Although the play's name suggests a Greek tragedy, A.R. Gurney's "Another Antigone" deals much more with the American way of life, campus love, politics and bigotry than with tunic-wearing Greeks who worship Zeus and drink oodles of wine before ransacking foreign cities and building wooden horses.
More precisely, the four thespians involved in Broadway Stage's latest production - William Sargent as Professor Henry Harper; Tiffany Michaels as Judy Miller, a Jewish coed; Debora Threedy as Diana Eberhart, the dean of humanities; and Tobin Atkinson as David Appleton, a just-about-to-flunk-out chemistry major - are extremely capable of communicating Gurney's essential themes to the audience.Basically, the play centers around Judy, who should be writing a term paper on the Greek classic "Antigone" by Sophocles. Perhaps Michaels does such a great job at playing a typical yet slightly snobby coed because she actually is a student at the University of Utah. Nonetheless, instead of researching for her paper, Judy writes a play herself, based on "Antigone" but involving nuclear weapons, the role of women in modern society and her Jewish background.
That really gets Professor Harper's goat: He's been teaching the Greek classics for decades, and every now and then some student comes along and tries to rewrite Sophocles' masterpiece. Nevertheless, he never grades those papers, because they don't fulfill the course's requirements. Harper, who in real life is the founder and artistic director of the Broadway Stage, is reminiscent of a fatherly college professor - complete with endearing flaws such as losing his bow tie in the middle of a conversation.
But Judy is determined to put her play on. She recruits her boyfriend, David, who eventually switches from chemistry to become a classicist, and soon she has the support of a few influential administrators and a Jewish professor who side with her against Harper.
Harper, on the other hand, realizes that he was wrong and begins to change. He wants to bond with everyone, anyone, and he tries to be the old romantic he once was with Eberhart. One would never guess Threedy is actually a lawyer, but performing with a number of local and national acting ensembles has made her, at least from my view, look comfortable and in sync with her character.
Of course Eberhart rejects Harper's advances, as does Judy, and he finds solace only in his relationship with David, who admires the professor for his insights. David is perhaps the funniest character in this play, but that doesn't mean he can't be serious - he's simply good at both, judging from the audience's reaction.
Another reason the play got off the ground so well, perhaps, has to do with the illustrious crew of behind-the-scenes artists. Adrian Giurgea directs the play. He is a native of Bucharest, Romania, and has lectured all over the world.
Marnie Sears, who is resident set designer for the Broadway Stage, combined Greek themes with contemporary college atmosphere, which gives the stage both an intimate and a public appearance - depending upon the situation.
To switch from dark to light and back to dark again, the Stage brought in Michael Jenkins, who has worked as an electrician in the film industry for the past three years. Rounding off the production is Ray Carlson, production stage manager, who has worked technical theater companies throughout the United States.
But I'm not going to tell you everything. Go see for yourself. It's cozy, they've got those rocking chairs in the theater, and it's definitely entertaining. And who knows, unlike Judy, you might just get an understanding of what Greek tragedy is all about.