Drama
The Burial at Thebes
Evenings on Campus

There is nothing better on a balmy summer weekend evening than enjoying a good piece of classical theatre. Sophocles’ Antigone was given a facelift in 2004 by Irish Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney in his fresh translation, The Burial at Thebes, put up in the Thespi Performance Space by WhatsTheirNames Theatre as part of Evenings On Campus.

Irrespective of contemporary relevance, Greek plays make for good viewing because they grapple with human emotion and motivation and in this newly updated version, it is raw and genuine. With simple props and a single violin playing background music at poignant moments – with music composed and performed by an up-and-coming young musician, Daniela Said – director Philip Leone-Ganado managed to steer his cast towards a solid and enjoyable performance. The group’s dynamics were evident as were the well-rehearsed chorus scenes in which chorus members Joseph Zammit, John Grech, Yannick Massa and Annelise Abela gave commendable performances; while the individual characters were well-rounded and credible.

Mr Leone-Ganado, who also played Creon, made good use of techniques for character development to transform from a proud and almost arrogant ruler to a broken man at the end – tormented by the tragedy surrounding him – instigated by his stubborn belief in the omnipotence of the state above the morals set by the gods. Larissa Bonaci’s Antigone had a certain grace and earnestness which earned her the audience’s respect and sympathy, even though her inflections were rather stilted at times – rather like a 1930s and 1940s silver screen actress.

I did like her passion however, and it rang true when compared to her sister Ismene’s more practical, yet no less convincing imprecations. Claire Bonello made the most of her interpretation of Ismene and it was rather a pity that we didn’t see more of her.

John Grech’s Haemon was solid but could have used his vocal power more strongly, while Nathan Brimmer’s Guard was adequately subservient to Creon at first and later came to represent the disillusioned law-enforcers and state employees that had to go along with what their head of state decreed – rather like headless chickens.

It was a pity that his diction was rather hurried, but his performance put these sentiments across quite well. Joseph Zammit’s interpretation of the blind soothsayer Tiresias was perhaps conceived of as rather too strong rather than mystical, but it worked nonetheless.

What this performance did so well was to keep its audience engaged and interested – this is what makes good theatre, stripped of the hype that scripts of shock and awe often impose. It was a masterly script which lent itself to a clean and very pleasant exposure to the poetic power of real human emotion – where a grieving sister defies the law to give her brother a decent burial and in so doing starts a chain of events which lead to a greater tragedy and the ultimate message that those who presume to over-reach will not succeed.

Creon’s distraught frame of mind after realising that his stubborn actions have led to the unnecessary deaths of his son Haemon and the latter’s bethrothed, Antigone as well as the displeasure of the gods, is unmistakeably powerful in the way it warns against such transgressions. A very enlightening performance all round.