Antigone - Director’s note

On August 14, 2023, the physical world lost an inspiring woman, Alyssa June Fluet. In the spring of 2023, Alyssa was cast as Antigone in this production. She spent the summer, along with her castmates, learning her lines, researching her part, and excitedly anticipating the rehearsal process and production.

I won’t sugarcoat the reality and unpredictability of death. She was taken too soon, and it is unfair. After many of the official and unofficial celebrations of life and communal gatherings honoring Alyssa, September rolled in bearing a new storm cloud for this company as we found ourselves needing to answer the question: what to do with the production of Antigone?

 In this play, the chorus says of man,

he answers
every question put to him
every question put to him

but one
to Death he has no answer
from Death he finds no exit

We gathered, we talked, we shared, we grieved. We had no answer. 

The first line of this play is Antigone’s. She says,

We come out of the dark. 

Would this ever be possible for any of us?

This play is about grief and grieving. The main action in the play is Antigone’s choice to bury her dead brother despite a royal decree that proclaims death to anyone who takes this action. It is a play about life and death. About conviction. About valuing humanity over hubris.  Do we ever get out of the dark following a loved one's passing? How do you keep going when faced with this devastation?

Antigone says,

and when my strength is gone I’ll stop

Alyssa, as our guiding star, led us to the edge of the stormy shadow of September. Drawing from the strength she always exhibited, we made a choice. We would continue this production. To honor Alyssa. But how would we do this?

First, and foremost, we decided to put process over product. Choose humanity over hubris. We would focus on being kind to one another, allowing for grief, and knowing that this would not be easy. We decided having a communal creative endeavor could help us process together.

Second, we looked at the role of Antigone. It belonged to Alyssa. No student wanted to take it on as their own. If Alyssa was Antigone, and we all had her star shining in our hearts leading the way, we were all Antigone. Antigone is a universal symbol of feminism, conviction, and standing up for your beliefs. Realistically we could not figure out how to ‘all’ be Antigone and the other characters, so we settled on having three Antigones represent the timelessness of this story. The struggle to value humanity over hubris is, unfortunately, timeless. This story repeats in the past, the present, and the future.  The three Antigones would each wear one-third of a mask, showing how they connect as one to the archetype of Antigone in all of us. The Alyssa in us all.

Finally, we honor Alyssa in the scenic design which emphasizes the thematic fight between patriarchy and feminism. Kreon’s patriarchal ideals of putting the needs of the state over individual autonomy are represented in the man-made steel beams and marble columns. Antigone’s feminist beliefs of valuing individual life and autonomy are represented in the organic matter of flowers and vegetation that overtake these man-made structures. We honor Alyssa, our Antigone, through these flowers as they are her July birth flower, Larkspur, which signifies love and joy.

 These are three of the many ways we honor Alyssa through this production of Antigone. There are many more unseen ways. The hug someone gave on a Tuesday night, the game we played on Thursday, the stories we shared, and the tears we cried. We, like you, are simply taking one step forward each day. We tried our best to live as the seer Teiresias guides us in the play by saying,

good judgment good judgment
nothing is more important

In each new moment, we get to live in this precious world. We are trying to learn from and not need the chorus to remind us that,

you’re late
to learn 
what’s right
aren’t you

 We know that by living life to its fullest and honoring the humanity in each of us is one way,

We come out of the dark.

Julie Kiernan
Director
December 1, 2023