Spread the Love: Agatha Rex – adapted by Lindsay Price from Antigone

This week we spread the love for Agatha Rex, a retelling of Sophocles’ Antigone set in a modern-day high school.

Transcript

Welcome to Spread the Love. This week we are talking about Agatha Rex, an adaptation of the classic Greek Tragedy by Sophocles. We are no longer in Ancient Greece, we are in a modern high school. And when a dress code violation gives one student a suspension and another student a slap on the wrist, Antigone – now Agatha- is faced with a fateful decision. Which student does she stand up for? Craig, what do you love about Agatha Rex?

I want to say two things about Agatha Rex. First of all I love it because it reminds me of high school. When I went to high school we had to wear uniforms and people were constantly pushing the uniform policy.

The second thing I love about Agatha Rex is the chorus. Lindsay’s gone out of her way to make sure that the chorus have some real fantastic roles. They have a direct influence on the action in the script and not only that they are individual and unique characters in and of themselves, and not some nameless, faceless void. Lindsay what do you love about Agatha Rex?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love me an adaptation. I love the challenge of writing them, I love seeing them, I love seeing what gets done to them, I love taking something from another era, another time, and putting it in the modern world and seeing what happens And that’s is what makes Agatha Rex special. The story works smashingly in the 21st century. Yes, there are some elements that are different, nobody dies. But the main character and the audience watching are left with the same ultimate, universal question. In the same situation would you stand up for someone who is unpopular, or do you flow with the status quo.

That’s it for Spread the Love!