A comedy in three acts disguised as a Greek tragedy. The war of the Seven Against Thebes ends, Oedipus dies at Colonnus and his two sons hack each other to death in a battle of champions. Oedipus' daughters Antigone and Ismene return to vie for their mother's throne, but the blind soothsayer Tiresias and the tyrant Creon deny ther rights claiming that Zeus is King of the gods. A web of political intrigue and backroom deals are spun as Antigone, Ismene, and a Chorus of Tragic Heroines maneuver for the support of the Theban Guard and the people to uphold the rights of women and the laws of the gods. Adam Leipzig, publisher/editor of "Cultural Weekly" said, "Daring theatre, completely surprising, and still completely within the mythic framework." "A strong feminist statement. Delightfully and wickedly funny." Added Joanne Zipay, Artistic Director of New York's Judith Shakespeare The play was inspired when the professor in a Dramatic Literature class said, "Sophocles was commissioned by the city of Corinth to write 'Antigone' in order to convince the people that the law of the gods had declared property should pass from father to son instead of mother to daughter, which was the tradition. Oedipus was the only child of Jocasta when he killed Laius. When Oedipus became king by marrying his mother, it was the gods declaring that patrilineal descent of property should become the law as Oedipus was both King and only child. When Antigone buried Polynices in defiance of the laws of man, she signaled her acceptance of the laws of the gods, relinquishing her right to the throne of Thebes."
About the Author: Richard S. Bailey is a former Associate Director of the Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles Actors' Theatre and Producing Director of the San Quentin Drama Workshop. He was personally invited to work with Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett at the West Berlin Academy of Art (1977). He co-authored "The Bug" which he directed at the Traverse Theatre Club (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1974) and is author of "Deus Ex Machina", which premiered in Berkeley as "one of the best locally produced original plays of the past year"( SF Bay Guardian, 1976) and was later performed at the Los Angeles Actors' Theatre (1982) to excellent press. His 2006 production of "Shuffle, Shuffle, Step: Three Short Plays by Samuel Beckett" received rave reviews from the L.A Times, Backstage West, and Daily Variety, and fulfilled Beckett's request that he perform "Krapp's Last Tape". His other plays include "Bakk's Tracks", with music by Eddie Money, "Window Pieces", and several shorter plays including the one-man piece "The Hands of the Beholder". He is the recipient of Hollywood Drama-Logue awards for producing, directing, writing, and lighting design; an LA Weekly award for directing, and received several European press awards as an actor.