Retelling of a Greek play

15 July,2014 07:18 AM IST |   |  Soma Das

The Pomegranate Workshop is presenting Antigone 24x7, a peer-produced youth theatre initiative, featuring young adults. The play has been adapted from the original Greek tragedy to fit the 21st century milieu

Antigone 24x7 is a take on the original Greek play by Sophocles


The Greek tragedy Antigone gets a modern makeover with Antigone 24x7, a new play by city-based arts company, The Pomegranate Workshop. The play will premiere as part of NCPA's Zest! Youth Theatre initiative.


Antigone 24x7 is a take on the original Greek play by Sophocles

Antigone 24x7 is a ‘peer produced' play and features a cast of young adults aged 14 to 20 years. It is the culmination of a series of events revolving around the Pomegranate Experience Theatre programme, a nine-month intensive training programme for young adults.

The plot of the all-girl play revolves around a 13-year-old girl taking on the might of the state in a contemporary adaptation of Antigone.


Rehearsals for the play, Antigone 24x7. Pic/Atul Kamble.

The play has been rewritten and performed by the students who play multiple roles, and switch between the principal protagonists and the chorus.

Elaborating on the production, Priya Srinivasan, director of Pomegranate Eduworkshop, states, "In the adaptation, the students chose to interpret the Greek chorus as the media in the 21st century, thereby contemporising the entire play and setting it in a current context. In the title, 24x7 refers to the continuous presence and influence of the media in today's day and age."

She adds that since Antigone is a protagonist who takes on a tyrant and thereby the state, with modern day news stories on young women showing extraordinary grit, the theme found a great deal of resonance with the students.

"There are no conventional exits or entries and the characters work as an ensemble to create a fluid universe which transits from an ancient tragedy into a contemporary one," states Srinivasan. Interestingly, the live guitar background score is composed and played live by a 15-year-old and the set design is by the students as well.

On: Today, 6.30 pm
At: Godrej Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
Call: 22824567

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