A two-part BBC Schools adaptation of the classic Greek tragedy by Sophocles.
Following the civil war in Thebes, King Creon (Robert Harris) decrees that the body of the traitor Polynices must be left unburied. Polynices’ sister, Antigone (Freda Dowie), defies the state’s edict and performs funeral rites for her brother. Her act of rebellion sets her on a collision course with her uncle, Creon, who must uphold his own law by condemning her to death. Creon’s son Haemon (Michael Deacon), who is betrothed to Antigone, finds himself caught between his father’s rigid authority and his love for the condemned woman.
This production was created for the BBC’s schools programming strand, designed to introduce the foundational texts of Western drama to a young audience. By dividing the play into two half-hour episodes, the adaptation allowed for a more focused and accessible presentation of the central moral conflict between individual conscience and civic duty. The staging is stark, concentrating attention on the arguments of the characters and the inexorable progression of the tragedy. Using Neil Curry’s translation, the serial sought to make the classical language and complex ethical questions of the original text clear for classroom discussion.
Broadcast: BBC, 2 Episodes, 9 October – 16 October 1962
Written by: Sophocles
Translated by: Neil Curry
Directors: David Thompson, Christian Simpson
Producers: David Thompson, Christian Simpson
Main Cast: Freda Dowie (Antigone), Robert Harris (Creon), James Grout (Messenger), Michael Deacon (Haemon), Sonia Fraser, Robert Gillespie, Elizabeth Keen, Patrick Magee
