Playwright: adapted by Jack Bourgeois from the play by Sophocles. At: Cold Basement Dramatics at
Oracle Theater, 3809 N. Broadway. Tickets: 252-220-0269; www.coldbasement.org; $20. Runs through: Aug. 19
Oh, Toto, this is not Sophocles' Thebes. A walnut-paneled office furnished in Early American is not a palace entrance overlooking the public square. Nor is classical tragedy likely to commence with a now-retired police commissioner being interviewed by a young female journalist, and her goal is to uncover the facts behind the myth of their country's transformation from an autocracy to a democracy 25 years earlieryou know, circa 1963.
The myth relates how, following the partisan wars sparked by the death of the late king Oedipus and led by his two sons, commander pro tem Creon issued orders for one of the fallen warriors to receive a state funeral, and the other remain unburiedan edict promptly challenged by his own niece, Antigone. Transposing this scenario to a chapter in our nation's history renowned for its social unrest and administrative corruption allows adapter Jack Bourgeois to explore the repercussions of his martyr's civil disobediencenot the least of which was its protofeminist assertion that women take a significant role in shaping their government. It also provides insight into the motives of characters long resigned to the shadows by the account penned in 441 BC.
Early on, our investigative reporter remarks upon the absence of accurate documentation regarding the one-month "Creon Administration." Her eye-witness assures her that "it was a real circus then," the media included, and proceeds to describe a fatherly Creon, a man of reading glasses and crosswords, forced to confront a rebellious Antigone unclear on her purpose but determined to shake up the status quo, nonetheless. Preppy Haemon and demure Ismene, after having their consciousness raised, join the protest. Creon's advisorschief among them, his wifeimplore him to withdraw his draconian policy, exacerbating his resolve. In the end, both of the stubborn opponents pay a high price for their inflexibility, but good things arise from their mistakes.
Bourgeois is to be commended, not only for his eloquent and articulate text, but for his perceptive grasp of the intergenerational conflicts prevailing during the era he proposes to invokean important factor, considering the number of playgoers likely to have first-hand recollections of the period under scrutiny. Audiences will find no facile stereotypes here, but instead, flawed personalities as vulnerable to error as they are capable of remorse and reparation. Legends may demand heroes and villains, but truth is never so simple.