Antigone Character Profile

 

 

Brain Storms about your character

My character is in the chorus. I am a soldier who at first is siding with Creon and is excited for the new monarchy. As suggested by others, my character is motivated and ready for the job at hand. Being involved in something so important (Creon’s ruling and keeping his laws in order) is a huge thing for me. I have never had such a major role in the community so I am extremely excited. This is something I’ve worked to be able to do for all of my life.

To portray this, I need to:

• Show the excitement in my expressions and body language
• Smile when Creon speaks
• Be respectful of Creon
• Get excited when Creon comes closer to me or looks at me

However, my opinions of Creon change as the play goes on. He scares people and that is something I decide doesn’t make a good leader. He loses a bit of my respect when he orders everyone to make sure that the body of Polynices is not buried. Part of me sees this as immoral.

Eventually, I grow as a person who is no longer desperate for the approval of those high in command and the King and gain some moral beliefs.

National Theatre Antigone Scene Analysis

The task is to watch Antigone (Filmed Live at The National Theatre) and write analysis comparing a scene with our own adaptations.

I chose to write about two scenes as they coincide with one another: Creon’s Entrance & The Soldier’s Entrance.

Whilst watching, I began making notes. The initial, obvious thing I noticed was that the set was different. The chorus were not soldiers (which is what we had done), they were political minions of Creon. The set was a low-lit office that filled out a wide, end-on stage. Our version is all performed on a thrust stage. The lighting is just as dim and the atmosphere just as tense.

When Creon appeared, I noticed that he seemed less accustomed to being King than our version of Creon did. I personally felt that he was much more laid back and less used to his new-found authority which I found effective at showing an intriguing personality to Creon. Unlike our version – where the chorus are often cheering and clapping in celebration – the chorus in the National Theatre version only clap once. It is extremely on queue after Creon finishes a line with “mine by right”. The clap is brief, and the chorus seem way less proud of their new king than in our version. The soldiers are also stood completely still at the sides, which is how we originally blocked that scene but then changed it to involve much more movement. The lack of enthusiasm of the chorus compared to our’s sets a different atmosphere entirely. I think that both are effective at being engaging to the audience.

Conclusively, the soldiers seem less afraid of Creon. For example, the line “We are not mad, sir” is said with a sort of mocking laugh. This behavior would not be acceptable to our version of Creon. He would be far more intimidating; making sure that no one questions him without a serious tone. The line immediately after, “We know the law – and the penalty for breaking it.” Is said to Creon as though challenging him and telling him that they don’t need him to tell them what will happen if they fail him. In our version, that line is less significant. Creon barely notices it which gives a different atmosphere entirely; it tells the audience that he does not care much at all for what people think of him.

Shortly after this, the Soldier enters to bring the news that Polynices’ body has been buried. In our version, the Chorus and Creon are still on high alert. As soon as the Guards bring the Soldier in, everyone is extremely attentive. However, in the National Theatre’s version, the Chorus and even Creon are about their own business in the office set. Most people are sat down at a desk; Creon included. The soldier speaks for some time before saying the line “The body’s buried.” This is when Creon stands up and the Chorus are alert.

In our version, the Chorus are the ones moving about, chatting to each other in shock after this line and Creon is stood still, staring at the Soldier and waiting for him to expand. In the National Theatre’s version, Creon is the one doing most of the moving. However, Creon still remains to be less bothered by things. He jokes and laughs whilst leaning against a desk when saying “Do the Gods love criminals, these days?” This attitude works well as he had just said “Quiet, all of you, before I lose my temper.” This shows that he hasn’t lost it. In contrast, our Creon losing his temper and raising his voice a lot more in a harsher tone is effective also because it shows that our Creon is more impulsive and new at being King.

09/03/20

Today was just a rehearsal day. We didn’t input any new ideas but it was good to get a rehearsal in and memorize what we had done last time. We rehearsed both the first Chorus Scene and the End scene.

25/02/20

In today’s rehearsal, we decided to start the first Chorus Scene from scratch. Sometimes – as daunting as it may seem – an entire scene should be recreated if it is not going well. We also practised with a rough display of the staging which made us more creative (e.g. standing on steps, using the floor space differently). We also finally rehearsed the ‘drinking song’ to in-cooperate. We are now very happy with what we have created.

