Antigone And Creon In The Play 'Burial At Thebes'

Burial at Thebes Antigone and Creon were the two main characters in the play Burial at Thebes. Even though they are antagonistic counterparts, their acting styles were much different. The actor who played Creon chose to modernize the way he spoke his lines. On the other hand, the actor who played Antigone stuck to a more Shakespearian reading; she was much more dramatic with her lines. It is interesting to have the two main characters use two different reading styles; it seemed to make the play less compelling. The actor who played Antigone didn't follow the rest of her ensemble; they all chose to modernize their lines. Instead she made her acting way too dramatic and seemed to be the odd character out; it was hard to take her seriously.
To help understand the play more, we will be analyzing the choices of each character in their acting styles and choices. Antigone used many different viewpoints to strengthen her performance. For example, she used tempo to indicate her anger, if she was flustered, and if she was sad. This can be seen in the opening scene where she is lying on top of her brother. She sings slowly which makes us believe she is mourning and when her sister comes and says she will not help her bury their brother her tempo picks up to indicate her annoyance. This scene also uses another viewpoint; spatial relationship. Since the scene opens up with Antigone laying directly on top of her brother, this extreme closeness shows how she is not ready to let go and also the pain she feels for her brother's lack of burial. Another viewpoint she portrayed was her use of architecture. Immediately she begins with moving the dead body to the river to clean it. She not only lays the body in the river, but she settles in the river as well. She completely immersed herself into the body of water instead staying to the side of it which shows how dedicated she is to burying her brother. Lastly, her character used a lot of kinesthetic response which was usually her struggling against another character. For example, when the guard grabbed her to be tied up against the pole she started kicking and flailing. This helped further the character of Antigone along because it showed the audience her nature; that she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Antigone didn't have the most useful tactics. Even though she was to marry Creon's son, I would have never known until someone said something later on. I feel as if she could have used that more to advantage by confiding in him, instead of badgering Creon. Antigone's objective was to give her brother a proper burial, no matter what costs. In an attempt to get this done, she used similar tactics throughout the play. As I mentioned before, I believe her main tactic was to badger Creon instead of trying to get him to understand, which only riled Creon up more. I think part of her objective was to anger Creon at times because she didn't seem to change her tactic up to get her brother buried. All of her tactics were pretty antagonistic towards Creon. She would criticize, taunt, and frustrate Creon at every corner she got. These tactics show what kind of attitude Antigone has, but it makes me question if she loves Creon's son since she seems hardly interested in him and never mentions him. She could have easily used him to convince Creon to see her side. The actor of Creon also strengthened his character with many different viewpoints.
One of his main ones was spatial relationship. He used spatial relationship to show he was the dominant one in the scene. For example, in the beginning he stands at the podium a couple steps higher than all the reporters. Also when he is punishing Antigone, he has her tied to pole on the ground while he is menacing over her. He also used shape when he was talking to his son and the reporter. They made a triangle, which made the reporter seem like the mediator and Creon and his son were the two trying to make a connection. Then Creon moves father away from his son, trying to break the connection and makes an unequal triangle to show how taken aback by his son he has become. He also uses the architecture to his advantage by making it clear that he is the dominant one. Talking at the podium is the main example, but also using the conference room shows he is a hard worker and can't seem to put his work down. Last, but not least, Creon also uses tempo to set his mood. For example, when he is trying to make amends with his son, he talks in a slow constant pace. Like he is trying to feel out the situation, hoping his son is on his side. Once he finds out his son disagrees with his decision to imprison Antigone, his voice quickens and becomes much louder to show his irritation and hurt. Instead of becoming slow and feeble when hurt or saddened by a loved one, he becomes defensive which shows that his character doesn't like to be told when he is wrong and doesn't like to take
orders. For most of the show his objective is to punish Antigone's brother for fighting on the wrong side of the war by not giving him a proper burial. He tries to intimidate anyone who goes against his wishes. He also tends to persecute anyone who disobeys him, such as Antigone. He belittles her when he finds out her plans to bury her brother and tries to humiliate her by tying her to a post. He also uses blackmail to make sure the media tells the story he has written out by making open ended threats. The reason why he is so terrifying is because the previous circumstances is that Thebes was at war and the wounds and hurt from the war are still fresh. I don't think he is ready to let go of the pain caused by the war and instead uses it to fire his passion to lead this city.