“Antigone Exits” in Chichester: the first reviews for the experimental reworking of Sophocles’ tragedy

Sophocles’ 2,500-year-old tragedy has returned to the stage with an entirely new face: “Antigone Exits”, the experimental adaptation by writer Nina Segal, opened this week at the Minerva Theatre of the Chichester Festival Theatre, and the first reviews are arriving with divided opinions. The production, directed by Jeff James, runs without an interval for just 75 minutes and closes this year’s Minerva season, with performances until October 17.

At the centre of the show is Nina Cassells, who makes her Chichester debut in the role of Antigone — the girl who defies the decree of her uncle, King Creon (Max Bennett), in order to bury her fallen brother, accepting the moral price of disobedience. Actress Anushka Chakravarti plays her sister, Ismene, while the seven-member cast also includes Brandon Bassir, Lizzie Watts, Melody Chikakane Brown and Testimony Adegbite, who move constantly between role, chorus and contemporary narration.

The most discussed element of the production is the breaking of the “fourth wall”: the actors stop the flow of the tragedy to tell modern stories of death and loss — a choice which, as The Guardian notes, makes the show “pleasantly experimental — but not all the ideas work”. WhatsOnStage is harsher, calling the interventions “clunky” and the ending “a disappointing end” to the Minerva season, while other reviews have given the show up to four stars, praising its courage.

Alex Lowde’s set design has also drawn attention: a bright yellow floor over which black, tar-like paint is poured, spreading slowly throughout the performance and becoming an ever more powerful image as the tragedy advances. For the critics who welcomed the show, this visual contrast sums up its essence — that even when a single body is left unmourned, society is cursed.