I was 16 years old when I first read Antigone. It was one of many, many challenging texts that I would grapple with over the course of five years in my favourite class: dramatic arts. I was astounded by the content. A young girl named Antigone defies the laws of King Creon, her own uncle, in favour of the rituals that were prescribed by her gods. I was immediately invested in the story of her family. Antigone and Ismene - sisters and "the last cursed branches of this family tree" - presented as contrasting types of women. I remember 16 year old Lauren judging Ismene fiercely - she was the weak one, the submissive one, the one who disappears halfway through the text and no one gives a damn! With time and distance I realise that, even then, my own feminism was taking shape. I am now 34 years old and Ismene has become the character I am most intrigued by because of how she represents women who come to inherit their feminism later in life. You see, my own experiences as a woman navigating this patriarchal world have provided me with enough insight to re-evaluate that which I believed to be true. Of women like Ismene. Of women like Britney Spears. Antigone and Ismene are not contrasts of one another, they are a manifestation of a feminism that some are born with and some come to know later in life. Both are valid because both exist.

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"Antigone Retold is a reimagining of the tale of Antigone, daughter of the cursed house of Oedipus and an anachronistic feminist icon who was centuries ahead of her time. Our version follows the tale of Antigone as portrayed by our traditional cast who speak the script as translated from Sophocles’ original play from 441BCE however, interspersed amongst the ancient narrative, we have exchanged the chorus of “old Theban citizens” with the Seven Devils of Greek Mythology. Meta-directed by Calliope, the muse of epic poetry and our new chorus leader, our audience is introduced to Athena, Hera, Medusa, Aphrodite, Megara and Pandora who provide us with the complicated contemplations of the 21st century feminist in relation to the central narrative of Antigone. Antigone Retold consciously shines the proverbial spotlight on this group of formidable, famous mythological women who have occupied an intricate feminist and even anti-feminist space for 2500 years. Perhaps it’s about time we heard what they think…" ~ Lauren Noble, research proposal (2022)

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As a theatre-nerd who was born and raised in South Africa, I have experienced a political landscape through the medium of the arts. It is my favourite space to grapple with everything that I want to know more about and as a teacher at heart I enjoy the act of engaging with others to know more too. One aspect of my pedagogy as an arts teacher has always been to revere the ancient forms of the arts without being afraid to challenge them or shake them up. Very early on in this devising process  knew early on that the beautiful choral odes of the Ancient Greek chorus were a pressure point for a tale that was so innately feminist. They - like Sophocles, the playwright - are men. And I wanted to hear from the women, using them as a way to deconstruct the tale of Antigone by reconstructing their own narratives from out of the classical story they were watching unfold below them. I started devising around the Ancient Greek mythologies I had always loved and suddenly I met a group of women who were an amalgamation of my imagination, ancient myths and the input of my cast into their own narratives. This is my way of bringing the beauty of classical theatrical forms and 21st century culture together in a way that feels organic. It is definitely the most difficult, complex, multi-layered piece of writing I have ever written! This is due, in part, to the fact that not every type of feminism presented on our stage is my type of feminism at the end of the day. I have learned from Ismene not to judge but to engage these complexities. And then, much like Calliope, I acknowledge that I am only the conduit for a story that is so much bigger than I am.

 

In the immortal words of Hera: "This is about the women!"​