Photos by Shey Rivera Ríos
ANTIGONX: A Flicker in the Dark
by Osayuwamen Ede-Osifo
Playwright and community arts leader Shey Rivera Ríos’ “AntigonX,” which premiered at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence and is now touring nationwide, is staged on the fictional island-nation Abundancia, but there is nothing fictional about the socio-political turmoil the play wades through. AntigonX is rooted in local and historic truths about Borikén, otherwise known as Puerto Rico, Ríos’ native island, with a call for liberation.
“My name means ‘to be against what is given at birth,’” Antígona (played by Riveras Ríos) proclaims. “I am a child born outside of the gender binary. I am the in between of lenguajes and ideas.”
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Photo by Shey Rivera Ríos
AntigonX is adapted from the Greek tragedy Antigone, which depicts the violent deployment of state and familial violence. Rios’ adaptation decolonizes a Western theatrical tradition, which canonizes Greek plays as the “Classics,” by centering queer and Latinx experiences in a futuristic world. The playwright’s adaptation rejects catastrophic endings, instead reimagining responses to conflict rooted in love and a future steeped in ancestral wisdoms.
Though violence looms over the play, it begins not in conflict, but in pre-colonial rituals. A multicultural cast—nonbinary and POC actors—emerges clothed in vibrant, loose fabrics that sway as they chant and dance across the theatre floor. A rhythm reminiscent of traditional West African drumming vibrates through the room. A rose hangs on a wall, candles flickering on busy shelves. On a large screen, cosmic particles are projected next to the image of a purple plant with a prickly yellow top. We enter the Motherboard, a sci-fi tropicalia. The ensemble lifts bowls into the air as an offering to the spirits of the East, West, North, and South, blessing the food. The reverence shown to ancestral spirits of Indigenous Taíno practices ceremoniously activates the play.
Playwright and community arts leader Shey Rivera Ríos’ “AntigonX,” which premiered at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence and is now touring nationwide, is staged on the fictional island-nation Abundancia, but there is nothing fictional about the socio-political turmoil the play wades through. AntigonX is rooted in local and historic truths about Borikén, otherwise known as Puerto Rico, Ríos’ native island, with a call for liberation.
“My name means ‘to be against what is given at birth,’” Antígona (played by Riveras Ríos) proclaims. “I am a child born outside of the gender binary. I am the in between of lenguajes and ideas.”
Photo by Shey Rivera Ríos
AntigonX is adapted from the Greek tragedy Antigone, which depicts the violent deployment of state and familial violence. Rios’ adaptation decolonizes a Western theatrical tradition, which canonizes Greek plays as the “Classics,” by centering queer and Latinx experiences in a futuristic world. The playwright’s adaptation rejects catastrophic endings, instead reimagining responses to conflict rooted in love and a future steeped in ancestral wisdoms.
Though violence looms over the play, it begins not in conflict, but in pre-colonial rituals. A multicultural cast—nonbinary and POC actors—emerges clothed in vibrant, loose fabrics that sway as they chant and dance across the theatre floor. A rhythm reminiscent of traditional West African drumming vibrates through the room. A rose hangs on a wall, candles flickering on busy shelves. On a large screen, cosmic particles are projected next to the image of a purple plant with a prickly yellow top. We enter the Motherboard, a sci-fi tropicalia. The ensemble lifts bowls into the air as an offering to the spirits of the East, West, North, and South, blessing the food. The reverence shown to ancestral spirits of Indigenous Taíno practices ceremoniously activates the play.
Now the audience is submerged in the chaos of Antígona’s world. Antígona’s brothers have killed one another in a battle for power. The island government honors one brother as a national hero and condemns the other, Casiman, as a traitor. The disgraced brother Casiman is sentenced to a no-burial. Antígona embarks on a journey to bury Casiman’s body against the wishes of their sister Ismena (Violeta Cruz De Valle).
The siblings debate a question about violent resistance and activism. Should change be achieved incrementally, or should oppressive institutions be confronted immediately at any cost? In Audre Lorde’s words, ‘The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.”
When Antígona succeeds in their mission to help their brother’s soul rest through burial, they are caught and punished by death for treason. Their death is a tragic sacrifice that spurs protests across Abundancia. “Somos más y no tenemos miedo,” the ensemble chants after Antígona has been murdered. The ensemble invites the audience to join the unified cry of resistance.
The play concludes optimistically with Ismena’s election to office and her intent to lead the people in a fair and gentle way, the governor being overthrown by the people, islanders reclaiming their indigeneity, and mutual aid campaigns flourishing.
While the heaviness and complexity of this story is masterfully expressed by the cast, it is not matched by a script that, at times, reads parallel to a protest rally leader’s slogans. The playwright’s exploration of the complications of activism could have benefited from further nuance; the dialogue about radical activism and peaceful resistance comes through as earnest, if not naive.
Inhale. Exhale. Could an equitable and utopian society truly be attained? The audience is asked to suspend their disbelief about the hopeful ending and participate in a cathartic embodiment of radical imagination towards new futures. AntigonX cleverly subverts the tragic legacy of Greek plays: in this alternative world, resistance is not in vain.
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Photos by Shey Rivera Ríos
As the play concludes, transporting the audience out of the world of Abundancia, Shey Riveras Ríos brings the audience’s attention to electronic candles that have been placed on each seat. They encourage the audience to reflect on an ancestor or lost loved one and light the candle to be placed on a constructed altar at the theater’s exit. This beautiful enactment of the motions of grief provides a pause for us between the end of the epic and reemergence into a tumultuous world.
The siblings debate a question about violent resistance and activism. Should change be achieved incrementally, or should oppressive institutions be confronted immediately at any cost? In Audre Lorde’s words, ‘The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.”
When Antígona succeeds in their mission to help their brother’s soul rest through burial, they are caught and punished by death for treason. Their death is a tragic sacrifice that spurs protests across Abundancia. “Somos más y no tenemos miedo,” the ensemble chants after Antígona has been murdered. The ensemble invites the audience to join the unified cry of resistance.
The play concludes optimistically with Ismena’s election to office and her intent to lead the people in a fair and gentle way, the governor being overthrown by the people, islanders reclaiming their indigeneity, and mutual aid campaigns flourishing.
While the heaviness and complexity of this story is masterfully expressed by the cast, it is not matched by a script that, at times, reads parallel to a protest rally leader’s slogans. The playwright’s exploration of the complications of activism could have benefited from further nuance; the dialogue about radical activism and peaceful resistance comes through as earnest, if not naive.
Inhale. Exhale. Could an equitable and utopian society truly be attained? The audience is asked to suspend their disbelief about the hopeful ending and participate in a cathartic embodiment of radical imagination towards new futures. AntigonX cleverly subverts the tragic legacy of Greek plays: in this alternative world, resistance is not in vain.
Photos by Shey Rivera RíosAs the play concludes, transporting the audience out of the world of Abundancia, Shey Riveras Ríos brings the audience’s attention to electronic candles that have been placed on each seat. They encourage the audience to reflect on an ancestor or lost loved one and light the candle to be placed on a constructed altar at the theater’s exit. This beautiful enactment of the motions of grief provides a pause for us between the end of the epic and reemergence into a tumultuous world.