An extract of Owen McCaffery Antigone |
My group decided to set the piece in a modern day pub, like the one you might have found in the East End. We changed the plot and characters slightly to fit the setting, for example Creon became the landlord of the pub instead of the King of Thebes. This way he still has the overall authority but it was in context as King of England when its set in a pub doesn't really fit. Then, the rest of the characters all became people within in the pub, like costumers or employees. Antigone, Ismene, Heamon and Eurycies all became people who worked in the pub, however Eurydice wasn't a bar tender like the others because she was Creon's wife. Instead she just looked down Antigone, showing her authority and hatred for her. The chours and Teiresias then became the customers in the pub. Our group managed to stage a peice that went from the start of the play untill just after Antigone askes Ismene for help in burying her brother, or in the case of our play to help him find a job. We changed the context to the two brothers being fired from the pub instead of killing each other becuase we though it would fit better with our story line. However, now that look back on it I have relised that the brothers could have killed each other in a fight that broke out in the pub which would have made more sense and fitted better with the original text. The characters became not quiet cockney or a typical person from the east end but they were leaning towards that. Antigone had a lot more attitude and seemed less afraid of the consequences or Creon. She seemed a lot more sure of herself, however whether she truly felt sure is another matter. The language became more informal and contained slang.
Notes on the other groups pieces -
Piece 1 - Jed's Group
Piece 1 - Jed's Group
- I though that this group had incorparated the chours in the most effective way out of all of the other groups. I was very clearly definied that there was a chours. The chours had beeen chaged to fit the context of a school, the chours was now three gossiping school girls. These girls spoke in unison at some and had very exaggerated gestures and voice. I though it was very effective as it enbaled them to get through the story quickly, making sure the audience wasnt lost, yet still keeping with the setting and even adding humor at some points.
- The characters had also all been changed to fit the setting and it all made a lot of sense. They used the ranks of teacher and student to create the authority shown by Creon, who was the headmaster. What I like most about this setting is that it was very easy to relate to. Greek theatre can often seem like another concpet that doesn't fit into modern society. However, as young people, a school seemed very close to home. This rebellious attitude that Antigone posses is seen in all school, especially when it comes to talking to teachers. Even if you aren't the one being rebellious their will be someone in a class who acts like that, and probably at some point you will witness this. Making a school a very relatable setting.
Piece 2 - Nina's Group
- This group set their piece on social media which I thought was so creative and relevant to the society that we live in. It was an original idea that really caught my attention. I found the piece very easy to understand as it was so relatable. For example, there was a section where they added Roy onto the facebook chat and his response was 'Why am I here'. This not only added a huge amount of humour but gave the piece a realistic and relatable aspect as nearly all teenagers have been added to a chat that has no relevance to their life. I also really liked how being on social media means each character is in their own space, to me it represent how each character does their own thing no matter how it effects everyone else.
- However I thought the plot got lost in the piece. The idea of social media was a great idea but the idea had to have been worked on more so the setting and the plot both come across as the plot wasn't clear at all in this piece. They could have used Antonia as a voice for the chours rather than just to say who is being added in or out of the group chat.
- Sarah's group set Antigone in a gang, which kept the ideas of a hierarchy shown in Antigone. Creon who's was the boss of the gang held all the power, while everyone else must work around his needs.
- The setting meant that a lot of comedy came out of it which made the piece enjoyable. However, sometimes I felt that the comedy was taking away from the seriousness of the play and the fact it is a Greek Tragedy.
- The groups language changed in order to fit the setting and this was really effective. It made the piece a lot more realistic and interesting to watch as you were presented with a whole new character that differed from Sophocles version entirely.
- Nancy's group set their piece in the Big Brother house. I thought it was a good idea but the plot of Antigone didn't really fit in this setting. I didn't quiet understand why their was a dead person in the big brother house? Or why 'Creon' was forbbiding anybody to bury the body? Surley if someone died in the big brother house then the programme would be stopped and other people would intervene???? This was really confusing and made me as an audience member lose concentration and miss key parts of the piece.
- Apart from that, the piece was very good. It provided a lot of humour which worked really well and was relevant to modern day society. The lanuage didn't change significantly but it changed enough to fit the setting.
Piece 5 - Roseby's Group
- Roseby's group set Antigone in a Mafia gang. This was very simliar to Sarah's group, however the gang shown in Sarah's piece seemed to be set in a typical back street gang in London where as Roseby's is set in the Mafia. I thought the plot of Antigone fitted very well with this setting as shootings and deaths are probably quiet common among the Mafia. The idea of status also worked well with this setting as there is always a boss within the Mafia who holds all power over the rest of the gang.
- The language was changed to fit the situation and this worked really well. For example, instead of calling Creon by his name he was simply refered to as 'Boss'. This as made it perfectly clear who had all the power. Swear words were also included, as they were in most other pieces, giving this piece and all the other pieces a modern and relistic feel. By using swear words it felt as if the issues in Antigone weren't trying to be sugar coated and were being presented as the brutal reality that they are. This applies to all the other pieces apart from Lloyd's group as they didn't use swearing.
Piece 6 - Lloyd's Group
- Lloyd's group took Antigone and put into the context of a posh upper class family from the 1900s. This was the only group to take Antigone back in time and not set it in the modern world. I liked this because it gave us a modern audience a look into a world that it completely forgien to us.
- The laguage changed dramatically making it fit within the context. They used words like 'pipsqueak' to exaggerate this idea of a upper class family. The change in lamugage gave a lot of comedy as the concept of using words like ' pipsqueak' just seems wired to us. There was no slang in this piece and all the language used was very formal. This worked really well in context!
- I also liked how Tim, who played Creon, asked for grapes from his servants and ate them during the piece. To me, this seemed like a link to the classic images from Greek times when the empora or ruler would lie on a couch eating grapes. This was a nice link to the original Antigone by Sophocles, as it meant that the origins of the play weren't lost or forgotten about.
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