Composed more than 2,000 years ago and first devised for performance in religious festivals, the dramas of Ancient Greece have never lost their powerful relevance. When, for example, a pair of New York-based actresses hit on the idea of a global theatrical protest against war with Iraq, they devised the Lysistrata Project: On March 3, groups in more than 40 countries gathered to perform and watch Aristophanes' antiwar comedy, written in 410 B.C.
It is likewise possible to read contemporary sentiments into "Antigone," written by Sophocles also in the fifth century B.C., which is currently receiving a magnificent staging by the National Theatre of Greece at Hall C of the Tokyo International Forum. The play follows on from "Oedipus Rex," but where the earlier drama is best known for its lurid theme of incest, "Antigone" turns the spotlight onto Oedipus' daughter and her struggle with tyrannical authority.
The play opens as day breaks on Antigone (Lydia Koniordou) and her sister Ismene (Maria Katsiadaki) after a battle that claimed the lives of their brothers, Eteocles and Polynices. Creon (Sophoclis Peppas), who seized the throne of Thebes after the brothers' deaths, has ordered that the usurper Eteocles be interred with due honors, while the body of the rebelPolynices will lie uncovered where it fell, prey to scavengers and a spectacle of shame.