By Grace BENNETT

Tonight will be the last in a four-night run of Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS) performing its rendition of “Antigone,” directed by Amy Matalas, and “Oedipus Rex,” directed by Brent Beerman.

The plays, originally written by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles date back to about 400 B.C. and are performed traditionally as a trilogy in addition to Oedipus at Colonus. “Oedipus Rex” focuses on a Greek hero, Oedipus, who fulfills his predestined fate by killing his father and marrying his mother, unknowingly to the protagonists. “Antigone” continues this plot through Oedipus’s daughter, Antigone, who disobeys the king’s rule to follow her beliefs.

Director Matalas, who is also the teacher of the Ensemble and Crescenta Valley (CV) Players Drama classes at CVHS, explained how multiple factors led her to her decision to direct the play; one of which was the power of the leads in the story.

“The subject matter of “Antigone” and the… strong, female characters were a little bit more appealing to me… I liked the themes… and the ability to put it in a modern setting,” Matalas said.

Unlike any other show the CVHS Theater Department has done in recent years, the two plays featured overlapping characters, meaning that the audience was able to see the directors’ contrasting interpretations of each play. “Oedipus Rex,” for instance, took a more historically accurate turn in terms of how it was performed.

“Amy immediately jumped on a modern take.  I wanted to contrast that approach with Oedipus because I wanted the students to have a sense of what an actual Greek play was like. We didn’t use masks and the costuming is more stereotyped,” Beerman said “But I think the end result is incredibly satisfying.”

Beerman, the Drama 3-4 and Falcon Players teacher, also emphasized the importance of the play in the context of the curriculum that many CVHS students follow. Greek tragedies like “Oedipus Rex” and “Antigone” are embedded into tenth and twelfth grade learning, meaning that most of these students were able to see the material being studied come to life onstage.

“I am always looking to meld my curriculum with the shows that we choose.  It’s a great opportunity to bring the classics to life while teaching the history of western theater.  It easily fits into the English curriculum, specifically for the 10th and 12th graders, [who read] Oedipus and Antigone,” Beerman said.

In addition to showcasing the productions, the Theater Department also hosted an assembly for CVHS students featuring some of the actors and scenes from the productions in order to discuss the history of theater and Greek tragedies. One of the points that Matalas highlighted through this presentation was the reasoning behind the contrast in costuming and play adaptation, especially in Antigone.

“We really wanted to be able to give the audience a look at how [the play] would have been done, and how it is still applicable to modern theater,” Matalas said.

Matalas added that she also thought it was fitting to have the cast be costumed in modern garb to indicate the relevance of the play to the modern political climate, and to reinforce the idea of civil disobedience through the audience’s point of view.

Despite the differing aspects of both plays, both directors aim to have their audiences walk away impacted by the ancient Greek material being presented through modern-day theater. Moreover, they also hope that their actors are able to learn from the experience and hold what was conveyed to them through the author’s text.

“At the end of the day, I feel his has been a huge win, because every single person in this show has been committed and excited about doing 2500 year old theater… They have learned so much about it in the process.… So that, as an educator, is the real thing that I take away from this process,” Matalas said.

Come see these spectacular performers and their directors’ hard work on Oct. 17 at 5:00 and 7:00 pm in the Macdonald Auditorium at CVHS!

Oct. 17- “Oedipus Rex”- 5:00, “Antigone” 8:00.

  Grace BENNETT