IRNA, Iran
January 26, 2005 Wednesday 3:45 PM EST

Death symphony in search of justice staged

Tehran, January 26

On the sixth day of the 23rd International Fajr Theater Festival,
Wednesday, Antigone from the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles was
staged at Tehran Vahdat Hall.

The play was directed by Hacoup Ghazanchian from Armenia and was one
of the selected plays of the international section.

Antigone, the third part of the trilogy about Oedipus the King is the
story of the Greek monarch and the horrible destiny his family is
doomed to face.

The first part of the trilogy deals with the tenure of Oedipus, the
second one is about the ominous destiny awaiting him and the final
one relates the incidents his family are destined to face.

Besides `Oedipus at Colonus` and `Oedipus the King`, Antigone is
considered as one of the world most charming classical tragedies.

Some 2,500 years after it was created, the play still attracts the
attention of art lovers.

This time, however, the version of Antigone staged by the Armenian
theater group displays a death symphony in search of justice in a
vehemently oppressed land.

Here Antigone, gets involved in an uprising against a hypocrite
bloodthirsty monarch seated on the throne and ruling the people.

However, his efforts to seek justice in a spellbound land are in vain
and he fails to attract any assistance to the effect.

A young man in love is the only one supporting him.

But the monarch who is against modern thoughts gets into conflict
with him and eventually hangs Antigone for his quest of justice.

Finding himself single-handed, the young man puts an end to his life,
in the hope of meeting his beloved in the other world.

Given his good know-how on the basic principles of theater, the
director of Antigone has succeeded to establish a reasonable relation
with the Iranian spectators.

Making use of technical and theatrical gestures at the beginning and
end of the play marks the director`s good expertise in the field.

The play script provides the director with the opportunity to present
a successful performance played by professional actors, despite the
fact that some of the acts are quite out of rhythm and irritate the
viewers.

In spite of the minor flaws, Antigone was quite appealing to the
Iranian spectators attending Vahdat Hall on the sixth day of the 23rd
International Fajr Theater Festival.