Taking place in a modern setting, Antigone is a Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles, telling the tale of two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes’ civil war, who died fighting each other for the throne.
Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has decided that Eteocles will be honored and Polyneices will be in public shame. The rebel brother’s body will not be sanctified by holy rites, and will lie unburied on the battlefield, prey for carrion animals like worms and vultures, the harshest punishment at the time.
Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of the dead Polyneices and Eteocles. In the opening of the play, Antigone brings Ismene outside the palace gates late at night for a secret meeting: Antigone wants to bury Polyneices’ body, in defiance of Creon’s edict. Ismene refuses to help her, not believing that it will actually be possible to bury their brother, who is under guard, but she is unable to stop Antigone from going to bury her brother herself.
In a tale of heroism, sacrifice, and the final piece in a trilogy of tragedy, our modern concept of Antigone will bring the Greek tragedy to life for a younger audience.