*** We all know that Greek tragedies have been on stages for centuries and many theater audiences prefer to avoid these long, drawn out melodramas. Promethean Theatre Ensemble is a company that produces and develops through adaptations that bring these stories to a more modern look and tie the storyline to a service organizatio that they select to support and promote with each production. This adaptation by Lewis Galantiere of Jean Anouilh’s 1944 adaptation of That written by Sophocles, brings us a much shorter ( 95 minutes -no intermission) version, and makes the characters very real.

The story is about power and following ( or not following) orders dictated by the king. The first 15 minutes of this production, as directed by Elaine Carlson, introduces us to the characters that will help us navigate through the story. The Chorus ( Christina Reneejones is sheer perfection in this role) brings us up to date on each and every character as well as the story of how they all came to be on the stage, or should I say, characters in the play.

Of course, the main character is Antigone ( deftly handled by Heather Dennis) who is set to mary her cousin Haemon ( Layke Fowle), the son of her uncle Creon ( a strong performance by Jared Dennis) who is now the King since his brother ( Antigone’s father) is dead. This is what Greek Tragedies are like, but I do have to say, this particular adaptation was pretty easy to follow and there are some comic moments as well.

Antigone believes that her brother’s body must be buried so that his soul can be back with their parents, but King Creon has decreed that this cannot take place. The story takes us through the ups and downs of the characters and their aims and goals. There are deaths and fights and a strong cast of players that make all of the characters seem real ( and of course, the modern dress and style does help). They are: Marssie Mencottii ( her Nurse” character is adorable), Meghann Tabor as Ismene, Antigone’s faithful friend, Alex George, Anthony J. Harris, Gunner Bradley, Brendan Hutt and Gavin Blayne ( these are the three guards who play an important role in the storyline regarding Antigone’s plight.

I am not one for Greek Tragedies, but found this one to be enjoyable and understandable, and it was nice to see a number of young people in the audience. The performance was powerful and while the set (Trevor Dotson) was simple, it was quite effective. The lighting (Robbymoe Reeves) and sound ( Alex Trinh) were perfect and the props(Tristan Brandon) worked. There is some physical chorography in this production and so they also have a fight and intimacy Director. Maureen Yasko handled this task, and did so with grace and style.

“Antigone” will continue thru – Jun 27th with performances as follows: