Antigone Scenes

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How would you direct the opening scene of Antigone and what effect would you want to achieve for your audience? The set design would be very simple; I would have a cyclorama being backlit with light that slowly gets brighter in the background. This scene takes place Just as the sun is beginning to rise and I would want the audience to know this.

Placed in the middle would be the altar, which is where Antigone and Ismene would centre themselves through the scene, I would do this because I would want it to show the audience their fear of being caught, I would want them almost to be hiding by it during their argument.

I would dress all characters in black, this I would do because I want the audience’s attention to be on the characters body movements and voice tone rather than be distracted by their clothing, though I would have Ismene’s appearance to be tidy and neat, whilst Antigone’s would be more dishevelled and unkempt, this importance of this is that it sends out a message to the audience about their personality and they learn more about the character and it helps them understand why the characters act the way they do.

The characters voice’s the noise level will never raise past a very loud whisper, though obviously loud enough for the udience, this effect would show to the audience that they fear being seen and caught and this fear is never far from their minds throughout the whole scene.

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I would want the pace of the scene to be fast, as this would give the audience a sense of urgency between the two.

Scene Antigone

At the start on the scene, Antigone slips into the room followed by her sister. I would have Antigone walk on confidently and straight towards the altar in the middle of the stage, this would show to the audience that Antigone was quite confident in what she wanted to do, I would then have Ismene alk on much more cautiously and slowly, this would show to the audience that this character was much less confident and worried of being caught than Antigone.

As Antigone talks, I would have her tone quite forceful and her body movement more energetic, this would show to the audience that she was passionate about what she was saying and that she meant every word. When Ismene talks, I would have her tone be more reluctant and her body movements would be much less energetic and more cautious, I would want the audience to see that Ismene was still in fear of being aught and she didn’t feel the same passion that Antigone did about what she was saying.

When Antigone says to Ismene that she’ll ‘soon show what you are, worth your breeding, Ismene, or a coward’ I would have her say this louder and more aggressive, with her body movements much larger to indicate to the audience that she is almost threatening her sister with that statement and this will create tensions between the two of them, I would want Ismene to react to this by shrinking away from her, as if she was scared of her sister, this would reinforce the tension between the pair of them.

As Antigone realises that Ismene will not help her bury their dead brother, I would alrect tnls cnaracte r’s Doay movements to Decome more rlg10 towards ner sister with Antigone not facing Ismene as much now, this would show the audience that Antigone’s feeling toward her sister and more hostile now, and her voice would become much colder and harsher. I would direct Ismene body movements to become tenser too, this will show to the audience that the atmosphere is quite tense and the audience will feel that tension too. As Antigone says ‘Dear god shout it from the rooftops, I’ll hate you all the more for silence-tell the world!

I would direct Antigone’s voice would have to be as loud as it could be whilst still being quiet as the threat of being caught was still hanging over them but this voice change will show the audience that the character is angry, I would also have the actor put emphasis on the word ‘hate’ to show the audience that she really means what she is saying to Ismene. Ismene says to Antigone you’re wrong from the start, you’re off on a hopeless quest’ I would direct her to do in a pleading tone, this would tell the audience that Ismene was trying to persuade her not to go, and this would also tell the audience that

Ismene does care about her sister and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her. I would direct Antigone’s body movements to be aggressive after this, pointing at Ismene often, with her tone becoming more passionate now, this would show to the audience that she is becoming more emotional about the matter and she feels very strongly about it, also her finger pointing would show to the audience that she is sending all her aggression and the focus to Ismene. Antigone exits the stage; I would direct her to ‘stomp’ off in an aggressive manner, this would show the audience a childish side to Antigone.

I would direct Ismene’s reaction to this as exasperated, this would affect the audience by showing them that she is tired of arguing with Antigone and when she speaks to where her sister went as is she was still there, the importance of this line is that is tells the audience that she does care for Antigone, so I would direct the actor to emphasise the words with her body language, to show the audience that she really means it. Ismene leaves towards the palace, I would have her run off the stage whilst looking scared, because at this moment the sounds of the chorus are becoming louder as such, closer to where Ismene is.