Antigone

Antigone, by Jean Anouilh. (Written 1944) Based on Sophocles’s play, it was first performed in occupied France in 1944. First done in South Africa by NTO in 1953??**. The Arena Theatre Company staged this play at the YMCA Hall in 1956, with Beryl Gordon and Arthur Hall, as part of the Johannesburg Festival. Other productions by the Soweto Ensemble in 197*. An influential South African adaptation of the play was done by TECON in 1971 under the title Antigone ’71, while a version featuring a female Creon, was done by the the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department in 2003 (directed by Ranza Skordis). (See also Antigone by Sophocles below. It is often not clear from the available documents which version was used, particularly in the adaptations. If there is any uncertainty, they are listed under the Sophocles version.) Antigone by Sophokles. Adaptation by Jean Anouilh and translated into Afrikaans (?***) by Jocelyn de Bruyn and Fred Engelen. Another translation by Theo Wassenaar.

Antigone, by Jean Anouilh. (Written 1944) Based on Sophocles’s play, it was first performed in occupied France in 1944. First done in South Africa by NTO during the Johannesburg Arts Festival in the University Theatre, 11-30 August 1952 (Helikon, 1(6):29). The Arena Theatre Company staged this play at the YMCA Hall in 1956, with Beryl Gordon and Arthur Hall, as part of the Johannesburg Festival. Presented by University Theatre Stellenbosch in 1965. Other productions by the Soweto Ensemble in 197*. An influential South African adaptation of the play was done by TECON in 1971 under the title Antigone ’71, while a version featuring a female Creon, was done by the the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department in 2003 (directed by Ranza Skordis). (See also Antigone by Sophocles below. It is often not clear from the available documents which version was used, particularly in the adaptations. If there is any uncertainty, they are listed under the Sophocles version.)

Antigone, by Jean Anouilh, translated by Lewis Galantiere. Directed by John Ramsbottom and Peter Curtis for CAPAB, opening on 17 March 1969. The cast included Lyn Hooker, Pietro Nolte, John Ramsbottom, Brigid Reynolds, David Sharp, Joyce Bradley, Alan Prior, David Salton, Roy Nieman, Gordon Sara. (Source: Teater SA, 1(4), 1969).

Antigone, by Sophocles. (Written c. 442 BC) One of the most celebrated and utilized political protest plays in the world canon, with its theme of resistance to oppression and unjust laws in the face of conflicting social and familial values.

First produced in South Africa by ** in 18*?. Also done by the students of the Hugenote Gedenkschool in Wellington, directed by I.M.E. Fremantle, *, * . Other productions include **, **, Baxter Theatre (adapted by Sean Mathias and Myer Taub, dir Sean Mathias, with John Kani and Hanlé Barnard, 2004). Utilized as a vehicle for political commentry by the Serpent Players (1965, directed by *?* i.a. with John Kani and Winston Ntshona) and by The Company (dir Barney Simon at the Blue Fox) in 1974.

Translated into Afrikaans by T.J. Haarhoff (published in Die Antieke Drama. 1. Tragedie by Afrikaanse Pers, 1946) and first performed in the 1950s, directed by J. Nel van der Merwe, with Anna Neethling-Pohl. Another translation into Afrikaans was done by J.P.J. van Rensburg, published by Human & Rousseau in 1961. This version was presented by Universiteitsteater Stellenbosch in 1961.

Antigone by Sophocles in Afrikaans, directed by Jannie Gildenhuys for CAPAB in the Nico Arena, 19**.

An adapted (Zulu?**) version was done by Peter sePuma in 1988 (entitled Igazi Lam = “My blood”). A dramatised “performance” of the play was to form the core Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona's collaborative work The Island. (See Antigone by Jean Anouilh above and Antigone ’71 below– for often it is not clear from the available documents which version was used, particularly in the adaptations.). Typro, an amateur group from Tygerberg, did a Cape version of it at the Joseph Stone Auditorium in 1981.

Antigone was the last production the Universiteitsteater Stellenbosch staged in the old Proefteater in Andringa Street, before the building was demolished to make space for the new Drama Department building and the H.B. Thom Theatre built in 1966. Antigone, as adapted in 1942 by Jean Anouilh from the play by Sophocles, was translated into Afrikaans by Jocelyn de Bruyn and Fred Engelen and directed by Fred Engelen for a Universiteitsteater Stellenbosch production that opened in the Proefteater on 1 May 1965. The cast were: Isabel Combrink (Antigone), Fred Engelen (Kreon), Henk Hugo (Haimon), Thea Kirstein (Ismene), Annette Faure (Eurydike), Marie van Heerden (Noenoe), Deon Joubert (Wag 1), Pieter de Swardt (Wag 2), Etienne Pienaar (Wag 3), Mees Xteen (Boodskapper), Willem de la Guerre (Hofknaap) and Joan Greyvenstein (die Koor). The décor was designed by Deon Joubert and executed by Willem de la Guerre, costumes by Elise Ziervogel, make-up designed by Tine Balder, music by Bie Engelen, sound controlled by Mees Xteen, lighting designed by Fred Engelen and executed by Val Julius and the stage manager was Bettina Camerer. (UTS Programme, May 1965). The production was staged for one night, on 15 May, in the Nasionale Saal in Parow, Cape Town. In September 1965 CAPAB staged the Universiteitsteater Stellenbosch production of Antigone in the Hofmeyr Theatre in Cape Town.

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