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Another Antigone
Reviewed by Vanessa Cate
Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre
Through February 7
Entering into its 42nd season, Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre unveils its newest addition — a small black box theater, located on the building’s second floor and with as many seats as years the group has been around. At a time when theater companies are packing up their bags left and right, it is truly exciting that Group Rep is thriving.
The black box theater launched into its very first performance with lights newly hung, paint only just dry, and seats not yet broken in. On its maiden voyage, it opened with A.R. Gurney’s Another Antigone.
The problems with the production begin with the writing. Inspired by Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, Gurney’s 1987 adaptation attempts a modern spin on a classic but instead turns into a muddled look at a petulant student whose defiant and puerile behavior goes unchecked by her impotent Professor.
Judy Miller (Natalia Santamaria) is a college senior who needs to pass her class in classical tragedy in order to graduate. However, her professor Henry Harper (Doug Haverty) refuses to accept what she’s turned in. Instead of the research paper on the composition of tragedy that he’s assigned, Judy, inspired by the strength of the strong-willed Antigone, has written her own take on the play. Henry refuses to give her work a grade, and Judy decides to stage the play herself.
The original Antigone warned of the power and danger of hubris in man. Here, we really can’t feel sorry for Judy, who seems more like a student from hell than someone standing up for something that’s actually important. Unlike Antigone, who fought for burial rights for her deceased brother, Judy stubbornly insists on being graded for her shoddy work. She even goes so far as to demand an ‘A’ when a lower grade is offered.
Perhaps, unlike the original, this play’s real protagonist is Professor Harper. Despite being modeled after the unbending Creon, Harper is a passionate lover of classical text, romanticizing it and enjoying more of a profound connection with words than with any actual person in his life. However, his social awkwardness, spinelessness, and intimations (though it’s never quite clear) of anti-Semitism make him as unsympathetic as his recalcitrant student. It’s hard to care about either one of these characters, and in the end we learn nothing from this story.
Regrettably, Linda Alznauer’s direction adds neither vision nor texture to a text that is both irrelevant and unengaging — and the performances follow suit. Even Diana Martin’s costumes are confusing, and fail to set us in 1983 when the play takes place.
Despite these weaknesses, I look forward to Group Rep continuing to grow. I’ll definitely come back, but I’ll probably wait a little bit for them to settle in.
Upstairs at The Group Rep/ Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood; Sat., 2 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; through February 7. (818) 763-5990 or www.thegrouprep.com. Running time: approximately 1 hour, 50 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
