Ich, Antigone

In the organizer's words:

I, Antigone (UA)

by Anna Gschnitzer (2024) after Sophocles (442 BC)

"Together sisterly!"

That's the first word of Sophocles' ancient classic. Antigone wants to bury her brother Polyneikes, but her uncle Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, forbids her to do so because Polyneikes has waged war against his homeland as an exile. Antigone defies her uncle's ban, the head of the state, and buries her brother, the enemy of the state. She is imprisoned - and dies.

Anna Gschnitzer tells the story through the lens of the present. Her Antigone asks about the necessity of polarization: where does the common language end and when must we risk a break in order to protect our own ideals, but also the social order - in front of whose shambles we stand at the same time. When does civil disobedience become necessary? What does it mean to become a heroine of resistance alone, when political action actually requires a collective connection - a common sisterhood? How does Antigone move between division and solidarity?