Antigone [on strike] – Park Theatre | Review

In Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone defies King Creon’s edict by burying her brother who was declared a traitor by the state and denied a proper burial, her actions leading to her arrest and eventual death.

Here is an opportunity, one would have thought, for really delving into the motivation of Esmeh:  who “radicalised” her and paid for her flight to Syria and why she was able to do everything in secret without any of her family or friends seemingly being at all aware. Unfortunately, the playwright does not go down this route but instead treads the stereotypical well-worn paths, meaning that all his characters are just two-dimensional cyphers saying and doing the sort of things that we read in newspapers or see on television.

Hiba Medina’s role as the elder sister Antiya is the most believable but her portrayal cries out for motivation: too often, as in her final speech, she just rants. Hanna Khogali’s role of Esmeh is only seen on video, which is a great shame as she is also unable to make her more than just that: a video!

Boyfriend Eammon has a confusing role and even though Ali Hadji-Heshmati works hard he fights a losing battle of attempting to be a real human being. Sorcha Brooks is hampered by having to be a narrator who continually asks the audience rather simplistic questions which they answer using a touchpad as well as the role of Ty, the Home Secretary’s PR, and that of an “expert” in a TV debate.

Phil Cheadle works very hard indeed to attempt to build the believable role of Home Secretary from what he is given in the script, and in a duologue with Antiya almost succeeds but his dialogue is too often trite for someone in his position. He is also impeded, as are the rest of the cast, by obviously being told by the director, who is also the playwright, to shout (not just project) all his lines. In fact, this play is very loud and never allows the audience a moment of silence to reflect on what they have just witnessed. There are several scenes in which all four actors rant to no one in particular for several minutes – it is unpleasant and we just stop listening! In addition, there is a continual soundscape (Chris Prosho), often of a Beethoven piano sonata or of a crowd shouting, so that the actors have to rise above that or risk not being heard at all!

The pure white set, very striking, does not appear to be that easy to use. It is placed as a traverse stage so that the audience sits on either side, but the level of the stage is about one metre above floor level and, with the audience as close as it is, one finds oneself continuously looking up in order to see faces rather than feet. In addition, questions, posed by the aforementioned “Ty” are often projected (Vittoria Belli) onto the horizontal stage floor, rather than a vertical wall so that one side of the audience (always my side) has to try to read them upside down! In the end I gave up!

Effective lighting design is by Ariane Nixon, often very inventive.

There is at least one play waiting to be written about the various young people who left their families to join ISIS but the subject matter needs treating with more sensitivity, research and depth than Alexander Raptotasios seems to have done in this play.

Review by John Groves

Sat within an all-white replica of the UK House of Commons, audiences are invited to participate in the unfolding narrative by casting real-time votes and comments with wireless keypad devices, interrogating how our choices have real-life consequences and can easily be monetized and weaponized by the highest bidder.

The play was developed through community discussions with students and teachers in schools in East London. In addition to the actual play, a series of free educational workshops was created in collaboration with Hafsah Aneela Bashir that aim to empower young people to engage with politics through art and activism.

Cast: Phil Cheadle, Hiba Medina, Ali Hadji-Heshmati, Sorcha Brooks, Oya Bacak (on video)

Director and writer Alexander Raptotasios
Associate director and dramaturg Or Benezra-Segal
Set and lightning designer Marco Turcich
Costume designer Marie-Cecile Inglesi
Text Editor Julia Catarina Hartley
Community workshop designer and advisor Hafsah Aneela Bashir
Video Content Creator Vittoria Belli
Stage Manager Julieta Kilgelman
Casting Director Ellie Collyer-Bristow
Video Mapping SDNA

Ferodo Bridges in association with Park Theatre presents
ANTIGONE [ON STRIKE]
Park90, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, London N4 3JP
30 January to 22 February 2025