By Francisco Portillo
“Antigone,” the latest play on campus, is set to open on Friday at 8 p.m. in the P2 Upstairs theater.
The latest production from the Theater Department is being directed by David Laird Scott.
The story, which was written by philosopher Sophocles, is a family drama that questions the basic rights of human beings when presented with laws created by man.
The main cast of characters are the offspring of Oedipus. His children Eteocles and Polyneices are meant to rule their kingdom and alternate between the two every year, but Eteocles decides he doesn’t want to give up power.
Fueled by anger, the two go to war and kill each other in battle. With a kingdom left to rule, their uncle Creon takes the mantle and makes it illegal for Polyneices’ body to be buried by anyone. He decrees that those caught attempting to bury the body would be stoned to death. Antigone, the titular character and sister to both Eteocles and Polyneices, is dead-set on burying her brother, citing his basic human rights as her justification.
While the play will have a contemporary setting, the script will be poetic with the lines being written in verse-style, mirroring Scott’s last directed play “A Doll’s House.”
Since the casting of the play, the performers have only had five weeks of rehearsals as opposed to the normal number of seven to eight. Scott said the rushed rehearsal time is more along the lines of what the student actors would face in real world situations.
“We’re losing two to three weeks of rehearsal for the actors,” Scott said.
Scott decided to go with a called workshop style play, in which very minimal production designed is used and the focus remains more on the acting and writing.
“We try to be more creative because we have this limited space and budget,” Scott said.
He said that the idea to go with a basic version of the play came from wanting to focus on the other two upcoming plays on campus, “Comedy of Errors” and “Chavez Ravine,” which have more production value.
“All that (is needed) for a theater production is an audience, actors and a space,” Scott said citing a book titled “The Empty Space.” “Were trying to do the show in a basic way as we can. That’s where it started from.”
“Antigone” debuts Friday and will run through next Sunday in P2-205. Matinee show times are at 2 p.m. while evening show times begin at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance online or in person in P2-101A and will cost $10. Students with ASU receive a discount of $2. when purchasing tickets on campus. Tickets will be $12 at the door.