A Greek Tragedy in Greytown

Two brothers kill themselves in a duel and their uncle becomes king. He is angry. His first task is to give one brother a royal funeral. The other brother is thrown into the open ground for the dogs and vultures to eat. Antigone, his sister is shocked. She tells her sister Ismene that she will defy the king and bury her brother. Ismene is scared.

It’s an old play by Sophocles, the Greek playwright and it is the next production by the Greytown Little Theatre. The first production in ancient Greece was before the birth of Christ. The play by Sophocles is an adaptation in modern language by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, who won a Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Director, Patrick Craddock, said this new adaptation of Antigone in modern language has choice sentences in it like, “Two vipers spitting venom at the throne”

“The production is new to Greytown and possibly new to the whole of the Wairarapa acting community. It will be produced arena mode – just imagine a boxing ring, with the audience on four sides.”

All the cast is from the Wairarapa with actors from Martinborough, Greytown, Carterton and Featherston. Colton Stuart from Martinborough has a key part in this production as the young Prince Haemon engaged to Antigone.
The production starts on July 19 at Greytown Little Theatre and runs for six performances. As Greek theatre is studied by some secondary schools, students are being offered a special discount ticket price.