Another take on the Irish crossfire

10 April 2012

For the English, the most notorious Irish political event of 1984 was the bombing of the Tory conference at Brighton, but it was also the year when Tom Paulin decided to rework the Antigone myth to evoke the complexity of his country's troubled history. In an introduction written for the programme, he states that his prime aim was to contradict the Unionist historian Conor Cruise O'Brien, who condemned Antigone's decision to bury her brother as a disruptive gesture, which had all the inflammatory hallmarks of Irish nationalism.

The suitability of the Antigone myth as a dark parable about cyclical violence in modern politics has been frequently exploited - not least in Liz Lochead's unfairly maligned Thebans at this year's Edinburgh Festival. However, in Alan Cox's production of Paulin's pithy, spitting adaptation, the red-blooded humanity and robust stage-presence of Katherine Parkinson's compelling Antigone helps bolster the writer's passionate advocation of free speech, enshrined in language that captures every nuance of her impossible struggle to love both the state and her brother.

Paulin's drama not only fits the bill, but packs a satisfying emotional punch. On a set where a masonic compass symbol suggests potent rituals at the heart of power, Christopher Hunter's slick yet rebarbative Creon deals in the kind of political euphemism that can conceal murder with a smile.

Familiarity breeds content in this particular production. Its strongly instinctive foundations give it vital substance.

Until 11 October. Box office: 020 7229 0706.

The Riot Act

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