Antigonick
by Anne Carson
Torn Out Theater & The Center at West Park
Torn Out Theater uses nudity in its renditions of classic texts to promote body positivity, autonomy, and inclusivity
Cast: Sophia Quiroga, Sandile Mhlaba, Milo Longenecker, El Yurman, David John Phillips, Amy Scanlon, Kaia Parnell, Samantha Auch, Sha Batzby
Producer: Carson Crow
SM: Emily Bubeck
Intimacy Coordination: Cristina (Cha) Ramos
Composition & Music Direction: Xander Browne
Choreography: Carina Goebelbecker
Costumes: Ilana Lupkin
Set: Keyon Monte
AD: Anna Hampton
Dramaturgy: Andy Jo
Photos: Neal Bennington
Torn Out Theater’s Antigonick uses selective nudity to explore radical intimacy, the space between life and death, and the battle between state and body politics. After eighteen months of isolation, Antiognick honors the devastating importance of human touch.
“Directed by Britt Berke with few frills (and later, even fewer costumes), Antigonick leaves its audience with an open-ended question of what this tale of rebellion in the face of unyielding authority might mean in 2021.”
“Berke and Ramos also encouraged the nine cast members—mostly in their twenties, and mostly queer—to talk about their characters in the third person (Berke: “Character naked, actor not”), and to feel free to decide, at any point, not to be nude (Ramos: “True consent is reversible”).”
“Putting any naked body onstage is an act of defiance in our increasingly repressed age. But putting naked trans bodies onstage, as Torn Out has done here, feels downright revolutionary. With so many state legislatures taking aim at transgender Americans, it's hard not to feel Antigone's spirit of resistance coursing through this production.”