Classic Theatre Presents Antigone at Botanical Garden
April 14, 2021 - San Antonio
The Classics Take Center Stage. Josey Porras portrays the character Antigone and Kacey Roye as Ismene in the Classic Theatre’s latest production of the Greek tragedy “Antigone”. The production will play at the San Antonio Botanical Garden on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. until April 25. Courtesy Images.
By Valeria Torrealba, Senior Reporter | San Antonio Sentinel
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Antigone, a Greek play written by Sophocles, will be performed at the San Antonio Botanical Garden.
- Tickets can be purchased online via the Classic Theatre's website.
Antigone, a famous Greek tragedy originally written by Sophocles, took the San Antonio Botanical Garden’s outdoor space on April 8 and will run until the 25 of the month, with shows on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 7:30 p.m.
A classic tale which navigates through grief, loss, the balance of power and human morality; Antigone parallels numerous experiences that even the modern world continues to see. For director Kelly Roush, the themes navigated through the play resemble those of her upbringing as she recalls growing up in a very male-dominated household and falling in love with the Greek work.
“The play itself is one of those core Greek plays that people really know and can engage with, and understand the rebel youth and going up against the establishment” Roush said. “One of the major themes has been about everybody in this play [loving] deeply. Some of them have better capacity to listen than others, but it’s all about loss and love.”
Sophocles’s work takes the audience on the journey of Antigone, a young woman that battles the higher powers at hand — in this case, her uncle Creon, the new king — as she fights to honor her deceased brother, Polynices, deemed a traitor and undeserving of a proper funeral.
As reported by Arts Alive San Antonio, Antigone “cannot accept Creon’s order and is determined to do what she feels is the right thing to do — bury her dead brother. Her sister Ismene, however, refuses to disobey the king’s rule and offend him. And the stage is set for more tragedy as neither Creon nor Antigone is willing to yield.”
“How do you find the line of being willing to come to the table and listen to each other in a respectful way, even when you’re diametrically opposed on what your major value is? Neither one of them [Creon and Antigone] are wrong,” Roush said. “In the world that they are living in, if they do not bury the dead, they will never have peace. They will float through the world and never make it to the underworld.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, casting for the play became a challenge that Roush prepared to take on. Having some practice under her belt with the previous outdoors production, Macbeth, Roush diligently worked with each actor, ensuring both their safety and comfort during rehearsals.
“I very much wanted to hold general auditions [with Antigone], and when I realized that that wasn’t going to be possible as we were getting into the Fall, I put out a call. People [submitted] a one minute video of a classical monologue and I went through all of those, and connected with people to do callbacks, where I sent them scenes or monologues.”
What began as initial virtual casting calls later evolved to socially-distanced callbacks in Roush’s backyard, a moment that brought hope to the production and allowed her, along with the actors, to begin piecing together the play.
“What we do is live theater, and we also want everyone safe. What we knew we could start doing was over Zoom,” Roush said. “This took months, just getting things going. In January, as things started getting a little bit better, I held a callback in my backyard, which is actually quite large. There’s plenty of room to socially distance.”
As opening night approached, Roush felt grateful to have a small amount of normal back in her life. With her personal timeline marked by what play she directs at that moment, submerging herself back into her work was “exciting” and “exhilarating.”
“I feel like a martini that’s been shaken and stirred,” Roush said. “This year, I’m all the things. It’s been very hopeful and mentally stabilizing to have production team meetings once a week. To have some structure… to go outdoors… it has been exciting and exhilarating.”
The pandemic affected the entirety of the world — but the entertainment industry especially found itself having to pivot and halt their lifelong careers. Without an audience to feed off of and no physical stage to fill, the actors on stage, along with Roush, felt a sense of freedom at the sight of finally being back performing live.
“I’m so proud of all the work and all the willingness people have been able to do to pivot and be graceful, and to be able to communicate,” Roush said. “I’m super excited to get to share it with the audience because for actors, it’s not the same. For actors to have the audience for them to share this story with people and get that human response after a year where we’ve all been so disconnected — it’s really… it’s really light at the end of the tunnel.”
Antigone will play at the San Antonio Botanical Garden on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online.
Valeria Torrealba is an opinions columnist and public relations assistant at the University Star, a student publication of Texas State University. Email her at reporter@sasentinel.com