Antigone (Anouilh play)


Jean Anouilh's play Antigone is a tragedy inspired by the play of the same name by Sophocles.

Performance history

Original production

Antigone was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre de l'Atelier on February 6, 1944, during the Nazi occupation. Produced under Nazi censorship, the play is purposefully ambiguous with regard to the rejection of authority and the acceptance of it. The parallels to the French Resistance and the Nazi occupation are clear, however. The original cast included Monelle Valentin, Jean Davy, Suzanne Flon, and André Le Gall ; the staging, decor and costumes were by André Barsacq.

British première

Antigone received its British première by the Old Vic Theatre Company at the New Theatre, London, on 10 February 1949. The production was produced by Laurence Olivier and had the following cast:

Productions and adaptations

Actress Katharine Cornell produced and starred in a 1946 production at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. Sir Cedric Hardwicke played the role of King Creon. Also performing were Bertha Belmore, Wesley Addy, Ruth Matteson, George Mathews, and Oliver Cliff, and Marlon Brando, Michael Higgins. The production was staged by Cornell's husband Guthrie McClintic. The translation was by Lewis Galantière. It has since been published many times. In 1959, it was staged at the East 74th Street Theater in Manhattan, New York City.
There was an English-language for the BBC in 1959 starring Dorothy Tutin.
It was filmed for Australian television in 1966.
In 1974, an American television production of the play, presented on PBS' Great Performances, starred Geneviève Bujold and Stacy Keach.
There are also English translations by Barbara Bray in 1987 and by Jeremy Sams in 2002. The Bray translation was adapted for BBC Radio 3 in 2024, with Rosy McEwen as Antigone and Sean Bean as Creon.