Reviews: Antigone 3021 presented by Centreville HS
Written by Iza Piatkowski of Woodgrove High School
Meeting code: A-N-T-I-G-O-N-E. Encryption code: 3-0-2-1. Retina eye scan enabled. Activate projection.
Antigone: 3021 by Nina Mansfield is a futuristic retelling of the Greek tragedy “Antigone” by Sophocles, the final installment in his trilogy of Oedipus Plays. Set in the city of Thebes in the year 3021 after a bloody civil war, self-appointed leader Chancellor Creah decrees that anyone who buries the body of the rebel leader, Polyneices, will be killed. Antigone, Polyneices’ sister, breaks the law and broadcasts her crime on what is called the “public cloud,” setting off a series of events that ultimately end in tragedy.
The show is a fascinating mesh of the physical and virtual worlds. Characters communicate via virtual projection, and the Greek chorus of the original tragedy is a talk show available for all to watch on the public cloud. Through impressive technical elements and quality portrayals of the play’s dynamic characters, Centreville High School brought this unique story to life.
The play centers around Antigone, played by Hannah Crawford. Crawford depicted raw emotion through Antigone’s fiery speeches, her voice straining as she pleaded with her sister, Ismene, to help her bury their brother. Macee Schmidt as Ismene played a dynamic character who comes to terms with her world crumbling around her through her vlog channel. In her last scene, Schmidt contrasted the almost-obnoxiously chipper attitude she put on for the intros of her vlogs with the emptiness and pain in her voice during her message afterwards, demonstrating her impressive range as an actor.
The play’s version of a Greek chorus was a talk show called The Vista. Sienna Nguyen as Annie Strophe stood out among the four hosts as the only one who dared to share differing opinions. Nguyen portrayed Annie’s initial earnestness to share her opinions with the audience with anxious movements and an energy that had her springing up from her chair. As the show progressed, however, Nguyen allowed that earnestness to fall away as her character was continually ignored, relaxing her posture and letting the light fade out of her acting as she became more and more closed off.
One of the most notable parts of the show was its impressive set. It was separated into three tiers, with the top being home to The Vista studio, the middle representing news segments and the Chancellor’s Octagon Room, and the ground level reflecting the physical world. In addition to constructing the tiers, the set team, led by Katie Powderly, created railings out of Gatorade bottles, designed logos for the various levels of the set, and created a temple top for the top tier to pay tribute to the Greek roots of the play.
The sound team (Em Mullins and Katie Powderly) composed sound and music to communicate the difference between the virtual and broadcasting spaces. With a stunning 324 sound cues, the team worked incredibly hard to make the play as immersive as possible. Lighting is crucial for a play with virtual projection and its own talk show, and the team (Katie Powderly, Khloe Moon, Heliya Jafari, and Ace Seifried) delivered. They used moving lights to represent scan effects and accompany The Vista intro, and used red backgrounds and blackouts to build the atmosphere in the most tense scenes of the show.
With the hard work of the cast and crew, Centreville High School’s production of Antigone: 3021 immersed us in a world that blurs the lines between virtual and physical reality, exploring the importance of doing the right thing and the corruption that comes with power through a story of bravery and loss.
Log out of meeting.
Written by Sarah Custer of Colgan High School
The sci-fi glow of the green portals surrounds the stage, as sisters Antigone and Ismene discuss the recent tragedies that have taken place in Thebes. Think of the busy streets of Thebes, combined with 80’s hair, and the glam of the 31st century, in Centreville High School’s retelling of Nina Mansfield’s play Antigone 2031.
Antigone and Ismene join a confidential call together, discussing the death of their brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles. Creah, has just become chancellor of Thebes, following Eteocles’s and Polyneices’s fight for the crown. Creah was on Eteocles side of the battle, permitting him to be buried in the city, while banning the burial of anyone on the opposing side, such as Polyneices. On a call with her sister, Antigone expresses distress while plotting to bury her brother, Polyneices. Ismene disagrees, explaining the death penalty, but Antigone moves forward with the plan. This leads to the arrest of Antigone, and eventually her death. Creah’s son, Haemon, begs for the release of his love, Antigone, after her capture. The suffering and distress caused by Creah, leads to the downfall of all those she loved, and eventually hopelessness.
The actor of Antigone, Hannah Crawford’s vocal variety built moments of intensity, expressing the importance of a proper burial for her dear brother, fighting for what she believes in, and dying for it. Antigone’s intensity was overwhelming to her innocent sister, Ismene, perfectly portrayed by actor Macee Schmidt. The actor showed Ismene’s livestreams were her character’s coping mechanism. Ismene would cover up how she feels, just as the Vistas’ did, ignoring the problems of the world surrounding them. Macee Schmidt’s emotional facial expressions showcased the nervousness of a young girl, from discovering the dangers of her sister’s plan, to agreeing with her sister, and respecting the cause for which she died.
The costume designer, Katie McCoy, used a wide variety of colors and bling in the designs to give the whole show a futuristic feeling. Each character had a piece of silver fabric lining the sleeves, to help us picture the world in 3021. Another important detail is the contrasting costumes between Ismene and Antigone. Antigone’s shiny blue top had a more modern look, transforming the classic Greek tunic, along with flowy pants to give her a mature look compared to Ismene. Ismene was wearing a yellow full-length tunic, to represent her youthfulness, and to show her naïve traits in comparison to her older sister. The Vistas’ wore bright, bold, and flashy colors, with big hair, like those of the capital in the famous book, The Hunger Games, to represent how the Vistas try to distract from reality, like those of the capital who were cut off from the rest of the world.
The set design was thought out and broken into sections to make it more versatile. The center of the stage had three levels, representing the three broadcast channels, with the Vistas as the tallest column in the center, helping visualize the chorus watching down on the world, seeing all the happens among the characters. The set had classical Grecian columns, with a colored LED outline, to act as a futuristic element.
As this play was originally written for an online production, it is hard to think of ways to make it interactive for the audience, but this theater department succeeded. With a creative use of levels among the set pieces, and a wide use of color throughout the lights and costumes, Centreville High School brought to life this dystopian retelling of a classic play.