when i, as a huge emma d'arcy fan, had heard that the play they were starring in was coming to america for four weeks, i was more than thrilled. to know that i would have an opportunity, whether i was granted the chance to see them in person or not, to see this play that i had heard such acclaim about— i was more than giddy.
although i was not familiar with the play of antigone before watching, which this play is based off of, i felt like i knew the fate of annie (antigone) twenty minutes in. her slightly erratic, jerky movements and sudden questions that made you ask yourself "is.. there something wrong with her?" made me immediately begin to craft a thesis of her character. when the conversation shifted to if annie was on medication and if she was seeing a doctor, it made me hum in both satisfaction and worry. satisfaction that my theory was correct, and worry for how the play was going to.. well, play out.
annie's relationship with her uncle, chris, was what most intrigued me about the play, which i'm guessing most can agree with. it turned out to be quite the incestuous elephant in the room that no one, not even annie and chris themselves, wanted to address. every interaction between the two characters lined up so perfectly to the uncomfortable moment when they kissed— the tension in every word toward each other, how chris had almost no hesitation to putting his hands down annie's pants, leni quite literally warning izzy not to let her sister and uncle together again. i felt it coming yet i could not believe it as it happened before my very eyes. a part of the conversation that i noted during that moment was how they both asked each other if people were aware of how weird the other was, as if being in an incestuous relationship with your niece/uncle wasn't the weirdest thing about them.
there were so many amazing things to highlight about this masterpiece of a play, but i will only focus on two— the astounding work of alexander zeldin when it came to especially writing this play, and of course the acting of both emma d'arcy and tobias menzies. after finishing this play, i immediately took online to see if i could find a pdf of the play of antigone. as i read just the first few pages, the accuracy of 'the other place' to sophocles' 'antigone' was astounding. antigone's conversation with her sister, ismene (izzy in this play), on just the first page discussing how burying their brother goes against the laws of creon (chris) is almost eerily interchangeable with the conversation between annie and izzy as izzy gives her sister the same warning, telling her that spreading their father's ashes is what chris wants. many lines draw directly back to the source material, such as antigone's line "with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me" directly relating to how annie's life ended in the same way her father's did, and in the same place. zeldin's work to take the source material and modernize it was so well done in a way that i could not see it done any differently. i am so in love with the way that he wrote annie's character, staying true to the foundation of her character, how she is only there to "say no and die."
and god, does emma d'arcy play antigone so well. one of many reasons why i fell in love with emma's work and them as an actor was because of how well they can use only their facial expression to show the audience the turmoil of their characters, and they do that times ten in this play. the immediate displeasure on annie's face as she steps into her father's old home just to find that nothing is still the way it once was, the frustration and anger she shows when chris denies her request to keep the ashes in the home, and especially when annie shifts from sobbing 'i love you' to her sister to her uncle, and the expression of both absolute heartbreak and acceptance that she will never mean as much to her uncle as he does to her before she goes off to end her life in the very tent where their relationship began. and while tobias menzies, as every other actor in the play, did such a wonderful job, i truly believe his best work as chris began when the only two actors on stage were him and emma. when chris dropped to his knees in front of annie in a form of submission, allowing her to do whatever she pleased with him— that seemed to be his true form, almost. and i could not take my eyes away for a second.
in summary, there are not enough praising words to describe the work that alexander zeldin, emma d'arcy, tobias menzies, and the rest of the actors have done with this play and i will forever be infuriatingly jealous of every individual who was able to go and see this in person.
when i, as a huge emma d'arcy fan, had heard that the play they were starring in was coming to america for four weeks, i was more than thrilled. to know that i would have an opportunity, whether i was granted the chance to see them in person or not, to see this play that i had heard such acclaim about— i was more than giddy.
although i was not familiar with the play of antigone before watching, which this play is based off of, i felt like i knew the fate of annie (antigone) twenty minutes in. her slightly erratic, jerky movements and sudden questions that made you ask yourself "is.. there something wrong with her?" made me immediately begin to craft a thesis of her character. when the conversation shifted to if annie was on medication and if she was seeing a doctor, it made me hum in both satisfaction and worry. satisfaction that my theory was correct, and worry for how the play was going to.. well, play out.
annie's relationship with her uncle, chris, was what most intrigued me about the play, which i'm guessing most can agree with. it turned out to be quite the incestuous elephant in the room that no one, not even annie and chris themselves, wanted to address. every interaction between the two characters lined up so perfectly to the uncomfortable moment when they kissed— the tension in every word toward each other, how chris had almost no hesitation to putting his hands down annie's pants, leni quite literally warning izzy not to let her sister and uncle together again. i felt it coming yet i could not believe it as it happened before my very eyes. a part of the conversation that i noted during that moment was how they both asked each other if people were aware of how weird the other was, as if being in an incestuous relationship with your niece/uncle wasn't the weirdest thing about them.
there were so many amazing things to highlight about this masterpiece of a play, but i will only focus on two— the astounding work of alexander zeldin when it came to especially writing this play, and of course the acting of both emma d'arcy and tobias menzies. after finishing this play, i immediately took online to see if i could find a pdf of the play of antigone. as i read just the first few pages, the accuracy of 'the other place' to sophocles' 'antigone' was astounding. antigone's conversation with her sister, ismene (izzy in this play), on just the first page discussing how burying their brother goes against the laws of creon (chris) is almost eerily interchangeable with the conversation between annie and izzy as izzy gives her sister the same warning, telling her that spreading their father's ashes is what chris wants. many lines draw directly back to the source material, such as antigone's line "with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me" directly relating to how annie's life ended in the same way her father's did, and in the same place. zeldin's work to take the source material and modernize it was so well done in a way that i could not see it done any differently. i am so in love with the way that he wrote annie's character, staying true to the foundation of her character, how she is only there to "say no and die."
and god, does emma d'arcy play antigone so well. one of many reasons why i fell in love with emma's work and them as an actor was because of how well they can use only their facial expression to show the audience the turmoil of their characters, and they do that times ten in this play. the immediate displeasure on annie's face as she steps into her father's old home just to find that nothing is still the way it once was, the frustration and anger she shows when chris denies her request to keep the ashes in the home, and especially when annie shifts from sobbing 'i love you' to her sister to her uncle, and the expression of both absolute heartbreak and acceptance that she will never mean as much to her uncle as he does to her before she goes off to end her life in the very tent where their relationship began. and while tobias menzies, as every other actor in the play, did such a wonderful job, i truly believe his best work as chris began when the only two actors on stage were him and emma. when chris dropped to his knees in front of annie in a form of submission, allowing her to do whatever she pleased with him— that seemed to be his true form, almost. and i could not take my eyes away for a second.
in summary, there are not enough praising words to describe the work that alexander zeldin, emma d'arcy, tobias menzies, and the rest of the actors have done with this play and i will forever be infuriatingly jealous of every individual who was able to go and see this in person.
