Greek playwright Sophocles’ classic tragedy Antigone, which is supposed to have been written in or before 441 BC, is slated to be staged in Nepali at Mandala Theatre starting this Friday. The iconic play, one of the most famous plays to come out of the classic Greek dramaturgy canon, works with motifs of civil disobedience, fidelity, and citizenship. 

Antigone, the third of the three Theban plays, expands on the Theban legend that predated it and picks up where Aeschylus’ play Seven Against Thebes ends. 

Mandala Theatre’s rendition of the play, producers say, “is not a Nepali adaptation but rather an interpretaion.” Antigone features actors Srijana Subba (as Antigone), Ranjana Oli (as Ismene), Bijay Baral (as Creone), Bikash Joshi (as Haemon, Creone’s son), Somnath Khanal (as Tiresias, the blind prophet), Pradeep Kumar Chaudhari (as gatekeeper), Umesh Tamang (as messenger) and Anuja Adhikari (as Eurydice), Pashupati Rai, and Anup Neupane, Milan Karki, Pushkar Karki, Sudeep Khatiwada, and Sagar Dahal as chorus. 

Directed by Rajan Khatiwada, Antigone was translated into Nepali by Somnath Khanal and Bikram Pariyar. 

Director Rajan Khatiwada, issuing a brief note on the production, has said, “Written in ancient Greece, the play’s turn of events and the motifs it evokes eerily bears resemblance to our own situation. That’s perhaps what nudged us to stage the play in Nepali. There were challenges we had to face, but despite all odds, the play is going to be staged. Regarding the style, the play borrows themes from both traditional and experimental methods of drama.”

Antigone will be staged at Mandala Theatre in Anamnagar, every day at 5:30 pm (bar Monday), from Friday, July 7, through August 6.