their sovereign to demanding Kreon to change his ways. The Young Players worked great as a chorus, working well as an ensemble and each with a keen sense of how to hold themselves and project well across the theatre.

The choice and timing of this ancient play and it's politics is relevant to a modern audience. We were reminded by the compere that women were not always allowed in the theatre and the most abusive names used referred to Antigone’s gender. In a world where women in some countries are losing their rights this play's message and context is vitally needed to stimulate discourse around these subjects. A great production, I hope it reaches a wide audience and inspires more productions to be more creative in how they make their work accessible.

Reviewer - Kerry Ely
on - 15.10.21