On Friday , December 13, the drama department at STEAM Academy came together with the director, Mrs.Garrison, to put on the play Antigone Now.
Antigone Now is a retelling of an ancient Greek play that was written by Sophocles about 2000 years ago. It’s a modern retelling that we decided to set in the World War II era because it tells a similar story and the original play. The theme of Antigone now is about doing what’s right, vs what’s easy; about loyalty, family, duty, and honor; versus making rash decisions and thinking selfishly. Antigone now is a continuation of the Oedipus trilogy, where in the original story, Oedipus is the father and Jocasta is the mother of two girls and two boys. The girls are Antigone and Ismene and the two boys are Eteocles and Polynices. The story goes that Oedipus and Jocasta made some fatal mistakes in their lives, and then fast forward to where Antigone takes place, a war breaks out, the two brothers being on opposite sides of the war, and they meet side by side and kill each other in battle. With Antigone’s brothers, and her father dead, the person to take the crown is her uncle, Creon. It was decided that because there was a faction of soldiers that decided to fight against the country, a law was passed that anyone who tries to clean or bury the bodies will be arrested and sentenced to death. Antigone doesn’t agree with this law, with one of her dead brothers being one of the people affected by it, and tries to convince Ismene to help help get and bury the body, which she refuses because she believes more in following the law, and it causes a rift between her and Antigone. Antigone decided to clean and bury the body alone anyway, and she eventually gets caught, and gets put to trial, and found guilty, and sentenced to death. In the end the play switches its focus to Ismene, as she realizes that, with her sister about to be executed, she is the only person left in her family, and she realized that no matter what there was nothing she could’ve done to convince any of her family otherwise of what they’d done, and she’s left to face the burden of reality, and the loneliness herself.
The next play that is going to be put on is “Cinderella”. The rendition of Cinderella that Mrs.Garrison is hosting is a mix of the newer Disney versions, and the older Grimm version. It is a classic, it’s sweet, It’s funny, and it’s family friendly, but it’s also traditional, and leaves a lot of room for interpretation for families to come out and enjoy it and take away different things from it. It’s a story of complex, and tragic romance, with an ultimately happy ending. It’s a play about hope and gratitude, and humbleness, and seeking out what’s right in your heart.
The reason Mrs. Garrison decided to do these two plays specifically, she said, was because the past two plays that had been done were both comedies, which is okay, cause everyone loves comedies, but it’s time for the drama program to really start cutting its teeth and becoming a serious program.
The plays may be sort of tragic, yes, but they also cause a lot of introspection, and it really causes people to think, largely about themselves, and who they are, and how they react to situations, and who it is that they want to become. Theater is Possibly the most important thing as far as the arts are concerned. Drama deals with art, music, writing, philosophy, and all of the smaller things; it really compasses all of what art is. Theater is a way of hopefully reaching people that are sometimes unreachable that may not necessarily be a fan of high school, and may be feeling down, or kind of all alone, and it’s a way of trying to put real world circumstances and emotions into perspective.
Mrs. Garrison, and Dr. Flores, our principle, are hoping, not only to expand programs in our school to make it a more inclusive and interactive school, but also hoping to be able to help out any students that may seem to be struggling, or need the help, even sometimes when they themselves don’t realize it. We hope that all of our students, staff, family, and friends enjoyed, and continue to enjoy the plays that are put on through our drama program.
