Kate DeLathouwer and ensemble members in Antigone
An authoritarian ruler, more interested in compliance than compassion, issues a law meant to publicly shame a fallen enemy. A young woman defies it out of conscience, risking everything to remain true to her convictions. That act of resistance sets off a chain of events in which conviction leads to conflict and, ultimately, tragedy. Sophocles’ Antigone may have been written … oh, a couple thousand years ago … but its plot is still hugely relevant today.
Genesius Guild’s current production, directed by Michael Callahan, is the Guild’s annual high school show and features a cast of almost all teenagers – appropriate, considering that so many of the key characters, including the titular Antigone, are teenagers themselves.
The offerings to Dionysus must have worked, because Saturday’s opening night was blessed with perfect weather, which is never something you can take for granted in outdoor theatre, especially after the rain earlier in the week. But despite having lost some rehearsal time due to the weather, Callahan's cast still delivered a confident debut.
The show opens with Antigone (Evie Johnson) and her sister Ismene (Stella Rider) arguing, as teenage sisters do. There are complicated family dynamics at play here – these are Oedipus’ kids, after all – but the bottom line is that their brother is dead, and their uncle Creon (Allie Cox) has declared him a traitor and denied him a proper burial. Oh, and by the way, anyone who tries to bury the body will also be declared a traitor and put to death.
Ismene is a rule-follower. She doesn’t want to rock the boat. Her sister, though, is a boat-rocker, and Antigone came out swinging, her defiance evident in every limb of Johnson's body. She was coiled with a tense energy, like a trapped animal preparing to strike. And Rider provided a nice emotional antithesis by bringing Ismene’s grief to the fore. Her face carried expressions of genuine pain and confusion, offering a vulnerable contrast to Johnson’s more aggressive demeanor.
It is at this point that those of you familiar with Genesius Guild’s Greek tragedies might be asking, “Face? What face? Aren’t they supposed to be wearing masks?” And yes, in keeping with Guild tradition, the actors did perform with masks. However, Callahan also incorporated some carefully timed moments – especially in scenes of emotional honesty or vulnerability – when actors removed their masks and appeared barefaced before the audience. In fact, Antigone was maskless the entire show, carrying her mask at her side, rather than wearing it. I thought this was a bold visual cue that seemed to underscore Antigone’s unwavering confidence in her own sense of right and wrong.
It was also a solid touchstone because another interesting aspect of Johnson’s portrayal came from Antigone not immediately coming across as heroic, or even particularly likable. In a conversation after the show, Callahan himself put it bluntly: “Antigone is a brat. She’s obnoxious.” This Antigone was whiny in the way that only a self-righteous teenager can be. And honestly, I thought this choice worked really well. When Antigone later confronts Creon, you can practically hear her angrily slamming her bedroom door after she storms off. That actually provided a great counterpoint to Cox’s Creon.
The play might be called Antigone, but Creon has just as strong a claim on the “main character” title. He’s such a compelling antagonist because he’s every bit as convinced of his own rightness as Antigone is of hers. Cox steals the show with a nuanced portrayal of an authority that can’t imagine itself as anything other than correct – and, therefore, can’t understand why anyone would dare disagree. Despite also being a teenager, Cox carries a convincingly world-weary, exasperated energy, as if everyone around her is perpetually failing to meet even the most basic expectations.
She plays anger without defaulting to shouting – a surprisingly difficult balance that even more experienced performers often miss – and instead leans into a charismatic control that successfully made Creon a sympathetic character, despite the fact that he’s one of theatre’s prototypical villains. But most captivating of all was, at the end of the show, when Creon was left to face the consequences of his actions, and Cox removed her mask, revealing the face of a broken and utterly devastated individual. Again, I know he’s the villain. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy.
As the guard who arrests Antigone, Juno King did a fine job playing the role's humor, although a few of the comedic beats were held just a bit longer than they needed to be. Christian Wellner, as the blind prophet Teiresias, also leaned unexpectedly into comedy, which I found a puzzling choice, as it's his revelation that ultimately pushes Creon to repent. Rather than a solemn figure, Wellner’s Teiresias struck me as more of an absurdist fortune-teller akin to Steve Martin and Martin Short as the court magicians in The Prince of Egypt. This may have added some levity, but it undercut the seriousness of Antigone's moral turning point and disrupted its tragic momentum.
Of course, a Greek tragedy wouldn’t be complete without a chorus, and this one was particularly large, with 10 members led by Avalon Willowbloom. Though they sometimes struggled to stay in unison, they were engaged in the action, reacting as the tragedy unfolded. The chorus also had masks of their own, designed by art director Matthew Callahan. In contrast with the full-face masks of the named characters, the chorus’ masks resembled fragmented pieces of ancient pottery, with the bottoms “broken” away so that the actors’ mouths were visible. This was a creative nod to the ancient Greek aesthetic that visually united the chorus.
There’s a lot to admire in this production of Antigone. The pacing can, at times, feel uneven, but the emotional work on stage remains consistently strong and engaging. And even though there’s no happy ending in sight, it will leave you with plenty to think about afterward.
Genesius Guild's Antigone runs in Lincoln Park (1528 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL) through June 28, and more information is available by visiting Genesius.org.
