Welcome to Thebes
Ancient Greek Tragedy retains its power because it explores the extremes of human psychology - and tells some cracking good stories. And the main thing about good stories is that they can be retold in different ways.
Nikki Amuka-Bird (Eurydice) and David Harewood (Theseus) in Welcome To Thebes by Moira Buffini at the Olivier, National Theatre Photo: Tristram Kenton
Moira Buffini’s radical recasting of the tale of Antigone offers both a feminist perspective and a contemporary resonance.
Traditionally, the story of Antigone’s insistence on burying the corpse of her rebellious dead brother Polynices is a struggle between the individual and the state, in the shape of the ruler Creon.
In this version, Creon is dead and the leader of Thebes is Eurydice, his wife. At the same time, Buffini adds a visit by the Athenian hero Theseus, thus creating a contrast between an African Theban society and a Western power.
The one is emerging from genocidal civil war; the other offers the compensations of aid and advice.
Written with both wit and compassion, the play is both a powerful vision of war-torn Africa and a sharp criticism of Western posturing. And by making the leadership of Thebes mainly female, Buffini also challenges the assumptions of masculine power.
At its best, Richard Eyre’s punchy production suggests the terror of irrational violence, meaningless slaughter and sexual predation.
Often it feels dark and dangerous. The jokes about Greek tragedy - Antigone is, after all, Oedipus’s daughter - offer a welcome relief from the suffering.
On Tim Hatley’s rubble-strewn set, with its massive royal palace ruins, the acting by a large cast is uniformly good. Nikki Amuka-Bird’s noble and open Eurydice contrasts well with David Harewood’s imposing and manipulative Theseus, while Vinette Robinson’s passionate Antigone is pitted against Tracy Ifeachor’s Ismene.
Bruce Myers is a memorable Tiresias and Chuk Iwuji a vicious plotter. All in all, this rewriting of an ancient myth is a satisfying account which holds out the possibility of change.
Production information
- By:
- Moira Buffini
- Management:
- National Theatre
- Cast:
- Nikki Amuka-Bird, David Harewood, Madeline Appiah, Rakie Ayola, Omar Brown, Jessie Burton, Jacqueline Defferary, Daniel Fine, Karlina Grace, Rene Gray, Tracy Ifeachor, Irma Inniss, Chuk Iwuji, Alexia Khadime, Ferdinand Kingsley, Aicha Kossoko, Simon Manyonda, Bruce Myers, Pamela Nomvete, Clare Perkins, Victor Power, Daniel Poyser, Joy Richardson, Vinette Robinson, Zara Tempest-Walters, Michael Wildman
- Director:
- Richard Eyre
- Design:
- Tim Hatley
- Sound:
- Rich Walsh
- Lighting:
- Neil Austin
- Choreography:
- Scarlett Mackmin
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Run sheet
- National, Olivier London
- June 22-August 18 2010
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