Antigone

ANTIGONE by Jean Anouilh translated by Zander Teller

REHEARSAL SCRIPT – September 21, 2006

Copyright © 2006 by Zander Teller

Cast of Characters

Antigone Creon Chorus Ismene Haemon Nurse First Guard Second Guard Third Guard Messenger Page Eurydice

Note on the Word “You” The word “you” exists in two forms in French: “tu” and “vous.” “Vous” is the plural form, but it‟s also used as the formal/respectful singular – in a more formal relationship, with someone you don‟t know well, or with someone of higher social status. “Tu” is the informal/familiar singular form – in a more intimate or informal relationship or with someone of lower social status. The uses of these two forms are of some significance in the play. A summary of usage by each character is given below, with footnotes in the text for the two places where a character actually changes usage with another character. Antigone – uses “tu” with the Nurse, Ismene, and Haemon, as an indication of intimacy. Uses the formal/respectful “vous” with Creon (as elder and king), until page 43 (see footnote), then switches to “tu” with him for the rest of the play. Uses “tu” with the Guard (as his social superior). Creon – uses “tu” with everyone, throughout the play. The meaning is different with different characters – speaking to a social inferior, as with the Guard, or as an expression of intimacy, as with Haemon. The meaning is a little less clear with Antigone – there may actually be some of both meanings. Chorus – uses “tu” with Creon and the Messenger. (Uses “on” – meaning “one” – in monologues.) Ismene – uses “tu” with Antigone. Uses “vous” with Creon. Haemon – uses “tu” with Antigone and Creon. Nurse – uses “tu” with Antigone. First Guard – uses “vous” with Creon. Uses “vous” with Antigone, but switches to “tu” on page 25 (see footnote) for the rest of the scene, and then switches back to “vous” for his last scene with her. Guards – use “tu” with each other. Messenger – never uses either. Page – never uses either (but would presumably use “vous” with Creon). Eurydice – never uses either.

1 (A featureless room. Three identical doors. As the curtain rises, all the characters are on stage. They talk, knit, play cards, etc. The Chorus comes forward.) CHORUS So, here we are. These people are going to perform for you the story of Antigone. Antigone is the little one sitting over there, saying nothing, staring intently at nothing. She‟s thinking. She‟s thinking that she is about to become Antigone, that she‟s about to emerge from the dark, skinny, brooding girl that no one in her family ever took seriously and stand up alone to face the world, to face Creon, her uncle, who is the king. She‟s thinking that she‟s going to die, that she‟s young, and that she too would‟ve wanted very much to live. But there‟s nothing she can do. Her name is Antigone, and she will have to play her part through to the end. Since the curtain rose, she has felt herself rushing with dizzying speed away from her sister Ismene, who‟s talking and laughing with that young man over there, away from all of us who sit here calmly looking at her, all of us who do not have to die tonight. The young man talking with the blonde, the beautiful, the happy Ismene is Haemon, Creon‟s son. He is engaged to Antigone. Anyone would‟ve guessed that he would choose Ismene, considering his taste for games and dancing, his attraction to happiness and success, and his taste for women too, since Ismene is much prettier than Antigone. But one night, at a party where he had danced with no one but Ismene, who looked radiant in a new dress, he went and found Antigone daydreaming in a corner, like she is now, arms around her knees, and he asked her to be his wife. No one ever knew why. Antigone looked up at him with serious eyes, without a hint of surprise, and she said “yes” with a little sad smile... The orchestra struck up a new dance, Ismene laughed out loud, all the young men around her, and just like that, Haemon was going to be Antigone's husband. He didn't know that there could never be a husband of Antigone on this earth, and that this great honor would earn him nothing but an early death. The sturdy white-haired man standing deep in thought over there, next to his page, is Creon. He's the king. His face is lined; he's tired. Every day, he plays the difficult game of leading men. Once, during the reign of Oedipus, when he was the most popular man at court, he devoted himself to music, ancient manuscripts, long afternoons browsing in the antique shops of Thebes. But Oedipus and his sons are dead. So Creon put away his books and his antiques, he rolled up his sleeves, and he took their place. Sometimes, in the evenings, when he's very tired, he wonders if it isn‟t pointless, leading men. He wonders if he shouldn't leave the sordid job to someone else, someone less refined, less sensitive... And then, in the morning, the more immediate problems present themselves, waiting to be solved, and he gets up, calmly, like any workman at the start of a new day. The old woman knitting, next to the nurse who raised the two girls, is Eurydice, Creon‟s wife. She'll go on knitting through the whole play, until her turn comes to get up, go back to her room, and die. She is a good, noble, loving woman, and she is of no help to her husband. Creon is alone. Alone with his page, who is too young to be of any help to him either.

