The Other Place

On the 7th November, 2024, we were fortunate enough to attend an A-Level Live Theatre conference of The Other Place, an adaptation of the plot of Antigone, a Greek tragedy repurposed by writer and director Alexander Zeldin for a modern audience. The play starred Tobias Menzies as the Chris (Creon) and Emma d'Arcy as Annie (Antigone).

At the start of the afternoon, Dr. Lucy Jackson gave a lecture on the context of the play (as a professor of Greek theatre). She talked about the origins of Greek theatre, the themes and purposes of it, and the design of theatre itself. Athens was the origin of Greek theatre, but historians now know that from the 5th to 3rd century BCE, the whole of the Mediterranean, from modern Italy to Turkey, shows evidence of theatre spaces. Audiences became more and more diverse through the centuries so that not just freemen, but women, children and slaves all had access to the theatre. Zeldin himself discussed his inspiration of the ancient town of Delphi. Here, the theatron as it was named in Greek, was central to the civilisation, nestled amongst all the other most important institutions (forums, markets, houses). Theatron, meaning the viewing place, the area for the audience, was just as necessary as anything else.

We were also familiarised with the layout of a Greek theatre, consisting of an audience wrapped around the main stage (in a thrust-style staging), with the orchestra at the front, a round stage, and the skene behind, usually a tent or other structure that represented the house in the play. The orchestra was mainly used by the chorus for song and dance but could be acted from, whereas the skene was for costume or mask changes (acting as a back-stage) but also was where the most taboo actions omitted from the stage took place. Greek theatre was also very low technology - it was performed during the day, with no artificial lighting and limited sound effects or microphones.

Zeldin's set, designed by Rosanna Vize, with lighting by James Farncombe, is perfectly naturalistic yet still distinctly reminiscent of a Greek theatre. The play takes place in a modern house currently being renovated. Half the kitchen space has sophisticated marble flooring and a counter, and half is still covered in wooden boards. There is junk off on the sides, a clearly older side door with frosted glass and a small staircase to the rest of the house that provides secret spaces on the set hidden from the audience. The walls not being plastered clearly show the transformation or attempt of the family to hide and change what has happened. However the real genius is the symbolism of the rest of the house and the tent that is set up outside as representing the skene, the area where death and terrible actions occur, a place of mystery, intrigue and tragedy, whereas the front of the stage in the kitchen is the communal orchestra. The set is outside as Greek theatre is, shown by the garden fence, but the trees are bare and there is no grass, showing it is Winter and clearly harsh weather, metaphorically unforgiving too. The lighting used it striking, and uses a single large light box over the set to illuminate the whole stage, and in a way symbolises the heavens and the Gods, subtly harking to Greek theatre's roots in religion. Finally, possibly the most visceral of all features, the bi-fold glass doors. They provide a view out to the tent, doubling as the skene and the cave Antigone is locked in, as well as to the rest of the garden, a place of mystery, of harshness, with terrible events (Adam's suicide) having taken place there. They provide as a distraction in dialogue for Erica, Chris and Terry to discuss, drawing more attention to the awkward alienation of Annie shown in their speech. They also serve as a replace for the curved stage. The Lyttleton Theatre is end on, so the reflection of the audience in these windows allows the audience still to look at themselves, placing themselves in this tragedy.

Jackson also discussed how Greek theatre drew from mythology in many plays, using various characters from older stories. Greek tragedy used familiar plots reshaped to portray a strong message on human behaviour to the audience - it was a comment on their own society. Mythology puts humans in extreme moments and crises that may not happen in everyday life, and tests them to expose their true character. The hamartia and fall of the main character served as a warning against certain actions. This theatre answers some of the most taboo and difficult questions raised by our existence that others are scared to discuss.

Dr. Jackson ended her lecture by asking what has made Greek theatre so popular in recent years, with The Other Place being the 5th or more in a run of Greek tragedy at the National Theatre in the last 15 years. She answered that beside the pessimistic view that the commercial constraint of appealing to a student audience who are required to watch Greek theatre, plays from this era are consistent and relevant at all points of human history as they describe basic human behaviour. It allows us to look back to the past in a time of in an  exponentially progressing society and change ourselves for the better. Theatre was a time for self-reflection, hence some ancient and now current design choices discussed, and even direct address by the chorus or other characters in this case. 

