Burial at Thebes

directed by Sarah Wansley

costume design Janet O'Neill

scenic design Lily Bartenstein
lighting design Bo Tindell
sound design Andrew Vargas

 

Forum Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego CA

November 2014

 

Photo Credit: Jim Caromody & Will Given

 

UCSD 3rd Year Directors Thesis

Set in a mythic land halfway between ancient Thebes and Washington D.C., this contemporary adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone asks which is more important, the laws of man or the laws of the gods? This theis production focus on the politcal and the personal investigation of American culture. 

Each character’s silhouette is built around the images we see so frequently on the news, in papers and in social media. Color is the distinguishing factor to visually delineate class and position within the dress of a contemporary world. Harking back to clothing shown in classical art, the royal-presidential family imitates colors of Greek “Red-Figure” pottery: red, black, and orange. These became the colors of Thebes. Those of lower status were muted in a gray wash, much like the white and gray of statues in classical art. The clean, contemporary style lines built to sculpt each body with a tightly controlled color palette, aim for poetic simplicity.