2 That pale young man back there, lost in thought, leaning against the wall, alone, is the messenger. He'll be arriving to announce the death of Haemon in a little while. That's why he has no interest in talking or mingling with the others. He already knows... Finally, the three red-faced men playing cards, collars unbuttoned: those are the guards. They're decent guys; they have wives, and children, and little problems just like everyone else's, but soon you'll see them dragging in the accused with the most absolute tranquillity. They smell of garlic, leather, and beer, and they are completely devoid of imagination. They are the servants, eternally innocent and always satisfied with the justice they deliver. For the moment, until the next rightful ruler of Thebes gives the order to arrest him in his turn, these men are servants of Creon's justice. And now that you know everyone, they'll be able to tell you their story. It begins at the moment when the two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices, who were supposed to take turns ruling Thebes a year at a time, fought and killed each other outside the walls of the city, Eteocles, the elder, at the end of the first year, having refused to yield the throne to his brother. Seven great foreign princes, whom Polynices had won over to his cause, were defeated before the seven gates of Thebes. Now the city has been saved, the two feuding brothers are dead, and Creon, the king, has ordered that Eteocles, the good brother, should be given a grand funeral, but that Polynices, the villain, the traitor, should be left unmourned and unburied, food for the jackals and the vultures. Whoever dares to offer him the sacred funeral rites will be mercilessly put to death. (As the Chorus was speaking, the characters have exited one by one. The Chorus disappears as well. The light has changed on stage. It is now a pale gray dawn in a sleeping house. Antigone cracks open the door and returns from outside in her bare feet, on tiptoe, sandals in hand. She stays frozen a moment, listening. The Nurse appears.) NURSE Where have you been? ANTIGONE I've been out walking, Nurse. It was beautiful. Everything was gray. Now, you have no idea, already it‟s all pink and yellow and green. It's turned into a postcard. You have to get up earlier, Nurse, if you want to see a world without color. (She goes to leave.) NURSE I get up when it's still dark, I go to your room to see if you‟ve thrown off the blanket in your sleep, and you're not even in bed!

3 ANTIGONE The garden was still asleep. I surprised it, Nurse. It had no idea I was watching. It's beautiful, a garden that isn't yet thinking of men. NURSE You'd gone out! I went to the back door, you'd left it open. ANTIGONE In the fields, everything was wet, and waiting. Everything was waiting. My footsteps were so loud in the silence, walking all alone along the road, and I was so sad because I knew that everything was waiting, but not for me. So I took off my sandals and slipped into the field, so quietly it didn‟t notice me... NURSE You should wash your feet before you go back to bed. ANTIGONE I‟m not going back to bed this morning. NURSE At four o‟clock! It wasn‟t four o‟clock yet! I get up to see if she‟s thrown off her blanket. I find her bed cold and nobody in it. ANTIGONE Do you think if you got up like this every morning, Nurse, that it would be this beautiful, every morning, to be the first girl outside? NURSE Night! It was night! And you want me to believe that you were out walking, you little liar! Where have you been? ANTIGONE (with a strange smile) That‟s true, it was still night. And there was no one in the whole countryside but me to think that it was morning. It‟s glorious, Nurse. I was the first person to believe in this day. NURSE Play the fool, play the fool! I know that song. I was a girl before you were – and not a pushover either, but never pig-headed like you. Where have you been, you wicked girl? ANTIGONE (suddenly serious) No. Not wicked.

