The burial in question, or not as the case turns out to be, is that of Polyneices, a traitor to the city of Athens.

After his death in war King Creon, (played by Ed Wright) decrees that Polyneices will not be privy to any of the traditional burial rites, and anyone defying this will be executed. The play opens with Antigone (Julie Ross) pleading with her sister Ismene (Helen Graves) to aid her in burying their brother Polyneices. The ever versatile Castle Theatre maintains the key elements of the plays Greek setting, but neutralises the rigidity of it.

The space itself is what one would expect from a Greek tragedy, and the set featuring elegant pillars and steps, as well as huge burning, sun at the back, is visually stunning. Antigone first appears on the set to meet Ismene to discuss their brother, darting back and forth across the stage to avoid the light of a passing helicopter. The costumes, though not intended to be authentic are for the large part are still stylistically, Greek.

The chorus is easily the strongest part of the production, and the cast of which should be highly commended. With the use of song, stunning harmonies, and movement, upon their entrance to the stage they capture perfectly the exuberant joy felt at the end of war. All dressed in a beige variation of a Tai Chi suit, with their hair rigidly plaited back, they all appear as one homogenised mass of interchangeable voices. The chorus of this Greek tragedy don’t merely comment on the action, but are part of it, and at times in the performance represent the citizens of Thebes. At times however, the use of the chorus is exploited for melodramatic effect, and though there are some truly stunning moments, it gets old quickly. Likewise, while the use of stylised movement can be effective, it’s not something that the chorus appear entirely comfortable with. They chorus are all capable singers, but appeared ill at ease with the squawking and birdlike movements that were required of them at one point in the play.

As one might gather the topical references play a large part in The Burial at Thebes, however, it is these same modernisms that sat uneasily with the audience. Why exactly were King Creon and his son Haemon in suits if everyone else was in the same stylised costumes that characterised the production? Likewise, other elements that tried to communicate the relevance of the play to a modern audience succeed only in puzzling them. Either do a modern set version of a traditional Greek one, or if you’re trying to attempt a cohesive mish-mash of concepts, don’t patronise an audience with a couple of helicopter sound effects, if a play is about Iraq, I’m sure they’ll get it This, along with a TV showing Iraqi war footage in the foyer prior to the performance, manifests a clear desire to communicate the political ramifications of a play written in response to the war in Iraq. However these effects have so little to do with the actor’s performances and what’s actually going on onstage, and occur so randomly throughout the play, as to feel anachronistic.

The play however does feature some standout performances from it’s young cast, of note is Ed Wright as King Creon, James Lang as the blind seer Tiresias, as well as a brief but memorable turn by Jemma Jones as Queen Eurydice, and as mentioned above, the ten people in the chorus work well together as a unit, and deserve much praise.