Transcribed from Fairbanks News-Miner
by Scott McCrea / scmcrea@gmail.com
FAIRBANKS – The word “bold” comes to mind when looking for the best way to summarize Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Antigone, or I really wish you hadn’t done that.
How bold?
Well, take the classic Sophocles play, turn it completely upside down and inside out, set it in 2020, throw in fervent worshipping of the Kennedys, and, oh yeah, are those young ladies marching and singing along to the song “21 Guns” by modern punk band Green Day?
Bold, baby, bold.
And pretty entertaining to boot.
Purists might disagree, but I have always appreciated FST’s willingness to dink around with the classics and add new and creative twists to them. Director Anne Thibault pulled no punches when she took on the tasks of penning this updated version, while at the same time, leaving in familiar elements of the 422 B.C. play that should appease the more open-minded purists in the crowd.
Falling in the same vein of last year’s Romeo + Juliet Thibault once again took the approach of going with an all-female cast, and, as with the case with R + J, it is highly effective. Sorry guys, but there are few male thespians in the Golden Heart City who can compete with the caliber of talent found in the actresses who are currently gracing the stage of the Empress Theatre. Even more exciting is the mix – a combination of veterans of several productions as well as grade-school students in the beginning stages of whetting their acting chops.
Trying to write a nutshell version of the play is next to impossible. How do you describe a morphing of the story of one tragic family (Oedipus) with the story of another tragic family (the Kennedys) and make it all make sense? You’re just going to have to go with the flow, people. It’s an odd approach on paper, and granted I was scratching my head a couple of times, but somehow it works. This is thanks in part to a number of factors – fast-paced and witty dialogue, a set that transcends the eras, and, of course, the exceptional talent of the performers.
I hate to use the term “leading the way” in a cast such as this, since there wasn’t a weak spot to be found. However, there are certainly some performances that stand out. University of Alaska Fairbanks theater major Hadassah Nelson is superb as Creon, bringing the same type of vibrancy she did when she played Mercutio in R + J. In the role of Antigone, Claire Wool does a good job of portraying her as a troubled heroine, who, despite best intentions, is not always doing what is right for all involved. Samantha Newcombe’s flustered Secretary brings a lot of comic relief to the tragedy, while Jennifer Taylor musters up a pretty good Bahston accent for the role of Joe Kennedy, Sr.
I mentioned the younger performers who make up the show in bit parts, mostly within the Little Miss Chorus. Leading the way there is one young performer, Annabelle Heyne, who is already moving into veteran status while only in fourth grade. A standout in R + J as well as having appeared in As You Like It and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Heyne has matured immensely as a performer in a very short time frame, and her dynamic stage presence is one backed up by confidence and poise.
The play itself is relatively brief, and because it moves along at such a quick pace you really don’t have much time to overanalyze what is happening on stage – it is more a matter of keeping up.
It’s the type of play that will have you asking questions of your date afterwards, going back over certain details, and trying to make connections that you might have missed. It provokes thought and dialogue. And that is what great art does. Thanks to FST – in particular to the bold vision of Thibault – for once again providing us with that important opportunity.
Antigone runs through April 25 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. For more information and reservations, visit www.fstalaska.org.
Scott McCrea has reviewed local theater for several years. He will happily take your comments at scmcrea@gmail.
