Unique Spin to an Old Story

I think that this performance was very interesting, and I have a lot of thoughts on it. I knew something of the play Antigone, but not much beyond the fact it was a famous Greek Tragedy and that it was originally written in Ancient Greek. I found it very interesting to explore the modern twist on it. Part of this modern twist was an unfortunate consequence of the times: watching the actors individually, on Zoom screens, instead of seeing them in person. Although I don’t think anyone would disagree that this was unfortunate, compared to seeing them in person, I still think that it wasn’t entirely a retraction from the play. It added a physical, tangible distance between characters, which one could make the argument emphasized the play’s motifs about distance, lack of communication, and misunderstandings. Even from the very beginning of the play, it is shown that Antigone didn’t really know either Polynices or Eteocles. And her attempts to do right by both of them, refusing to allow Polynices’ body to rot in the streets, ended up only dooming those around her, resulting in three suicides in the original play. A metaphorical distance between Antigone and her loved ones is given physical distance when performed via Zoom screen. While it is a tragedy in the hyperbolic sense that we were unable to see this play in real life, on a physical stage, and see how the characters interacted with each other, I think that there is still something to be said for what a virtual setting might have added to the play. There are undoubtably more shortcomings than benefits, including the fact that some elements of the play were harder to understand without physical acting and actions between characters, but there was also a smaller benefit to be seen, the silver lining of the whole situation.