'Furious Antigone'

This weekend, the Wilson Blackbox boasts a rare performance of Latin American theater on campus with the production of "Furious Antigone," a thesis production directed by Susan Schaefer '01. Written by renowned Argentine playwright Griselda Gambaro, and starring Paola Allais '01, Erin Carter '02 and Paula Goldman GS, "Furious Antigone" is a re-writing of Sophocles' timeless tragedy set in the modern social and political context of Argentina's "Dirty War," in which more than 30,000 people "disappeared" in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Sophocles' universal and compelling themes work in the retelling of the Antigone myth in this modern context, in which the themes of political leadership and misrule, public fear and complicity and a population's duty to act as a responsible witness to injustice are as pertinent now as they were in Sophocles' time.

In "Furious Antigone," the Antigone myth is re-written with just three characters: Antinous and Coryphaeus, two upper-class residents of Buenos Aires, who serve as the Greek chorus as they sip coffee at a cafe table while observing and mocking the imprisoned Antigone, who, throughout the play, paces about in a giant metal cage, demanding the return of her brother's body so that she might bury him, speaking out against the silencing of the military regime, trying to break the cycles of violence in which all of them are trapped, cycles that seem to repeat themselves endlessly.

"Furious Antigone" serves as a means of bearing witness to the injustices committed and preserving the memory of those who suffered and lost their lives during this "Dirty War" in Argentina. Performances run this weekend only, tonight through Saturday at 8 p.m. with a matinee Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Wilson Blackbox. Tickets are $5. For reservations call (609) 258-3676. —susan SchaEfer