INTERVIEW: Classical Theatre of Harlem finds modern themes in ancient ‘Antigone’
Photo: The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s new production of Antigone stars Ty Jones and Alexandria King. Photo courtesy of Sean McCoy / Provided by GOGO PR with permission.
The Richard Rodgers Amphitheater at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, New York, is the backdrop of the new production of Antigone from the Classical Theatre of Harlem. The uptown institution is producing the ancient Sophocles play with a new interpretation by director Carl Cofield.
Performances run Tuesday through Sunday at 8:30 p.m. until July 29. Audiences can expect to experience a version of Antigone inspired by Paul Roche’s adaptation of the ancient text. Cofield sets the plot in the near future and throws in Afropunk and other modern influences.
“I think now more than ever the play will resonate for the many, many themes that it has,” Cofield said in a recent phone interview. “How to speak truth to power, and how do seemingly marginalized voices find the courage to speak truth to power.”
In the play, the new king of Thebes comes down harshly after a pair of brothers die in battle. One brother is made out to be a hero, while the other brother is given an unceremonious goodbye. It takes the title character, the strong sister of the two brothers, to stand up to the king and have the community properly mourn her family members.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t look at the current political climate and see the effects of Colin Kaepernick speaking out against injustice, against the behemoth NFL,” Cofield said about the modern influences. “Looking at counterculture movements, whether it’s Black Lives Matter, whether it’s the resistance to the outcome of the presidential race — so all of these voices are galvanizing to stand up for themselves, and that’s deeply inspiring in this production.”
For Cofield, the ideas that Sophocles ruminated on thousands of years ago still have relevance in 2018. That makes it a rich play to produce in the modern era, but, for the director, also an unfortunate reality.
“We set it in the future a little bit because for me it’s a classic play that resonated then,” he said. “It resonates now, and unfortunately I think this is the same conversation that we will be grappling with in the future. So we take elements of traditional Greek clothing, and we turn it on its head of what it would like or what it could look like 40 years in the future.”
To find his cast, Cofield searched throughout New York City for the best actors. He landed on Alexandria King for the title role, plus Ty Jones as Creon, Kahlil X. Daniel as Teiresias, Avon Haughton as Haemon, Ava McCoy as Ismene and Adaku Okpi as Eurydice. The rest of the company is made up of performers from Elisa Monte Dance.
“I think it’s been brilliant,” Cofield said of rehearsals. “It’s been a great collaboration. We scoured New York City for some of the best actors, and we were fortunate to get them. And I can’t wait to have them introduce to a New York audience our lead actress, Alexandria King. This is going to be her first major performance for New York audiences, and I just can’t wait. She’s dynamite. She’s electric, and she has a great presence in the room and on the stage.”
For Cofield, this central, towering performance also speaks to the play’s commentary on the #MeToo movement and the courage of demanding justice in 2018. This renewed energy to not be silenced can be found in Sophocles’ story.
“I think the beauty of this is that we’re looking at a play that is 2,000 years [old] that was originally performed in the Greek amphitheaters, and we’re basically doing that in an amphitheater here in New York City in the 21st century,” the director said. “I mean, to me, it was super exciting at the possibility of reinvestigating the play originally how it was supposed to be performed — for the community, for the citizens of Greece to come almost like a civic duty to see these plays. And the Classical Theatre of Harlem is free. There are no barriers to entry. If you come, you’ll be able to get the chance to see the play and really hopefully engage in theater the way it was meant to be presented.”
Cofield is an award-winning actor and director who helmed the world premiere of One Night in Miami, the 50th anniversary revival of The Dutchman and The Seven by Will Power. As an actor, he has been seen at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkeley Rep, Alliance and Arena Stage, among other companies.
For the accomplished artist, it has been a joy working with the Classical Theatre of Harlem, which honors the local community and tells stories as seen through the lens of the African diaspora.
“It’s been fantastic,” he said. “It’s a dream come true because when I came out of theater school as a young actor, there weren’t many places that afforded me the opportunities to play the leading characters in classical plays. Sometimes you’d be on the peripheral. You would be the love interest, or one or two people of color would be in the production. But to work with the Classical Theatre of Harlem, which really tells classical stories through a 21st-century multicultural lens, is truly extraordinary. I really don’t know how many other theater companies in the world operate like this, on this level with world-class production values, world-class artisans and world-class administration. It’s truly, truly a remarkable theater company that I’m so fortunate to be able to collaborate with.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Classical Theatre of Harlem’s production of Antigone, directed by Carl Cofield, plays the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, New York, through July 29. Admission is free. Click here for more information.