Tragic playwright Euripides shows this beautifully. Against the terrible backdrop of the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta, Euripides writes the play The Trojan Woman, a play about a group of woman mourning for their dead husbands and their capture into slavery, a result of a war between two groups. There was a clear message within this particular plot. This is one of the earliest examples in human history of art and communication being a form for change, for life to imitate art.

An education director at the National Theatre and former secondary school teacher then discussed how best to write about this play from both design and performance aspects. There were many tips on writing, such as 

- Practice description in essays by writing, handing the piece to a peer to then sketch or act out the described actions.

- Watch interviews from all the creative team.

- Use reviews, the National Theatre archive and video collection, newspapers and more to research the production after viewing.

- Focus on your own personal reaction to the performance.

- Summarise the play by saying what it is about - what is the dramatic intention and what is the total dramatic effect.

- Delve into the deeper meaning of everything - why is that dialogue there, why is that character on stage or in the play, why did the actor move in that way, why is that prop on stage, and more.

Finally, there was a Q&A with Zeldin, all about his dramatic intentions and inspirations for the play.

- What made you write this play?

Because he did a workshop with actors, including Emma d'Arcy, on the play Antigone, and was drawn to her character - young, rebellious, an outsider who gets frustrated and goes against the rules. She is a character relevant to a modern day audience. The state of Thebes is turned into a family in the 21st century in this production. This is why the outsider is the focal point of the play and very important.

- What was your development process like?

It started from fragments of scenes and ideas in Zeldin's head about where the play may go. From there, he got the actors to improvise and get to understand their characters whilst developing and changing the script at the same time. His aim was also to start from a feeling so that the whole play is strongly based around an emotion. The script, the condensing, cutting and changing of scenes all came after.

- Why is Greek theatre relevant today?

Greek plays are taboo subject - extreme stories, violence, murder, rebellion, exile, forbidden love, incest. Tragedy in particular forces us to watch things we don't want to watch to learn more about human behaviour. The shock and disturbance is gripping and entertaining, it make it unforgettable. A theatron means a viewing place in Greek - it is a place to watch new stories and to have a mirror held up to our society. Theatre happens not on stage but in the space between the audience, the thoughts. In particular, Antigone and another play by Sophocles show us what the outlaws and exiles of our world have to tell us - it exposes the secrets we don't want to see.

- What are your rehearsals like?

They begin with a conversation with the actor - all rehearsals are a conversation, about character and themes. He also likes to play scenes out with only movement or dance. How do you condense the mood and actions and speech of the scene into only physical skills? Rehearsals should also be rooted in the feeling of the play so it pervades the whole production. Moreover you should transform your idea or script, change it completely, and not just simply adapt it.

- What inspirations did you take for the play, or which practitioner styles did you use?

He had many different inspirations for all the elements of the play. Firstly, as the assistant director to Peter Brook for one production, his style of performance was very influential, and he had directed other Greek tragedies at the National Theatre before. Brook was influenced himself greatly by Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty (aiming to make the audience as uncomfortable as possible through all of their senses), as well as other experimental directors of theatre such as Joan Littlewood and Bertolt Brecht. The set designer, Rosanna Vize, was inspired by photography and the film 'Zone of Interest,' about a Nazi concentration camp, lending itself to the potentially harsh control of Chris over the family. The music was composed by lead singer of the rock band Foals, Yannis Philippakis, in a different style to the usual indie rock. The whole image of the production was also inspired by Spanish romantic painter Francisco Goya, whose pieces often depicted disturbing religious motifs of death and evil as well as God and goodness. One piece of the heavens above a war scene was particularly important. In addition to the influences from Greek, Japanese, Elizabethan and Korean theatre, in which the actors often addressed different parts of the space depending on the subject of the speech (the floor being the underworld, the middle of the audience being our world, and the roof being the heaven or God/s, the light box above the set clearly represents this, possibly interpreted as the Gods watching the conflict and action on stage.

