As director Tyrone Grima gears up for the first drama in the Manoel Theatre’s 2018 programme, he tells Iggy Fenech about the vision behind the world-first setting of the ancient story.

Neither Antigone nor King Creon could escape: like ‘caged animals’ they were forced to perform their destiny. This idea of ‘caged animals’ inspired director Tyrone Grima to set the age-old tale in the context of a Victorian circus for the first time in its history. Photos: Steven Levi Vella

They say some stories are timeless; that their message spans across the generations and civili­sations; that they have something to contribute no matter when or where they are told. That is definitely true for Antigone, a drama written almost 2,500 years ago by one of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived to this day.

It is not difficult to understand why the play still brings shivers down audiences’ spines, either. The collision between Antigone (the daughter and sister of Oedipus, the mythological king of the Thebes, and his mother, Jocasta, a descendent of the Spartai) and King Creon of Thebes, is a metaphor for rebellion against the status quo that shows how little has changed in two-and-a-half millennia. The themes of love, betrayal and defiance remain as relevant and as electrifying today as they did then.

Yet the version of Antigone being staged at the Manoel in February is not the one Sophocles wrote around 441 BC, but the adaptation by Jean Anouilh from the 1940s… a version which started its life being banned by the Nazis but which finally made it to the stage of the Théâtre de l’Atelier while Paris was still under the rule of the Third Reich.

“Although the Greek version was written in verse and Anouilh’s in prose, the narrative of the two plays is more or less the same,” explains Tyrone Grima, who has fashioned a name for himself in the industry by directing critically-acclaimed plays like Children of a Lesser God and Alfred Buttigieg’s Mela Hawn xi Manikomju?

“The main difference is in the way the characters are portrayed and perceived… In Sophocles’s version, there is a very clear separation between what is good (i.e. Antigone) and what is bad (i.e. King Creon), but in Anouilh’s version it all becomes blurred and we start to understand why Creon does what he does, and why Antigone may not be looking at the bigger picture.” In the story, Antigone’s brother, Polyneices, who dies during a rebellion against the king, is denied funerary rites. But Antigone, out of love and respect for her brother, rebels, forcing Creon to sentence her to death.

For Anouilh, this ending was written in the stars and something that neither Antigone nor King Creon could escape: like ‘caged animals’ they were forced to perform their destiny without much of a say.

And it is this idea of ‘caged animals’ that inspired Tyrone to set the age-old tale in the context of a Victorian circus for the first time in its history, thus taking it out of its historical context but placing it within a context that further amplified the running themes that have made it so enduring.

“I have to admit that, when the idea originally hit me, I thought it was simply too extravagant,” Tyrone continues. “But the more I read Anouilh’s script, the more I thought it would work. At that point in time, I started researching the Victorian era – when cir­cu­ses were at their peak – and the whole concept blended together…

This is a version which started its life being banned by the Nazis

“Fast forward a year and a half, and the cast has now received intensive training from two Italian circus professionals flown to Malta specifically, and the stage of the Manoel is now being turned into a Victorian circus.”

As Tyrone continues to ex­plain, a tragedy like Antigone deserves to be treated with respect from every angle. And in this collaboration between himself, actress Sharon Bezzina and the Manoel Theatre, there was no cutting corners when it came to the quality of the production.

Antigone, in fact, features an all-star cast made up of Sharon Bezzina and Charles Sammut in the roles of Antigone and King Creon respectively, as well as Malcolm Galea, Joseph Zammit, Vanessa Attard, Chiara Hyzler, Stephen Mintoff, Sean Briffa, Mariele Zammit and Graziella Galea Pirotta. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, veterans like Angele Galea, Adrian Mamo, Chris Galea and Chris Gatt are taking care of costumes and props, set, hair and soundtrack respectively.

“I believe it’s important for the Manoel – our national theatre – to stage classical plays, and it’s wonderful that we are also encouraged to experiment with them in order to create contexts that make them valid to contemporary audiences. Will the idea of a Victorian circus work? We obviously think so, but it’s up to audiences to judge in the end.

“Either way, Antigone re­mains relevant because of the struggle it portrays between law, order and the status quo on one side, and people who go against the status quo to follow their way of thinking on the other. The tension between conformity and rebellion is nothing new, but considering the current political situation internationally, the story is once again incredibly pertinent.”

Funded by the Malta Arts Fund, Antigone will only be on for one weekend, but it promi­ses to be a landmark in local adaptations of classical drama. What makes it even more special, however, is that this is another step in the history of a play that has roused the imagination of millions before us and that will continue to do so in the centuries to come.

Antigone takes place from February 2 to 4 at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta. Tickets are available online.

www.teatrumanoel.com.mt