Modern French dramatist, Jean Anouilh, is a great tragic
playwright of the twentieth century. His best known work is
Antigone, a modern version of Sophocles\' tragedy. Anouilh\'s
Antigone also provides a commentary on the Nazi occupation of
France. In rewriting the myth in modern times, Anouilh revives the
issue of free will under the power of the state.
Sophocles\' tragedy is set in Greece, but Anouilh wishes to indicate
the timeless, universal nature of this conflict of human law versus
divine law. He sets the play on a simple stage that could be
anywhere. There is a staircase of three steps forming a semicircle,
with two archways at the bottom. Curtains part in the center for
entrance and exit. A table and chairs on the left serve as the only
furniture.
In one long scene, the play moves from early morning in the palace
of Thebes to high noon outside the city gates, with the guards
keeping watch over the dead body of Polynices. The action moves......
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