- Why did you choose this title?

It couldn't be called Antigone, so this title is more unexpected and enigmatic as there are many different interpretations, tangible and intangible at the same time. It shows the theme of being alienated from something, but may also represent another world, like the heavens.

"Theatre is strangely more real than reality as it is so concentrated."

- What was your dramatic intention?

It was to "forget about your phone," but more seriously, theatre should be intense, (an Artaud inspiration, theatre of cruelty). Engage the audience. The lights are half left on in the audience and in conjunction with the large windows acting as mirrors, the audience is able to see themselves reflected in the performance. He thought that in today's society we needed to look at things we didn't want to look at. Film and TV and other media is for reflecting reality - theatre is for going behind this mirror and watching it from behind.

- What advice would you give to any aspiring directors?

"If you say a director, then you are a director." Express yourself. Peter Bausch said that theatre should feel the way that reality feels? Don't listen to institutions, what matters to you, you should have a freedom. You should also think about what the focal point of your play is so we see the right and chosen perspective.

In an interview with the FT, at https://www.ft.com/content/c09d7639-075f-4814-b99c-7e8ca53649fc, Zeldin expanded on the themes and ideas he wants to send to his audience (the total dramatic effect). The director has previously directed reworks of old stories, that also use 'painstaking naturalism,' and tough topics to comment on modern day society. His play, 'Love,' was performed at the National Theatre over the Christmas period and follows a Mary and Joseph couple in a temporary accommodation, a comment on recent austerity and poverty from a trilogy of similar plays. However, Zeldin has been adamant to emphasise that these plays are not updates to original plots, but total transformations.

' "Antigone is a play about the aftermath... it's about two forms of grief." ' I would argue that the play, unlike what he states, is about rebellion and resistance as well, from Antigone, but that The Other Place certainly focuses on how the characters deal with grief, and how it affects the domestic setting - Chris is not the cruelly stubborn Creon, but a man, truly affected by the death of his own brother as much as Annie.

' "The challenge of contemporary tragedy is really exciting for a playwright - Antigone takes place in less than a day, it's one action, one place. It's a real test to write something with that mechanism of inevitability." ' Zeldin also says that the script should produce humour in parts to keep the audience attentive. ' "The question that is central to it, to our time, is this; what to do in the face of suffering of others... It (theatre) can bring us into something that we don't normally see (suffering), and that's essential to live - to really live." ' Zeldin himself faced tragedy with the death of his father at 15. He said ' "When someone dies you want to live, so I lived hard... Theatre for me was a space where it was possible to say anything." '

The FT's review is just as insightful, linked here at https://www.ft.com/content/446591eb-2315-46cc-b3d0-0e6c47a20472 - the production is hailed as a 'blazing, shockingly frank take on Antigone,' and a 'Greek myth spun into modern psychodrama.' D'Arcy's portrayal of Annie shows a deep, heavy sadness not lifted since the death of her dad, hanging onto the past, whereas Menzies's Chris is tense and sharp, determined to bury the past and control the present. Zeldin's script dives from black comedy to horror.

We then got to watch the performance at the end of the play. The plot and themes are clearly modelled off of the Sophocles's original tragedy, Antigone. The production is deeply complex, unable to be summarised. The focal point is the grief of the family, and how their different reactions cause conflict, mainly between Annie and Chris. Their relationship extends beyond arguments, but to a strange incestuous bond formed through the processing of their trauma after Adam's suicide. The plot delves into abuse and sexual assault, mental illness, depression, and pretty much every taboo subject of our modern society. The character's faults are revealed through the brutally naturalistic acting and set. Terry, first seen as a relaxed and helpful family friend, tries to assault Issy, Erica ruthlessly builds tension through passive-aggression and her later eerily calm reaction to the actions of Chris and Annie, Issy finally breaks at Annie, demanding attention and care. Throughout the play we, the audience, are forced to watch what we, as citizens, would usually turn our head at. Our outsider, Annie, exposes these faults to the audience.