13/02/20

Hilary (Head of Performing Arts) was watching us today. Input from someone new was extremely helpful. Thankfully, she was not afraid to speak up when something could’ve been done better. This attitude towards us was extremely refreshing and we took on board everything she said.

1st Chorus Scene

• There was a huge lack of energy
• People were moving around with no purpose and distracting from those saying their lines.
• We need to make sure our characters are fully developed and that it is clear what we are like to the audience.

2nd Chorus Scene

• The movement scene was confusing with little purpose.
• There needs to be a clear reason for the movements we’re doing – who are we now, soliders? Chorus members? How are we going to show this – through costume?

06/01/20

• Using chorus speech, exploring different movements when reading punctuation e.g. stopping on a full stop or changing direction on a coma. The purpose was to enhance the intentions of the punctuation used and to allow myself to play with the rhythm of the language without focusing on the words I was saying.
• Passing around the speech from a line in Antigone to learn to keep energy up and try different energies and intentions when performing a line – Eugenio Barba
• Running and colliding – exploring physical impulse on impact to inform an intention of a line – to anchor onto another person
• Discussed anchoring briefly. Physically pushed all energy into a chair when delivering a line. – exploring different physical activities as they change the sound of your voice depending on what you’re doing. Weight, strength and tension.

27/01/20

We decided to scrap our original ideas for the second Chorus scene (with the fates) and instead used inspiration from a production called Come From Away. We then blocked our new ideas (photo below).

28/01/20

We discussed a few more ideas for the Chorus’ second scene and ideas were given for Antigone’s arrest scene which was then roughly blocked. A lot of the group was missing so we didn’t do as much in the space of time that we had hoped.

Knotted Project Workshop

The Activities we Explored

We explored different activities in an ensemble as we walked around the space and we did certain movements in pairs when we made eye contact with someone.

• Moving around the space stopping and starting together as an ensemble
• Doing 1 of 3 movements when you make eye contact with someone: grab wrist, take each others weight, sit back and pull through
• Back of hands touch, spin back to back and connect you whole body as you move
• Back to back, one bends one leans back, takes their weight completely, then swap.

The purpose of this was to help us work better as an ensemble and to recognise when making eye contact with someone should be a cue to interact.

We held a stick with fingers tips between partners, lead and following. Then walking around with your partner and trying to keep the space the same as the starting point at all times. The purpose of this was to show use how distance can portray a relationship.

Another activity we did was shouting falling, flying or tunnelling and the entire chorus had to run to you and do the action for you (e.g. lifting you up or catching you if you begin to fall). The purpose of this was to show us that as a chorus, we must work as one unit and be there for every member as well as trusting each person.

We then split up a chorus piece of text for Antigone. We chose which lines we thought we could make the most interesting movements out of. Once we had chosen them, we used what we had learned previously to add intriguing actions. We had a short amount of time which taught us to work quickly and make whole group decisions and respect other’s ideas (as there was no time to argue about them).

We also learned some important teachings:

• You must balance the space
• Be light on your feet
• Turn your body if you walk to the edges of the stage so you can always see everyone
• Peripheral vision is essential
• When lifting someone, never lift holding a joint

For me, I need to remember to keep my chest and eye line up, as it gives me a powerful presence on the stage. My target is to remember this as well as speak with projection and purpose.

Greek Theatre

Greek Theatre is an ancient style of theatre known for mostly the tragedies and the comedies. Ancient Greek theatre continues to be performed around the world even today but was traditionally performed in stages made entirely from stone with wooden seats. They were often shaped like a horse shoe.

It was believed that many plays could be performed as a way to worship their Gods and performance was taken very seriously. Plays were performed over the period of 3 days: three Tragedians would compete against each other and so would three comedic writers. These competitions were followed by elaborate festivals and rituals for the Gods and laid between a civic ceremony and integral religion as there were also many sacrifices.

During this time, Greek plays were often written by Aristocratic Athenians who had a good education and privilege. The chorus was by amateur youths in the Greek society and was often part of their military training. They perceived dancing and reciting things together similar to military practices and so Greek Chorus became a large part of their training. Actors were professionals who were extremely highly trained and had a tendency to come from the same families of the play writers as Tragic Theatre was viewed as a profession business. This is very much contrasted to what we often see today in the acting industry.