Antigones
Created and Directed by Luciana S. Fernandes
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Performed at the Barbara McIntyre Studio, Nov 22nd-24th, 2017.
Second adaptation performed at the Metro Studio Aug 22nd-Sept 2nd, 2019.
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Photography: Chris Hawkins
Costume Design: Michelle Ning Lo (1st prod.)
Sound Design: Logan Swain and Olivia Wheeler
Light Design: Elizabeth Martin (1st prod.); Aubrey McNair (2nd prod.)
Stage Management: Leah Anthony
Embracing my love for dance and physical theatre, this production initiated what has become a continuous quest for articulating my own theatrical language and approach to adapting text to movement.
These productions, choreographed through an intensively collaborative process, were an adaptation of Sophocles' classic, focusing on Antigone's emotional journey and the ways in which we have all been Antigone.
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While the arch of her journey was preserved, very little of the text remained. I only staged the scenes Antigone lives through (including actions that on the original happen offstage), and took an expressionistic approach, focusing on her internal life.
We expressed through lights, sound and movement her visceral motivations: she is not a character of reason and words, but of heart and guts.
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Our designers were part of the creation process and were on the room from day 1, providing input to the movement created and shape of the scene, each with at least one scene created starting from the design concept.
In the second version, with a new cast (except for 1 performer), I focused on exploring stillness, on intimacy, and small scale, following the same text structure, but with an added prologue and new movement.
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This production is very dear to me also for its community building power, in embracing our inner Antigones and making space for every Antigone to express herself.
Performer Megan Wong braids performer Taryn Roo