Sophocles' 'Antigone' opens tonight

Fresh off a week-long run this summer at the Bedlam Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, the Theatre Arts Program production of Antigone will open tonight at the Annenberg Center Studio Theater. Directors and actors in the Sophocles tragedy said they have adapted the ancient play's already timely theme into a more modern rendition. "The thing with Antigone is that people can see that it has survived so long because its always timely," said Antigone Director Samara Epstein. "The play is from Sophocles 2000 years ago, yet you could read about the same thing in the paper today." According to Epstein, there is one pertinent theme in Antigone -- that every person has to be active in making their own decisions and shaping their own destiny. "There's an ancient call to action that we all have to learn to answer," the College and Wharton senior said. The play also features an original musical score, and a modern adaptation of the Sophocles text. College junior Yasmin Tuazon, who is playing the title character's younger sister, said that the play has been made more relevant to a modern audience. "Antigone is a classic, but our production shows this classic in a very relevant light," she said. At the invitation of the University of Edinburgh, the University students who both direct and act in Antigone spent a week performing the play in Edinburgh this summer. Epstein said that the extended engagement in Scotland gave the group an opportunity to perfect their performance. "We were in one of the prime venues for theatre in Edinburgh, at the Bedlam Theatre in the middle of the city," she said. This year was only the second time that the University has sent a play to Edinburgh, and the first time that the play was student directed. Antigone opens tomorrow at 8 p.m. at the Studio Theatre at the Annenberg Center and will run through Saturday night.

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