4

NURSE You went to meet someone, didn‟t you? Go on, deny it. ANTIGONE (softly) Yes. I went to meet someone. NURSE You have a lover? ANTIGONE (after a silence, strangely) Yes, Nurse, yes, poor thing. I have a lover. NURSE (exploding) Oh! How proper! How nice! You, the daughter of a king! You take such trouble; you take such trouble to bring them up! They‟re all the same. You, however, were never like the others, never primping in front of the mirror, wearing lipstick, dying for someone to notice you. How many times did I say to myself, “My Lord, this girl, if only she were more of a flirt! Always wearing the same dress, hair always a mess. The boys will only have eyes for Ismene, with her curls and her ribbons, they‟ll leave this one on my hands forever.” And now, you see, you were just like your sister, only worse, a hypocrite! Who is it? Some street rat, I suppose, hmm? Some boy you can‟t bring home to your family and say, “Here he is. I love him, I want to marry him.” Is that it, hmm, is that it? Answer me, you shameless...! ANTIGONE (with an imperceptible smile) Yes, Nurse. NURSE And she says “yes!” Lord have mercy! When she was a baby, I promised her poor mother that I would make an honest woman out of her, and look! But this story‟s not over, my child. I‟m only your nurse, and you treat me like an old fool, that‟s fine! But your uncle, your uncle Creon will hear about this. I promise you that! ANTIGONE (suddenly a bit tired) Yes, Nurse, my uncle Creon will hear about it. Leave me alone now.

5 NURSE And you‟ll see what he‟ll say when he finds out you‟ve been sneaking out at night. And Haemon? Your fiancé? She‟s engaged, no less! She‟s engaged, and at four in the morning she sneaks out of bed to go running around with someone else. And I‟m supposed to let it go, I‟m not supposed to say a word. You know what I should do? Spank you, like I did when you were little. ANTIGONE Nanny, you shouldn‟t yell so much. You shouldn‟t be so mean to me this morning. NURSE Don‟t yell! On top of everything else, I‟m not supposed to yell! Me who promised your mother... What would she say to me if she were here? “Old fool, yes, old fool, who didn‟t know how to keep my baby pure. Always scolding, playing the watchdog, smothering them in sweaters and plying them with soup; but at four in the morning you‟re asleep, old fool, you who could never sleep a wink, you let them run wild, and when you go to look the bed is cold!” That‟s what she‟ll say to me, when I go up to meet her, and I‟ll be ashamed, so ashamed I could die if I weren‟t dead already, and I won‟t be able to do anything but hang my head and say, “You‟re right, Madame Jocasta, it‟s true.” ANTIGONE Please, Nurse. Don‟t cry. You can look Mama right in the eye, when you see her. And she‟ll say to you, “Hello, Nanny, thank you for my little Antigone. You took good care of her.” She knows why I went out this morning. NURSE You don‟t have a lover? ANTIGONE No, Nanny. NURSE So... You‟re making fun of me? You see, I‟m too old. You were always my favorite, in spite of your bad temper. Your sister was nicer, but I thought it was you who loved me. If you loved me you would‟ve told me the truth. Why was your bed cold when I came to check on you? ANTIGONE Don‟t cry, please, Nanny. (She kisses her on the cheek.) Come on now, my sweet, old, red apple. You remember when I used to rub your cheeks to make them shine? My old, shriveled apple. Don‟t send your tears streaming down all those little wrinkles, not for stupid things like this – for nothing. I am pure, I have no lover other

6 than Haemon, my fiancé, I swear to you. I can even swear, if you want, that I will never have a lover other than him... Save your tears; you may need them again later, Nanny. When you cry like that, I become a little girl again... And I can‟t be a little girl today. (Ismene enters.) ISMENE You‟re up already? I just looked in your room. ANTIGONE Yes, I‟m up already. NURSE The two of them!... Are you both going crazy, getting up before the servants? You think it‟s good for you to be running around with nothing in your stomachs – is this how princesses are supposed to behave? You‟re barely even wearing anything, either of you. And then I have to take care of you when you both get sick! ANTIGONE Leave us alone, Nurse. It‟s not cold, honestly; it‟s already summer. Go make us some coffee. (She sits down, suddenly exhausted.) I‟d really like some coffee, please, Nanny. It would do me good. NURSE My dove! Her head is spinning from hunger, and here I‟m standing like an idiot when I could be fixing her something hot. (The Nurse exits quickly.) ISMENE Are you sick? ANTIGONE It‟s nothing. I‟m a little tired. (She smiles.) I got up early. ISMENE I couldn‟t sleep either. ANTIGONE (smiling again) You need your beauty sleep.

7

ISMENE Don‟t make fun of me. ANTIGONE I‟m not making fun of you. It comforts me to see how beautiful you are this morning. I was so mean when we were little, wasn‟t I? I smeared mud on you, I put worms down your back. Once I tied you to a tree, remember, and I cut off all your hair, your beautiful hair... (She strokes Ismene‟s hair.) How easy it must be not to think stupid thoughts, with all this smooth, silky hair set so perfectly around your head! ISMENE (abruptly) Why are you talking about other things? ANTIGONE (softly, still stroking her hair) I‟m not talking about other things. ISMENE You know, I thought about it a lot, Antigone. ANTIGONE Yes. ISMENE I thought about it all night. You‟re crazy. ANTIGONE Yes. ISMENE We can‟t. ANTIGONE (after a silence, in a small voice) Why not? ISMENE He will have us put to death.

