The Aperta's Antigone Of Syria

After examining the first two productions, and seeing the tremendous effect they had on both the performers and the audience members, I am even more delighted to talk about my final production, which also embraced the spirit of Antigone. The Aperta’s production present “ Antigone of Syria” The aim of this production was to “Introduce theatre and art to socially, economically and culturally deprived Syrian women refugees. Through the medium of theatre these women had an opportunity to express themselves fully without restriction or judgement” (Director Omar Abusaada) This production looked at the lives of 35 refugee women of different age and have suffered tremendous lost. The production team objectives are to be able to produce a compelling
They teach each other to read and write and in the process found the joy and longing to reclaim back who they are. These women never refer to themselves as” I,” in the past, something that changed once they read Antigone and found out what it mean to fight for what they believed in. Moreover, none of the women had acting experience, what they had were their stories to tell.According to an article in The Guardian, “Syrian refugee women take from Antigone in their re-imaging of Antigone in Beirut and brought up the timeless question about gender, authority, insurrection and providing healing experience.” The coverage from the press was just pouring in about the impact this production had. The Daily News reported that “the production is a show of defiance as the women act out their painful experiences through the rebellious character of Antigone and provided for their healing through this medium” Here are some reactions and appreciation, from some of the actors over the course of the workshops. “ I am 18 yeas old, married with two children, and live in 24hours of sadness, when I come to the workshops for the four hours each day is the happiest time I have. I get to release some of that sadness and feel empower. (Zena) The ladies range from 16 to 58 years old all have compelling stories of lost and survival. “Oh wow, I have found my younger self again, I have expressed thing that I had not
As long as humans are in conflicts, as long as there are power imbalances, as long as how a corpse is treated matter and reflects upon the society in which it exists, as long as some people see a double standard and others do not. As long as good people disagree about what is right, Antigone and the concerns it raises, the conflicts it illustrates, the themes it explores will continue to resonate strongly with audiences; provided that drama’s production is done in such a way as to connect with local issues, speak to current concerns and use symbols, language and local specifics that work with those audiences, then Antigone will be continue to be relevant to the people of the 21st century and