THEATRE REVIEWS

Beware of a man in a suit, especially if they have a power complex. The thought of a Greek play called Antigone by Sophocles is enough to put you off the theatre for life, but wait, add the name Blake Morrison to the rewrite and you have a quality evening at the theatre. Barrie Rutter directs in his own inimitable way and the audience is silenced into intense viewing of the characters dreamed up so long ago. It is said that if you study history you are well equipped for a political career and this play proves that everything comes round in circles and that man learns nothing from his experiences. Look around at what is going on today and you will see it reflected by the people and events in this play.

We have a great chorus of “yes men” who cow tow to their self opinionated leader with an inflexible outlook on life that he is always right. Heard it before? The man is Creon the town leader who is masterfully played by Barrie Rutter, who imprints his will on the funerals of his sons with disastrous results. Antigone, played by Sally Carmen, is to marry Creon’s son Haemon, played by Jonathan Le Billon, but family squabbles bring about disastrous consequences.

As always with a Northern Broadside’s production the audience is taken by the scruff of the neck and exposed to classical theatre at its best. The stage is almost bare, only the essentials are there, a table, cups, two lights and decorators’ ladders to allow the sun to rise and set. The cast are superb and the direction spot on. You will enjoy the prose, the verse and the singing at this evening at the theatre. © BA

“Antigone” is at the Round in Scarborough from the 18th November to the 22nd of November, 2003.