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Antigone

Author: Sophocles
Publication date: Circa 441 BC
Genre: Drama 

About the Work

Cover of Antigone

Antigone is an Ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 441 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first.  The title character, Antigone, is the daughter of Oedipus, King of Thebes. The play tells the story of a woman who gives her brother a proper burial in defiance of a tyrant’s edict.


Challenges in Canada

2011 — In Saskatchewan, Chief Dwayne Antoine and members of the band council of the Poundmaker Cree Nation tried to ban a live performance of an adaptation of Antigone on their reserve.

Objection — Antigone — which was originally written by Sophocles in Greece in the 5th century B.C. — tells the story of a woman who gives her brother a proper burial in defiance of a tyrant’s edict. Deanne Kasokeo’s adaptation of Antigone is set on a Canadian aboriginal reserve and features a character who is a corrupt band chief. The band’s council members provided no public explanation for banning the play.

Update — The actors defied the ban and performed Antigone in a school on the reserve. Approximately 60 people saw the performance. In press reports, Kasokeo said that the corrupt chief in the play was not a depiction of Chief Antoine.

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