Press Release
22nd August 2010; for Release on 23rd August 2010
Alea Theatre Presents: ‘Antagone’
Jonathan Tait has flown up the ladder in journalism: young and ambitious and at the tender age of thirty, he made Editor in Chief at a well read and nationally respected publication. But when Laura Arnheim, an unscrupulous opportunist from the continent, drags up an incident in Jonathan’s past – an incident his professional career could not survive – he has a choice to make: either repeat the indiscretion of the past…or come clean. Enlisting the help of close friend (Arthur Copton) – a fixer and ‘bag-man’ of a completely different ilk to Jonathan – he searches for a path to exoneration, under increasing pressure from his friend and protégé (Rachel Dawson) – whom he has kept in the dark about the whole affair – to publish the story that would surely ruin him.
‘Antagone’ highlights the consequences of forgoing one’s responsibilities, and the potential effects thereafter; both personally and professionally. At a time when public figures are under increasing scrutiny over their actions and decisions, Antagone portrays a behind-closed-doors drama that focuses on the personal consequences of public indiscretion.
Conceived and devised from the texts of Antigone (Sophocles) and An Ideal Husband (Oscar Wilde), Alea Theatre presents ‘Antagone’.
Cast:
Lisa Castle - Laura Arnheim
Matthew Haigh - Arthur Copton
Chris Paddon - Jonathan Tait
Hester Read - Rachel Dawson
Directed by:
Adam Sibbald & Helmi Fagan
Designed by:
Alexandria Kerr
‘Written’ by:
Will Wade
As part of The Space’s ‘Canon Season’, ‘Antagone’ derives from two plays (taken from a curriculum-based list of plays) of distinct style of writing and eras of theatre, wherein similar themes were identified. In keeping with Alea Theatre’s adherence to chance and combination, Antagone represents a unique form of devising from text(s), while offering fresh interpretations of the identified themes, characters, and issues raised by both Wilde and Sophocles. Workshops on this method of working and on the texts themselves are available for booking.
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‘Alea Theatre proposes to fuse two of the listed texts in one dialogical narrative event. The chosen texts are: Antigone (Sophocles) and An Ideal Husband (Oscar Wilde). Identifying core themes in moral and ‘political’ (as well as individual/societal) responsibility, the two texts will, through devising workshops and intertextual writing practices, weave with and be pitted against each other in one narrative event.
In this sense, a ‘classic’ text and a ‘modern’ text will be placed directly in relation to and in opposition with each other, highlighting significant differences/ similarities in style, character, theme and ‘narrative’.
We believe that in combining and juxtaposing the texts/plays – and thus exposing them to the unpredictability of narrative chance – we will uncover entirely unique ‘interpretations’, with the texts themselves as the very fulcrum of the process.’
Alea Theatre Presents…..
Tuesday 7th – Saturday 11th September, 2010
7.30pm @ The Space
To book tickets and for other information click –> here <–
Cast:
Lisa Castle
Matthew Haigh
Chris Paddon
Hester Read
Directed by:
Adam Sibbald
&
Helmi Fagan
Designed by:
Alexandria Kerr
‘Written’ by:
Will Wade
[Pre-devising copy] Imagine: after a long day at the “office”, Wilde and Sophocles attend the local public house to reflect on a day of creativity. However, when the bartender accidently confuses their orders, the tone is set: long into the evening the dramatists debate morality and political responsibility (among other topical things); one tempered with modern societal cynicism, the other with divine mandate. On exiting at last bells, the writers bid farewell and return their respective manuscripts…or so they think.
Antigone and An Ideal Husband so entwined, Alea Theatre presents: ‘Antagone’.
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