Gripping Greek tragedy at SCR

Tom Titus

Greek tragedy has been conspicuous by its near-total absence on the

local theater scene over the years, but if any producing organization

were brave enough to take a crack it this oldest of theatrical art

forms, it most assuredly would be South Coast Repertory.

Yet, even a modern-dress interpretation of “Antigone” with

infinite technical embellishments still is a pretty heavy piece of

entertainment, and not all of SCR’s regular patrons will be

mesmerized by the result. It’s a powerful, gripping production that

will leave playgoers puzzled as to why the Sophocles’ characters make

the choices they do.

Well, when you’re the daughter of Oedipus and his wife -- who also

was his mother -- you may be expected to behave somewhat

irrationally, particularly when both your warring, rival brothers

have been killed in combat and your uncle, who now calls the shots in

Thebes, orders the burial of one, but not the other.

This is the quandary facing Antigone, and for her it’s no

predicament at all. Her brother deserves a decent burial, and she

vows to do the job herself, in blatant defiance of Uncle Creon’s

directive. To say that causes a rift in the family circle would be an

understatement of Earth-shattering proportions.

At SCR, director Kate Whoriskey has created a sort of

post-apocalyptic Thebes, strewn with Styrofoam chunks of coal about

the futuristically gloomy set designed by Walt Spangler, who also

came up with the primarily 21st century costumes. Scott Zielinski’s

darkly hued lighting designs keep the atmosphere properly funereal.

The largest challenge is creating audience empathy, and here

Alyssa Bresnahan scores mightily in the title role. Bresnahan hits

the stage running, in full outrageous throttle as she vows to bury

her brother, even if it almost certainly means her own death, in a

gloriously melodramatic performance.

Her adversary, Creon -- who commands a Hitler-like admiration from

his subjects and demands no less from family members -- receives a

powerfully one-dimensional performance from Randle Mell. His

singleness of purpose melts only after it is too late, in a closing

capitulation designed to further shatter viewers’ hearts.

Beyond these two principals, there are dynamic individual

performances in what are glorified cameo roles. Chief among them is

Eric D. Steinberg’s gut-wrenching portrayal of Haemon, Creon’s son

and Antigone’s fiance. Nambi E. Kelley richly enacts Ismene,

Antigone’s sister, who’s willing to share the blame.

What humor this play possesses is projected by Henri Lubatti as an

obsequious guard who rats out Antigone mainly to cover his own rear

end. Veteran SCR actor Hal Landon Jr. has a spooky moment as a blind

prophet who softens Creon’s heart, while Deborah Van Valkenburgh

regally enacts Creon’s distraught wife.

“Antigone” is a verbal and visual banquet for the theater scholar,

but it quite likely will discomfit the company’s regular patrons. In

either case, it is a powerfully gripping example of the oldest form

of theater.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.