The Burial at Thebes

As dawn breaks at the end of a civil war, two brothers lie dead having killed each other in battle, one attacking Thebes, the other defending it. Desperate to gain control over the city, the new King Creon refuses to bury the body of Antigone's rebellious brother, declaring him a traitor.

Antigone places personal allegiance before politics, defying the edict of her uncle and forging ahead with the burial alone. By the end of the day, her act of love and rebellion will have brought the state to its knees and trigger a cycle of destruction.

In this adaptation by Irish Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, Sophocles' great tragic play is a timely reminder of the conflict between the defence of state security and the protection of basic human rights.

The Burial At Thebes was a production with the final year students at Sydney Theatre School