Read this French text while listening to an English-language audiobook. (translated by Christopher Nixon).

Luckily for me I got the audiobook as when I turned to the print edition I had checked out from the library, it turned out to be in French!! My French isn't good enough to have read this alone but was good enough to attempt reading it with the help of an English translation in audio :) It was an interesting experience! The L.A. TheatreWorks audiobook doesn't include stage directions so I would pause momentarily while I read these.

One thing that I noticed is that while Creon talks to Antigone in the familiar (tu), she responds to him in the formal (vous). This difference gives a spin to their relationship which cannot easily be duplicated in English.

Reading this knowing that it was written & first performed in Vichy France gives certain phrases and actions a special significance. However, even without that Anouilh's version of this story had some interesting twists to Sophocles' original. Creon is a more ambivalent character; he seems more reasonable, more caring and less stubborn than the one in either the Sophocles or Heaney versions. Antigone's relationships with Haemon (Creon's son) and her sister Ismene are both expanded but her motivation for her actions in this version is much more murky. By lessening the contrast between the 2 characters you would expect that the tension would be less but Anouilh manages to make their confrontation even more heartbreaking as it has overtones of a family feud (and of course, if you read into it Creon as the French colloborator acting for the Nazis and Antigone as the Resistance fighter, then the drama is heightened even further).
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Excellent full cast recording and the translation by Christopher Nixon was also very good.

I got this as a digital audiobook, not CDs ( )

I’m so excited to finally be posting a mini review of one of my favourite french plays, Antigone! Antigone is a retelling of Sophocles’ Antigone from Ancient Greece, adapted by Jean Anouilh during World War II. While the play is close to eighty years old now, it fits the current trend of retelling ancient myths and examining classics from a modern perspective.

The play follows Antigone as she attempts to bury her dead brother even though it’s against the laws of her uncle’s authoritarian regime. As Antigone debates with her uncle the nature of happiness and freedom versus laws and order, the pair also explore the influence of nostalgia on memories from childhood. I loved the contrast between the idealism of youth and the reality of adulthood through the young character of Antigone, as well as the idea of destiny (Antigone’s father is the famed Oedipus, so she feels that she must follow in his footsteps.)

Antigone is a tragedy and despite knowing that all will not end well, Anouilh manages to suspend that to craft an amazing play. In my opinion, the play reads very well, and I don’t think you necessarily have to see it performed to appreciate the writing, though of course the adaption on Youtube I watched was equally amazing.

Rating 5/5: The play is a short and a simple read, the characters all incredibly written. If you ever have the chance to see Antigone in person (I wish I did!) I’d highly recommend it. If not, I’d recommend the read for anyone who is a fan of Madeline Miller or the musical Hadestown! ( )

Written and performed in Paris during the Occupation this play explores the tragedy of Antigone who defies her uncle's order to bury her brother, Polynices. Its exploration of themes such as loyalty, defiance, happiness, and adherence to the law are fascinating to consider in the context of when the play was originally produced. While the play is a bit heavy on long speeches, as is fitting to a classical tragedy, there are occasional moments of humour interwoven throughout as the play makes its way to its inevitable tragic end. ( )

Inspired by current events I went back to read classics from an earlier Resistance that I first encountered in a university French class. The title character remains a compelling one, both staunch and uncertain, a little lost and wholly driven. (Re)discovering that Anouilh is pushing the whole existentialist idea of the Absurd, in which her sacrifice is meaningless even at last to her (and that there is perhaps an integrity in that meaningless choice, but no vindication of righteousness), feels like a betrayal. ( )