Have you heard of Antigone's city, Thebes? In many ways it is a city like our own, but the ruling family, Antigone's family, was very unfortunate. Antigone's father, the famous king Oedipus, ruled in Thebes for many years until a dark secret drove him away, blind and disgraced. (Antonia)
Oedipus' two sons, Antigone's brothers, were supposed to rule together. Eteocles, the younger of the two, banished his brother Polyneices from the city, but he did not stay away for long. Polyneices raised a powerful army of foreign soldiers and attacked Thebes, his homeland. When the fighting ended, Thebes still stood, unconquered, but Antigone's two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, were dead, each one having killed the other. (Sina)
Let's imagine, if we can, that those things happened yesterday. The civil war between the brothers has ended, and today Antigone's uncle, Creon, has assumed control of the shaken city. Creon has decided to "reward the brother who defended Thebes but to impose a penalty on the other. While Eteocles will receive a noble funeral, Polyneices will have the shameful punishment that is common for traitors--no burial at all, on pain of death for anyone who tries to inter the body. (James)
Polyneice's corpse was to be left rotting outside the city, carrion for wild dogs, a sign for those who may think to betray Thebes. (Shoshi)
But someone has broken the law. Someone, in defiance of Creon's decree, has been caught burying Polyneice's body. Who is this criminal? One of the foreign soldiers, perhaps? A revolutionary from Polyneices' army? (Genna)
No, it is Antigone, Creon's own niece. What will Creon say to his niece when he learns that she has defied him? How will she defend herself? Who will play the role of Antigone in this scene, Will she humbly apologize after the guards drag her back to the palace? And who how will play Creon, just getting word of his niece's defiance? And who will play Creon react to this discovery? Will he question Antigone's sister, Ismene, Antigone's sister, who chose to follow Creon's decree and not bury Polyneices?
We ask the remaining players, and you, no longer just an audience, but instead the people of Thebes, to witness this tragic story. (Corby)