Theban Plays: Antigone 

In a final battle for the control of Thebes, Oedipus's two sons kill each other. Creon issues an order that no one is to bury Polynices upon pain of death. But Antigone is determined that ... See full summary »

Director:

Don Taylor

Writers:

Sophocles (play), Don Taylor (translation)

Stars:

Juliet Stevenson, Gwen Taylor, Patrick Barr

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Juliet Stevenson	...	Antigone
Gwen Taylor	...	Ismene
Patrick Barr	...	Chorus
Paul Daneman	...	Chorus
Donald Eccles	...	Chorus
Robert Eddison	...	Chorus
Patrick Godfrey	...	Chorus
Ewan Hooper	...	Chorus
Peter Jeffrey	...	Chorus
Noel Johnson	...	Chorus
Robert Lang	...	Chorus
John Ringham	...	Chorus
Frederick Treves	...	Chorus
John Woodnutt	...	Chorus
John Shrapnel	...	Creon

Storyline

In a final battle for the control of Thebes, Oedipus's two sons kill each other. Creon issues an order that no one is to bury Polynices upon pain of death. But Antigone is determined that her brother's body will have the proper rites of burial.

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Plot Keywords:

greek god | greek tragedy | greek army | sophocles | sequel | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 1986 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bioscope, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Antigone (1960)

User Reviews

Excellent film and performances

This is an excellent production to use in humanities or literature classes. It gives a sense of what the Ancient Greeks saw in the theatre, while it updates the setting by having the costumes and uniforms suggest a totalitarian state.

Juliette Stevenson, as Antigone, is marvelous, as she portrays a religious martyr, who is just as much a fanatic in her way as King Creon is in his. John Shrapnel, as the autocratic king, shows us a government figure trying to do what is right, but getting caught up in his own hubris until the final tragedies unfold.

The use of the chorus may be off-putting, but the old men making up the chorus have appeared in countless productions of the BBC and their faces are often familiar to Americans. An alternate approach could have been to reduce the chorus to a couple Theban elders, and, while this staging might have been more comfortable for some viewers, overall we would have lost the experience of seeing a chorus function.