Allentown Public Theatre is back at Hava Java coffee house (526 N. 19th St.) on April 19 at 7pm for an informal reading of Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s. It was written by Los Angeles-based playwright Madhuri Shekar and is recommended for older teens and adults.
441 BC clashes with the 21st century when the drama club at an all-girls school, St. Catherine's, produces its first play. As opening night for Sophocles’ classic tragedy Antigone approaches, cast members see life imitating art in disturbing ways.
Bullying, illegal activities, and betrayal, when the play's leading actor, Marilyn, begins to meet privately with the director to do more than rehearse lines. As the drama increases in the girls’ lives, it jeopardizes the show. What is the right thing to do, and must the show go on'
The crux of the matter “has to do with being a young girl in a male-dominated world, and when it comes down to a he-said she-said battle, women aren't listened to,” says Anna Russell, APT’s Artistic Director and the director of the reading.
Antigone, Presented by the Girls of St. Catherine’s premiered a year ago at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. For APT it is a timely read, as Antigone figures in Allentown Public Theatre’s upcoming main-stage production of The Island, which opens April 22. This apartheid era play, by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, tells about two political prisoners on Robben Island. The two men labor under cruel conditions during the day, but at night they rehearse for a prison performance of Antigone. In their portrayal of Antigone's courage, they give voice to their own dissent.
As Anna Russell observes, both Shekar's play and The Island have to do with conscience. “Do you listen to your conscience, or not'” You can go along with the status quo and not speak up, or you can break the silence, she says.
Theatre Cafe is every third Tuesday at 7pm through August 2016 at Hava Java Cafe, 526 N. 19th St., Allentown. 610-432-3045. Suggested donation $5. For more info, visit www.allentownpublictheatre.com.