Modern Version of ‘Antigone’ to Grace UF Stage

The University of Findlay’s Theatre Program will be staging “Antigone,” one of the most complicated and dramatic of Greek tragedies, which focuses on themes of honor, courage, loyalty and familial intrigue.
Performances will take place on Nov. 9, 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. in the John and Hester Powell Grimm Theatre located on campus in the Egner Center for the Performing Arts.
Tickets for the general public are $6, and are free for UF students, faculty and staff with valid University identification. They can be obtained at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts’ box office online or at 200 W. Main Cross St.
UF students will be performing a modern adaptation of Sophocles’ classic play by French playwright Jean Anouilh, which was first performed in Paris in 1944 during the Nazi occupation of France. This latest adaptation is by Lewis Galantiere. “Antigone” is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
“We are setting our production in Germany in the late 1980s, which was marked by the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall that precipitated the end of communism,” said director Meriah Sage, assistant professor of theatre.
Portraying Antigone will be Sadia Aurna, a freshman from Bangladesh who is double majoring in journalism and environmental safety and occupational health management. Sage characterizes Aurna’s interpretation of Oedipus’ endangered sister/daughter who champions her deceased brother’s right to a proper burial as “powerful and inspiring.”
Senior Brent Hoggatt will play King Creon, ruler of Thebes. Sage says his portrayal is “persuasive, and grounded in truth and honesty.” Hoggatt, a resident of Wilmington, Ohio who is minoring in theatre, previously played Uncle Fester in “The Addams Family” and was the comic neighbor in the female version of “The odd Couple.”
Other cast and crew members include:
Chorus – Adrionna Powell Lawrence
Nurse – Abigail Land
Ismene – Abbey Bumbledare
Haemon – Ryan Blake Bush
Eurydice – Rebekah White
First Guard – Jacob Myers
Second Guard – Riley Klauza
Third Guard – Bo Terrill
Messenger – Lisa Martinez
Page – Destiny DeWar
Ensemble – Jonda Krontz and Deidre Wysocki
Stage Manager – Sara Bornhorst
Dramaturg – Jonda Krontz