The ancient Greeks invented the play, along with many other things, but a lot of time has passed since the classics were written - how do they hold up today, for a modern audience, and in translation? This version on Sophicles' Antigone, starring Juliette Binoche, sadly failed to make much impression on me. The modern English in which the play is performed is dull and flat; the action all occurs off-set; and the plot is scarcely comprehensible. A woman breaks a law by burying her brother, after he has died fighting; Creon, the ruler of the state, punishes her but ultimately can't live with his own exercise of power. But we never really understand his motives, while Binoche just wails. I love Shakespeare, but it took me time to learn to appreciate him. This was my first taste of Sophocles, and whatever his greatness, I couldn't see it here.
Review of Antigone at the Barbican
