Antigone

Antigone’s brothers have plunged Thebes into a civil war and then died fighting each other. The new ruler Creon decrees that the brother who attacked the city is not to be given a burial in order to uphold the distinction that is the foundation of political community: the difference between those who safeguard it and those who want to destroy it. A difference that doesn’t count for Antigone, because both brothers count equally to her. Creon’s idea of political equality collides with a concept of equality that has no limits and applies even in death and beyond. The question of which of the two attitudes helps to create peace in a divided society under pressure still provides material for debate today.  

The international, multi-award winning director and festival and theatre director Johan Simons is most likely well known to the Berlin audience due to his regular invitations to the Theatertreffen – most recently in 2024 with his production of "Macbeth" from Bochum. In keeping with Sophoclean staging practice, he will stage "Antigone" with three actors – it is his first production at the Berliner Ensemble.