From the World Theatre Series, «Antigone» by French dramatist and screenwriter Jean Anouilh (1910-1987). Antigone was originally produced in Paris in 1942, when France was occupied and part of Hitler's Europe. The play depicts an authoritarian regime which mirrors the predicament of the French people of the time. Anouilh uses Greek myth to explore the disturbing moral dilemmas of our times.

The play was inspired by the ancient Greek tragedy of the same name by Sophocles. Antigone returns after her father, King Oedipus, has been banished from his kingdom, only to find that her two brothers have fought to the death over the succession to the throne, and chaos ensues. Her uncle Creon takes over and becomes king of Thebes. One of his decisions is to organize a grand royal funeral for the first, Eteocles, and to deprive the second, Biolix, of burial and leave his body to rot in the open, exposed to birds of prey. Creon chooses one of them to make him a hero in the eyes of the people, and the other a sinner deserving of punishment, knowing that both were wrong in their fight over the throne. Antigone defies the ban and rebels against the authority of men by digging up her brother's grave with her nails. The guards arrest her and she appears before her uncle, the king, who tries to dissuade her from her opinion and save her from the severe punishment that could be issued against her, but she vehemently refuses the happiness of the pardon that her uncle promises her. Thus the verdict is issued, which evokes the mechanism of tragedy. Nothing and no one can dissuade Creon from his rule. Thus the play ends with the death of Antigone, and the suicide of her lover Eamon, son of Creon, out of grief over her.