All this plays in parallel with the original themes of Antigone. References are made to the original script, and the production, despite it's modernity, still refers to the gods, divine law, and fate, how it might control us. Chris's final cry at the end of the piece is addressed to the audience. The music swells suddenly, shockingly - the light turns out towards the stalls, illuminating the audience -  it is as if the character calls on them for judgement or counsel. However I do think it plays a distinctly less important role. The gods are present, and deliver fate and punishment. But Zeldin makes it clear the tragedy comes from the actions of all the characters, not just the one supposedly going against the Gods, that free will was involved. Yet the teleological story seems fated from early on. The series of horrific events leading up to Annie's suicide seem unavoidable and tragic, at catharsis is achieved at this shocking climax. However, because of the unrelenting previous sequence of disturbance, the suicide provides a strange relief that strengthens the guilt and sympathy of the audience. Leni's reaction to the blood on his hands is haunting as he sits down defeated on his dead step-uncle's chair. The only character who has truly tried to help and save Annie whilst being a good son for his family, he is young and hopeful, but this is shattered in the final moment.

One of the most powerful moments of the play is the action that follows the kiss between Chris and Annie. In this scene, Chris puts a red hand towel on his head and lifts it up tentatively, ducking down with his head and holding the towel by the side of his hands, inviting Annie to join him underneath. This plays on the imagery of a priest's confession box (often with these red curtains) as if Chris is nervously admitting his sins to a god. The kiss is quite rough and when Annie pulls away, Chris sinks to his knees, shaking and looking up with awe at Annie. Menzies opens his eyes wide and holds his mouth open with a strange shock. He then outstretches his hands towards Annie, searching for something from her. This tableau is horrifying and commands attention, and shows how this relationship has been sexual before this encounter. During the second kiss, Erica (played by Nina Sosanya) comes down the stairs - her body is on a low level of tension, shoulders relaxed and arms down by her side, her gait quite slow, clearly still half-asleep. When she sees the action, her eyes open wide, her posture becomes tense and she is bolted to the spot. After freezing she turns with an eerie level of control and calmness, and walks back up the stairs, her head now raised and attentive but fixed facing forward by her neck. The only way she deals with this shock initially is by pretending it never happened. The rest of the family all come down at different points, leaving the kitchen full with people, the tension crackling in the space between the actors. The mood is utter horror and disbelief. Zeldin achieves a total dramatic effect of pure discomfort in this moment, as we the audience are forced to look on the impacts of grief, suicide, and sexual abuse in a relatable and commonplace domestic scene. Menzies uses a stiff posture and has his hands held out in a begging-like position towards Erica, his pace of speech slow and volume low. Sosanya holds an indifferent physicality, only her facial expression of moving eyes and a slight waver in speech indicating her shock. Leni (played by Lee Braithwaite) walks down and stands awkwardly between his stepfather and mother, head flicking between the two. Issy (Alison Olivier) is on stage too and searching for answers from her sister. Annie searches for love from Chris, who remains in complete despair. Finally, as Annie exits the stage, we have reached the climax.

There are other brilliant moments throughout the play. The final moments of the play after Annie's suicide (Leni's hands covered in blood, eerily unphased, Chris unchanged, Issy unsure of what to do), the uneasy wait for Annie's arrival at the start of the play that shows the awkward tension within the family (Issy attacked by Erica's passive aggression, feeling like an outsider) and the whole sequence when Annie tries to take and hide Adam's ashes from Chris, and the display of power and desperation that follows are all incredibly powerful, building the relationships on stage, presenting the themes and dramatic intention, and showing the audience what we would turn our heads from in reality.

These are photos of the programme and the informational pages on the context, themes and total dramatic effect of The Other Place.

We will be using The Other Place for a sample Live Theatre essay. Continuing from our lecture on Live Theatre at the National, we have to write about the total dramatic effectiveness of the performance and how 2 to 4 performers added to this meaning in 2-4 moments. Dramatic intention, the term often used at GCSE, is more concerned with the director's aims - dramatic effectiveness is the impact on the audience. Prepare for writing an essay using these notes by thinking about powerful moments in the play, the mood they have, the effect they cause, and the skills used by the actors throughout.