Antigone

Acting the role of: Antigone

‘Antigone’ is a Greek tragedy written by the playwright Sophocles, about a girl named Antigone who defies the law to bury her brother who was considered a traitor, who died at war fighting her other brother, who was given a proper burial. I played the character of Antigone, and I thought I used my vocal skills, facial expressions and body language to portray her as a brave, strong-willed and fearless woman. At the very beginning of the scene where Creon, the king, is confronting Antigone for the crime she has committed, I say the line ‘I admit it; I deny nothing.’ As we used levels for this scene with Creon standing on the podium to illustrate the power and authority he holds, I wanted to show the audience that he did not scare me. I used my vocal skills to portray this to the audience; I spoke calmly and put extra emphasis on the word ‘nothing’ to show that Creon does not intimidate Antigone, and she doesn’t care about the punishment waiting for her. I stared Creon straight in the eyes with a blank expression and didn’t break eye-contact whilst saying the line, to portray Antigone’s fearless nature to the audience and to illustrate that she is not ashamed of what she has done. I stood with my arms by my side and good posture, to reveal that Antigone has respect for Creon as she should rightfully have as he is the king. However, I did not hunch over or close myself inwards as this would’ve portrayed Antigone as a cowardly person and I wanted to play her as bold and daring, so I kept my head high and refused to look down to the ground.
A couple lines on, Antigone makes a large speech and within this I felt that some of her lines should’ve been performed with more aggression and somewhat hatred. For example, when Antigone says ‘I did not fear the judgement of a mere man so much as that of the immortal gods’ I raised my