Drama students from Becker High School left for sectionals in the High School One-Act Play competition in Alexandria Thursday afternoon.  Director Greg Lynch and his company of actors spent the earlier part of the week rehearsing an English-language version of the Greek tragedy “Antigone” by Sophocles, which has been adapted by author Bonnie Roberts, Lynch said.

 

The story has many versions, but in the Sophocles script, Antigone defies King Creon who had ordered that her brother Polynices must lie as he fell on the battlefield for waging war against the City of Thebes.  Antigone buries her brother with all the necessary rites, and Creon orders her sealed up alive in a tomb as punishment.  He relents, only to discover that she has hanged herself, and his son, Haemon, to whom she was engaged, has stabbed himself to death in grief.

 

The modern version includes some of the traditions of early Greek theatre, including characters that make up the famous “Greek chorus,” the group of actors and actresses who guide the action in the play, filling in the blanks for the audience as needed. 

 

Cast List:  Antigone, Carly Pruszinske; Creon, Austin Hill; Ismene, Samantha Pounds; Tiresias, Celia Mix; Hoplon, Ethan Quill; Eurydice, Kate Berning; Haemon, Evan Schafer; Chorus Antigone, Heidi Voigt; Chorus Creon, Laura Niday; Chorus Ismene, Megan Graftaas; Chorus Tiresias, Allyna Storms; Chorus Hoplon, Maria Sakry; Chorus Eurydice, Alaina Nelson; Chorus Haemon, Ryan Sommerdorf.  Student Director: Jasmine Anderson.