8 ANTIGONE Of course. Everyone has their part to play. He has to have us put to death, and we have to bury our brother. That‟s how the roles were cast. What do you want us to do about it? ISMENE I don‟t want to die. ANTIGONE (softly) I certainly wouldn‟t have wanted to die either. ISMENE Listen, I thought about it all night. I‟m older. I consider things more carefully. You take the first thought that comes into your head, and too bad if it makes no sense. I think things through. ANTIGONE There are times when you shouldn‟t think too much. ISMENE No, Antigone. At first it‟s horrible, of course, and I feel sorry for my brother too, but I understand a little what Uncle Creon is doing. ANTIGONE I don‟t want to understand a little. ISMENE He‟s the king, he has to set an example. ANTIGONE I am not the king, I don‟t have to set an example... Anything that comes into her head, little Antigone, the stubborn one, the naughty one, the wicked one..., and then they shove her in a corner or throw her in a pit. And she deserves it. She didn‟t have to disobey! ISMENE That‟s right, go on! Scowling, staring at the ground, and off you go in a flash, without listening to anyone. Listen to me. I‟m right more often than you are. ANTIGONE I don‟t want to be right. ISMENE Try to understand, at least!

9

ANTIGONE Understand... That‟s the only word I ever hear, from any of you, ever since I was little. I had to understand that I can‟t touch the water, the beautiful, cold, flowing water, because it‟ll get the tiles wet, I can‟t touch the earth because it‟ll stain my dress. I had to understand that I shouldn‟t eat everything all at once, give everything in my pockets to a beggar on the street, run, run in the wind until I fall to the ground and drink when I‟m hot and go swimming when it‟s too early or too late, just because I want to! Understand. Always understand. I don‟t want to understand. I‟ll understand when I‟m old. (She finishes softly.) If I ever get old. Not now. ISMENE He‟s stronger than we are, Antigone. He‟s the king. And everyone in the city agrees with him. There are thousands and thousands of them all around us, swarming through the streets of Thebes. ANTIGONE I‟m not listening to you. ISMENE They‟ll jeer at us. They‟ll grab us with a thousand arms, a thousand eyes will stare at us with one look. They‟ll spit in our faces. We‟ll be dragged in a cart through their hatred, through their stench and their laughter, to be tortured. The guards will be there, with their idiot faces, their bloated necks spilling over their starched collars, their rough clean hands, their beefy eyes – and we‟ll know that we can scream all we want, try all we want to make them understand, but they‟re like slaves and do everything they‟re told, without caring if it‟s right or wrong... And we will suffer. We‟ll feel the pain rising, until we can‟t stand it any more, it has to stop, but it won‟t stop, it will go on and on, rising and rising, like a piercing scream!... Oh, I can‟t, I can‟t... ANTIGONE You‟ve thought it through so well. ISMENE All night. You didn‟t? ANTIGONE Of course I did. ISMENE I‟m not very brave.

10 ANTIGONE (softly) Neither am I. But what difference does that make? ISMENE (a silence, then suddenly) So, you don‟t want to live? ANTIGONE (murmuring) Don‟t want to live... (and still softer) Who was the first one out of bed every morning, just to feel the cold air on her bare skin? Who was always the last one into bed, only when she couldn‟t fight off sleep a minute longer, just to live a few more moments of the night? Who cried, even when she was very little, thinking how many little animals there were, how many blades of grass in the meadows, and how she could never know all of them? ISMENE (reaching for her) My little sister... ANTIGONE (pulling away) No! Leave me alone! Don‟t paw me! We‟re not going to start sniveling together. You say you‟ve thought it all out? You think that the whole city howling at you, that pain and fear of death is enough? ISMENE (lowering her head) Yes. ANTIGONE Well, those are your excuses. ISMENE (going to her) Antigone, I‟m begging you! It‟s right for men to believe in ideas and die for them. You‟re a girl. ANTIGONE (clenching her teeth) Yes, I‟m a girl. Haven‟t I cried enough over the fact that I‟m a girl!

