What if men didn’t exist?
A provocative all-female acting troupe is exploring that idea by staging a gender-bending twist on the Greek tragedy “Antigone.”
The dreamy modern play is a queer-friendly reinterpretation of the classic betrayal story that turns Antigone into a lesbian and King Creon into Queen Creon.
“We look at what would happen to this family in the absence of men,” said Rachel Broderick of Our Ladies of South 4th Street, the troupe. “It’s a compelling, insular world.”
Broderick said she wrote a spin-off script, based on the Fifth century tale, complete with an alternate ending, an illicit gay affair and tense burial scene.
She said her script explores the power dynamic between women and features a plot twist that makes the story more relevant today. The show has an “earthy, dirty” and poetic tone complete with dancing, she said.
The troupe — which stages small productions in the Williamsburg abode it is named for — also plans to use a single pile of dirt to set the stage, where not a single man will set foot.
“Absence is a powerful thing,” she said.
“Antigone” at The Brick Theater [575 Metropolitan Ave. between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, (718) 907–6189], May 18 -19, 11 pm. $12. Visit www.bricktheater.com.
Reach reporter Natalie O'Neill at noneill@cnglocal.com or by calling her at (718) 260-4505.
