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Monday, March 23, 2026
Why Are We Obsessed With Antigone?
The New York Times: Antigone, an ancient Greek play, is being adapted in several theaters across New York City. Our critic Helen Shaw explains why Sophocles’s anti-heroine is such a relevant figure today.
I find it very interesting that there are so many productions of Antigone happening in one city at one time. I think it lends itself to the humanism of the play and how uncomfortably relevant it is today. Aside from the financial side of these institutions, the different interpretations don’t compete with one another artistically. It’s more that they simply illuminate the play’s depth. Seeing the descriptions of multiple adaptations side by side highlights how flexible and eternal the original text is, how it invites directors and actors to wrestle with its moral ambiguities rather than settle them. While I’m sure there are producers, donors, and boards out there who are very upset about the fact that all these theatres are telling similar stories, I see it more as a collective cultural impulse to be telling a specific story and digging through its elements to create something new.
They end the video by saying the reason we are obsessed with this character is because she “does the difficult thing”. I think right now in a time where we're seeing women's rights and other folks' civil and human rights be reduced, the people who care are interested in telling stories about people who fought back. And I think those stories are really important and I think they can be inspiring. But I also think that it's important that we not only tell those stories but learn those lessons and use them to take our own real action against injustice in the world. That we choose to do the difficult thing, we choose to resist and build a better world and not comply because sometimes that might seem easier. But it's not easy to have your rights taken away And when that's what you're fighting against doing the difficult thing becomes easy.
2 comments:
I find it very interesting that there are so many productions of Antigone happening in one city at one time. I think it lends itself to the humanism of the play and how uncomfortably relevant it is today. Aside from the financial side of these institutions, the different interpretations don’t compete with one another artistically. It’s more that they simply illuminate the play’s depth. Seeing the descriptions of multiple adaptations side by side highlights how flexible and eternal the original text is, how it invites directors and actors to wrestle with its moral ambiguities rather than settle them. While I’m sure there are producers, donors, and boards out there who are very upset about the fact that all these theatres are telling similar stories, I see it more as a collective cultural impulse to be telling a specific story and digging through its elements to create something new.
They end the video by saying the reason we are obsessed with this character is because she “does the difficult thing”. I think right now in a time where we're seeing women's rights and other folks' civil and human rights be reduced, the people who care are interested in telling stories about people who fought back. And I think those stories are really important and I think they can be inspiring. But I also think that it's important that we not only tell those stories but learn those lessons and use them to take our own real action against injustice in the world. That we choose to do the difficult thing, we choose to resist and build a better world and not comply because sometimes that might seem easier. But it's not easy to have your rights taken away And when that's what you're fighting against doing the difficult thing becomes easy.
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