Australian TV Plays: Antigone (20 July 1966)

Some Sophocles from the ABC. It was made to celebrate the 2,500th anniversary of Greek Theatre.

Premise

Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, is sentenced to death by Creon, King of Thebes, for defying his orders and burying the body of her dead brother.

Plot

The two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, are fighting for the kingship of Thebes. Both men die in the battle. Their successor, Creon, decides that King Eteocles will be buried, but Polyneices, because he was leading a foreign army, will be left on the field of battle.

Antigone, Polyneices' sister, buries him anyway, as Greek beliefs of the time meant that if a body was not buried, its soul would be destined to roam the earth for all eternity in despair.

The body is unburied. Antigone buries it again. She is caught and is condemned to death by being entombed alive.

Her fiance and Creon’s son, Haemon, learns about this and tries to convince Creon to change his mind. It’s only then that the seer Tiresias appears. After a long discussion, he finally persuades Creon that the gods want Polyneices buried. By then it’s too late -- Antigone has hung herself, Haemon kills himself when he finds her, and Creon’s wife kills herself when she learns about her son.

Cast

Liza Goddard as Antigone
Raymond Westwell as Creon
Kevin Colebrook as Teiresias
John Derum as Haemon, Antigone's fiance
Joan McArthur as Eurydice
Ann Charleston as Ismene
Kevin Miles as Chorus Leader
Allan Bickford as Chorus Member
Brian Burson as Chorus Member
Edward Howell as Chorus Member
Terry McDermott as Chorus Member
John Godfrey as Chorus Member
Frank Rich as Sentry
Lloyd Cunningham as Messenger

Original play

The play was by Sophocles. It was written in or before 441 BC.

A full copy is here. An analysis of the play for schools in The Age in 1962 is here and one from 1964 is here.

Other versions

The play had been done countless times. It was adapted for ABC radio in Feb 1953 with Patricia Kennedy (the Jean Anouil version was heard in Sept 1953 a review is here), and in May 1964 with Buverly Dunn, in June 1966 with Ruth Cracknell.

It was done on ABC radio in 1953 produced by Neil Hutchison. See here.

A BBC radio version with Joan Plowright and John Gielgud could be heard in 1960. Another radio version was heard in 1961 see here.

The BBC TV version of the Anouilh version with Dorothy Tutin was shown on the ABC in 1961. It was repeated in 1964.

Jean Anouilh did a version which was performed at the Independent Theatre in Sydney in 1947. A review is here.

There was a stage production in Melbourne with Julia Blake in July 1966. Patricia Kennedy did it on stage in Melbourne in 1949. There were stage versions in 1951 (Melbourne) and 1956 (Melbourne) and 1966 (Melbourne).

it was filmed for Canadian TV in 1963.

Production

This was part of a "long play" policy by the ABC that involved shooting some classics. It was announced by ABC head of TV drama Drew Goddard in 1966. Goddard's view on TV plays. "Dad sits in his armchair looking down on this intruder. He has a superiority complex over it. To grab that audience by the scruff of the neck and involve it is the most difficult thing in the world. Publicly a thankless task but privately most satisfying."

The action was altered to be set in the period near the Greek-Turkish war.

It was filmed in Melbourne with several days of location filming in Bacchus Marsh.

Director Patrick Barton said the role of Antigone "is usually reserved for the stage's established stars. But Liza is quite staggering." Goddard was only seventeen but was quite experienced having appeared in Inadmissable Evidence at the Old Tote as well as Point of Departure and Getting along with the Government on TV.

Barton aimed to make the production as realistic as possible and based costumes on photos of peasants in Crete and Greece.

NAA has a copy of the script. Not online. See here.

Reception

The Age reviewer objected to use of atomic bomb imagery ("it was putting the clock a little bit too far forward"). He thought Westwell "gave his usual thoughtful performance" although "in the early stages he did not quite succeed in projecting the intensity of the personal conflict" and the Goddard "seemed over emotional" with "not enough of the restraint and dignity of the Greek heroine, particularly as she entered the tomb." The critic added "what did really impress me in Antigone was the skilful use of graphics."