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ISMENE Your happiness is right there in front of you, you just have to take it. You‟re engaged, you‟re young, you‟re beautiful... ANTIGONE (hollowly) No, I‟m not beautiful. ISMENE Not beautiful like we are, but differently, in your own way. You know it‟s you all the young guys on the street turn to look at; it‟s you all the young girls stare at as you walk past, their conversation dies, they can‟t take their eyes off you until you turn the corner. ANTIGONE (with a faint smile) The young guys on the street, the young girls... ISMENE (after a pause) And what about Haemon, Antigone? ANTIGONE (guardedly) I‟ll talk to Haemon soon. I‟ll take care of Haemon. ISMENE You‟re crazy. ANTIGONE (smiling) You always say that I‟m crazy, about everything, since the day I was born. Go back to bed, Ismene... It‟s getting light, see, so in any case I can‟t do anything today. My dead brother is surrounded by guards, exactly as if he‟d won his fight for the throne. Go back to bed. You look pale, you‟re exhausted. ISMENE What about you? ANTIGONE I don‟t feel like sleeping. But I promise you that I won‟t move from this spot before you wake up. Nurse is bringing me something to eat. Go get some sleep. The sun is barely up. You‟re so tired, you can‟t keep your eyes open. Go...

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ISMENE I‟ll convince you, wont I? You‟ll let me talk to you more about this? ANTIGONE (wearily) I‟ll let you talk to me, yes. I‟ll let all of you talk at me. Go sleep now, please. You need your beauty sleep. (She watches her leave, with a sad smile, and then falls exhausted into a chair.) Poor Ismene!... (The Nurse enters.) NURSE Here, my pigeon, hot coffee and buttered toast. Eat. ANTIGONE I‟m not very hungry, Nurse. NURSE I toasted them myself and buttered them just the way you like it. ANTIGONE You're sweet, Nanny. I'll just have a little bit to drink. NURSE Where does it hurt? ANTIGONE Nowhere, Nanny. But warm me up anyway, like you used to do when I was sick... Nanny stronger than fever, Nanny stronger than nightmares, stronger than the shadow of the bookcase that sneers at me as it moves hour by hour across the wall, stronger than the thousands of insects, out there in the silence, gnawing away at something, somewhere in the night, stronger than the night itself, with its crazy, silent noises; Nanny stronger than death. Give me your hand, like you used to do, when you sat next to my bed when I was sick. NURSE What's wrong, my little dove? ANTIGONE Nothing, Nanny. I'm just still a little young for all this. But you're the only one who can know that.

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NURSE A little young for what, my sparrow? ANTIGONE For nothing, Nanny. But now, you're here. I'm holding your sweet, wrinkled hand that can save me from anything, always, I know it. Maybe it will still save me. You're so powerful, Nanny. NURSE What do you want me to do for you, my turtledove? ANTIGONE Nothing, Nanny. Just your hand like this against my cheek. (She stays there a moment with her eyes closed.) There, I'm not afraid anymore. Not of cruel ogres, not of the bogeyman that steals children from their beds... (Another silence, and then she continues in a different tone.) Nanny, you know Ginger, my dog... NURSE Yes. ANTIGONE You have to promise me that you‟ll never scold her again. NURSE Animals who get everything dirty with their filthy paws should not be allowed in places where people live! ANTIGONE Even if she gets everything dirty. Promise me, Nurse. NURSE So, I have to let her make a mess of everything and not say a word? ANTIGONE Yes, Nanny. NURSE Well... That‟s a little bit much!

14 ANTIGONE Please, Nanny. I know you like her, with her soft fur and her big brown eyes and her little pink tongue. And I know secretly you like petting her too. You would be so unhappy if everything were always clean. So, I‟m asking you, don‟t scold her, please. NURSE And if she pees on my carpets? ANTIGONE Promise that you won‟t scold her even then. Please, promise me, please, Nanny... NURSE You‟re asking a lot with your wheedling... All right. All right. I‟ll wipe up after her without a word. You‟re making an ass out of me. ANTIGONE And then, promise me that you‟ll talk to her, that you‟ll talk to her often. NURSE (shrugging her shoulders) Who does that? Talking to animals! ANTIGONE And specifically not like you‟re talking to an animal. Talk to her like she‟s a real person, like I do. NURSE This time, the answer is no! Acting like a fool, at my age! Why do you want everyone to talk to her like you do? It‟s an animal! ANTIGONE (softly) If, for one reason or another, I couldn‟t talk to her anymore... NURSE (not understanding) Couldn‟t talk to her anymore? Why not? ANTIGONE (turning away, her voice suddenly hard) And if she were too sad, if she were always waiting – with her nose under the door, like she does when I go out – it might be better to have her killed, Nanny, without pain.

