Previous: Part 1 of 6: Introduction
A prime example of a theatrical adaptation that conveys how common ideas span across times and cultures is Antigona Furiosa by Griselda Gambaro. Based on Antigone, this adaptation deviates quite a bit from the original. The play begins with Antigona hung in a cage. She then removes the rope from around her neck and walks down across the stage to two men, who are portraying the chorus, sitting at a café table. As she begins to speak with them and relay her story, direct from Antigone, they start to make fun of her. She is attempting to clear her sister’s name of a crime that she did not commit. It was Antigona herself that gave her brother’s body a proper burial despite being commanded not to, which is what landed her in a cage and hung as shown at the opening of the play. Despite her clear need for help, the men only continue to make fun of her and joke around. Finally, after discussing and arguing with the men throughout the play, Antigona decides that it is better to kill herself than serve Creon, who would kill her family, “Mouth moist with my own saliva, I will go to my death. Proudly, Haemon, I will go to my death” (Gambaro, 159). She then goes back to her cage in the center of the stage and places the rope back around her neck, mirroring the beginning of the performance.
While the theme of duty to state versus duty to family from Antigone can be seen in Antigona Furiosa, it is the theme of complacency that is most prevalent in the play. Gambaro wrote this play within the context of the Argentine government and its oppressive and repressive behaviors. As Marguerite Feitlowitz writes in Information for Foreigners, “Antigona Furiosa, however, is distinctive: rather than pitting a bad government against a good populace, it deals with passivity in the face of repression, popular compliance with terror” (Feitlowitz, 8-9). She chooses to focus on the passive citizens directly as opposed to the government in order to show where the real problem lies. No matter how much you fight against and attempt to tear down a badly run government, you cannot and will not succeed if your fellow citizens are not there to help you. This can be seen in Antigona Furiosa through the interaction of Antigona and the chorus. Antigona repeatedly tells the chorus of her situation and how she needs to stop Creon, but instead of listening to her they laugh at her and treat her like she is crazy. With this characterization and dialogue, Gambaro parallels this adaptation with the passivity in her own country. People do not want to stand up and make a difference. Rather, they tear down or ignore those that do. Thus, no forward movement can happen to make change. Though Antigone deals with the issue of duty to the state or to family, Antigona Furiosa deals with the issue of duty to your fellow citizens.
Gambaro’s adaptation shows that the situation of bad government and passive citizens spans across times, places, and cultures through the fact that corruption in government and complacent citizens are extremely common throughout history. They are both issues that can be seen all over the world and at nearly any point in history. Too often, there is an unjust governmental system that oppresses its citizens and instead of the citizens coming together to end it, only a few actually do. The ones that refuse remain unmoving and thus suffer silently. Since corrupt government is a rather universal issue that many countries and cultures have dealt with, Gambaro’s play portrays it in a way that helps people to better understand the gravity of it. It is a huge issue that has been in the world for hundreds of years. If anything, it gives those experiencing it a sense of hope that they are not alone.
A Passion for English 