“The Passion of Antigona Perez”

recommended (guest reviewer Edgar Vazquez)It would be a tragedy to miss this one! The “Passion of Antigona Perez” written by Luis Rafael Sanchez and based on Sophocles’ Greek tragedy “Antigone” is a wonderful play that Hispanic should be taking advantage of. While we have theater companies in Chicago that are Latino, Aguijon Theater is doing this play entirely in Spanish, and should be enjoyed by far wider audiences. Sanchez, a Puerto Rican dramaturg has taken this tragedy to a new level of contemporary reality. This production explores the classic Antigone and its universal themes; tension between men and women, state and Family and public and private sectors as well as  politics and religion.

The action, directed by  Marcela Munoz, who also takes on the role of Antigona Perez, takes place in a fictional city, the Republic of Molina, in Latin America. This  city is ruled by its dictator, Creon Molina, a tyrannical man who wants to crush the revolutionary movement intent on his overthrow. Antigona, a dreamer of sorts, with revolutionary feelings of her own is being held by Molina and accused of stealing and burying the bodies of her friends who had bene murdered by the repressive regime. They had been on display as a general, yet gruesome warning to other subversives. The very first line of the play is stated by Antigona “I am 25 years of age and I am going to die tomorrow”.

The story follows the same precept as the original as we see into the thoughts and ideas of a young idealist and watch her pain. This is a production that is quite strong  in feeling and emotion and needs to be viewed to get to the heart and soul of the well acted performance in this little storefront theater located on the North side of Chicago.  Tickets are only $15-$20, just a bit more than the cost of a movie or an evening of bowling and far more entertaining and educational. The theater is located at 2707 N. Laramie and the production runs through April 24th with performances on Thursday,Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. To order your tickets call 773-637-5899 or visit www.aguijontheater.com

FYI: the mission of this theater company is to create exciting and meaningful theatrical experiences for its audiences, in performing Spanish language and bi-lingual works so that the Hispanic population of Chicago can have the experience of “live ” theater and theater that will allow for discussion through its works.