Outline your set design for Antigone and say how it would help a
present day audience to understand the play's themes and atmosphere.
For the set design of Antigone, I need to think about how everything
links together to provide a complete picture, interacting the actors
with set, colour & scale.
If I was designing the set for a performance this play at college, I
would have it performed in the theatre studio in Notre Dame college,
it is a linear square space approximately 8metres x 8metres. The key
themes being communicated in this play are those of power, arrogance,
love, war, pride & family values.
As we know, the pretext of the play is the aftermath of a war, so I
feel that a backdrop of the aftermath of World War I would be
appropriate as the context will be the feuding East European countries
feuding. The backdrop will be that of the trenches after World War I
and this will be constantly there to underline the message that it is
a post war society. When this point needs emphasising, it will be lit;
such at time could be the opening chorus on lines 100-148. This will
provide the military-like atmosphere along with the chorus dressed in
military uniforms, again to emphasise the point, it would be a very
cheerful yet controlled atmosphere that I would want to create.
I would use purple in this production to show importance, I would also
have Creon dressed in a formal military 5-star General's uniform made
from purple fabric, purple is also a colour of royalty, as we know, in
the play Creon is king, in the performance, he is a General in context
but still a king, the uniform will tell the audience of his
superiority above his associates, but the purple should give them the
idea that he is of a royal background. There will be two purple drapes
hanging from each side upstage, these are there to symbolise the
authority of Creon as they are 6-7 feet in width and are draped from
the ceiling to the ground. These would be quite enclosing imposing and
so are a constant reminder that Creon is ruler and makes anyone stood
next to it look fairly insignificant which is its purpose. At the
beginning, when Antigone is arguing with Ismene whether to bury
Polynecies, Antigone will be stood upstage centre in full view
expressing herself, whereas Ismene will be stood upstage left next to
one of the drapes, this will signify Creon's...
... middle of paper ...
...t his power and ego
is not infallible, only his arrogance is.
The costume is of a military nature as I have already described, but
for Haemon and Antigone, it will be much more youthful to start, but
as the performance goes on, their costume will change as their
attitudes change; thus, after Antigone has buried her brother, she
will be much more sombre, wearing black (line 441) to symbolise the
respect for her brother. Similarly for Haemon when he talks to his
father after Antigone has been condemned, he would be wearing all
black to symbolise sadness but with a red sash across his waist to
show anger towards his father (line 633). Also when the chorus climb
the blocks for the final verse, they will now have luxurious velvet
purple uniforms, again to show a change in power, Creon is now dirty
from rolling on the ground, they stand above him.
For this set design. I used the Craig idea of Unified Stage Picture,
taking into account all aspects of the set, the Overall Design
Concept; everything has a use and is interwoven with the context of
the text, the interaction with the set by actors, the moving of the
rubble. This all adds together to provide Total Theatre.
At the onset of the play, the readers are warned that the characters are real and the stories they relate are true. The play is a creative fusion of modern journalism and drama. (Sinéad 2012).The play is a visceral historical documentation of the Syrian Revolution. The play starts with a recitation of a poem entitled: “Another Martyr Rises” by Omar Al Khani –a Syrian Revolution Coordinators’ Union Secretary General. This is followed by information about the Finborough Theatre cast and projects and the resume of actors and their roles in the play.The play is divided into two acts: Act I from page 25-53; Act II is from 54-85. There are 21scene...
correlates to the condition of society during the fifties, and conveys a momentous idea that the people living during this time should have faith in God and hope for the betterment of society in times of hardships, and should not focus on the injustice in the world. First, the reference to the death of millions of innocent people in the bombings of London, Hiroshima, and Dresden outrightly relates to the suffering that people have experienced both during and after the war, because many people innocent perished in WWII for no reason. In addition, David’s death also parallels to the post-WWII era, and relates to J.B. and Sarah’s responses to his death to the pain and devastation that families suffered when their young children who served as soldiers died in World War II. J.B. and Sarah’s discussion during their Thanksgiving meal is yet another parallel to the postwar era and portrays the two different outlooks that people had on life after the war. Finally, MacLeish uses J.B. to relate to the people living during the postwar era by concluding the play with J.B. and Sarah finding comfort in love and rebuilding their life together as a family to convey the message that they should try to alleviate their hardships and sorrow by viewing the situation optimistically and by seeking love in the
shall firstly do a summery of the play and give a basic image of what
play to look at the reality of the day to day life of soldiers. Prior
The main theme of the play is trying to put across a strong view to
meanings along with what is going on in the plot of the play, it is
play is set in 1912, only 2 years before the outbreak of WW1, and in
Power is a very strong word and can cause consequences through abuse. In the play, Antigone, Ismene, Antigone’s sister, let fear get the best of her and allowed her sister to continue to break the law. The shooter in San Antonio abused power to walk in a church and kill innocent people. Through power, people can negatively abuse lives by causing suffering and fear.
Levin, D and Carlsson-Paige, N (2006). The War Play Dilemma . 2nd ed. New York: Teachers College Press.
“Antigone” is a drama that was written by Sophocles. Sophocles was one of the great writers of tragedies during the ancient Greece era. For this reason, there is no debate as to whether this story is a tragedy or not. A tragedy is defined as a play that contains dismal events and has an unhappy ending, it typically involves the downfall of the protagonist. Focus on that last part; the downfall of the main character. If “Antigone” is definitely a tragedy, and a tragedy involves the destruction of the main character, than the drama must portray the hero being brought to ruin. Now, most readers would agree that it is obvious who the protagonist of the play is. Antigone, whom the play is named for, is brought to a tragic end. I completely agree; however, there is another character who could fit the role of the protagonist. That miserable definition could also be used to describe Creon, Antigone’s uncle. Due to the definitions of characters and the format of how the tragedy was written, I believe that Creon is the true protagonist of this play.
Sophocles’ background influenced him to write Antigone. One important influence on the drama was the author’s life in the “golden era” of Athens during fifth century BCE. In that time, Athens was experiencing much change in all facets, and drama was a major factor in Athenian culture. In his essay “Sophocles,” Ed Downey reports that Sophocles was born at the beginning of the “golden era” in Athens and lived a long life influenced by “the artistic and cultural achievements in the ancient Greek world”. Sophocles was a wealthy and highly educated, “happy man.” As a young man, Sophocles began his playwright career, eventually becoming one of the greatest writers in history although only seven of his works are still intact (1). Similarly, the setting
play is. War is not really idealised in this play, it can be taken as
of the play. I will also explore the role the common man plays in the
The Tragic Play Antigone by Sophocles has a Conflict between religious morals and loyalty to the state and its laws. This struggle is displayed through the characters Antigone and Creon. Antigone’s life meets a tragic end in the play, but her death makes her a martyr leading to the citizens to follow her view of religion.
In the centre third of the screen I would have projected an image of a