15 NURSE Have her killed, my darling? Have your dog killed? You‟ve gone crazy this morning! ANTIGONE No, Nanny. (Haemon appears.) There‟s Haemon. Leave us alone, Nurse. And don‟t forget what you promised me. (The Nurse exits. Antigone runs to Haemon.) Forgive me, Haemon, for the fight we had last night, for everything. It was all my fault. Please forgive me. HAEMON You know that I‟d forgiven you the moment you slammed the door. Your perfume was still hanging in the air, and I‟d already forgiven you. (He holds her in his arms, smiling.) Who did you steal it from, the perfume? ANTIGONE From Ismene. HAEMON And the lipstick, and the makeup, and that beautiful dress? ANTIGONE Those too. HAEMON And what was the occasion? ANTIGONE I‟ll tell you. (She presses herself harder against him.) Oh, my darling, I was so stupid! A whole evening wasted. A beautiful evening. HAEMON We‟ll have other evenings, Antigone. ANTIGONE Maybe not. HAEMON And other fights, too. A happy love is full of fights.

16 ANTIGONE A happy love, yes... Listen, Haemon. HAEMON Yes. ANTIGONE Don‟t laugh this morning. Be serious. HAEMON I am serious. ANTIGONE And hold me. Tighter than you‟ve ever held me before. So that all your strength flows into me. HAEMON There. With all my strength. ANTIGONE (breathlessly) That‟s good. (a pause, then softly) Listen, Haemon. HAEMON Yes. ANTIGONE I wanted to tell you this morning... The little boy we would‟ve had together... HAEMON Yes. ANTIGONE You know how well I would‟ve defended him against everything. HAEMON Yes, Antigone. ANTIGONE Oh, I would‟ve held him so tightly that he would never have been afraid, I swear it. Not of the shadows, or the approaching night, or the anguish of the motionless midday sun... Our little

17 boy, Haemon! His mama would never have been very imposing, or very stylish – but she would‟ve been more faithful than all the real mothers in the world with their big bosoms and their big aprons. You believe that, don‟t you? HAEMON Yes, my love. ANTIGONE And you believe too, that you would‟ve had a real wife? HAEMON (holding her) I have a real wife. ANTIGONE (huddling against him) Oh! You loved me, Haemon, you‟re sure of it, you loved me, that night? HAEMON (gently) Which night? ANTIGONE You‟re absolutely sure, the night of the party when you came to find me in my corner, that you didn‟t have the wrong girl? You‟re sure that you‟ve never regretted it since, never thought, even secretly, silently to yourself, even once, that you really should have asked Ismene? HAEMON Idiot! ANTIGONE You love me, don‟t you? You love me as a woman? Your arms around me aren‟t lying? Your strong hands on my back aren‟t lying, or your smell, or your warmth, or this enormous confidence that floods through me when I rest my head in the hollow of your shoulder? HAEMON Yes, Antigone, I love you as a woman. ANTIGONE I‟m dark and scrawny. Ismene is pink and golden, like a fruit.

18 HAEMON (murmuring) Antigone... ANTIGONE Oh, I‟m all red with shame! But I have to know this morning. Tell me the truth, please. When you think that I will be yours, do you feel, inside you, like a great empty space is being hollowed out, like something is dying? HAEMON Yes, Antigone. ANTIGONE (after a pause, breathlessly) I feel that too. And I wanted to tell you that I would‟ve been very proud to be your wife, your real wife, who you would rest your hand on, in the evening as you sat down, without even noticing, like something that was really yours. (She lets go and moves away from him. Her tone changes.) There. Now I‟m going to tell you two more things. And when I‟ve said them, you have to leave without asking me anything. Even if they seem ridiculous, even if they cause you pain. Promise me. HAEMON What are you going to tell me? ANTIGONE Promise me first that you‟ll leave without saying anything. Without even looking at me. If you love me, promise me. (She looks at him, distraught.) You see how I‟m asking you, promise me, please, Haemon... It‟s the last time you‟ll ever have to put up with my craziness. HAEMON (after a long pause) I promise. ANTIGONE Thank you. So, here it is. Yesterday first. You asked me just now why I came to you with Ismene‟s dress, and the perfume and the lipstick. I was stupid. I wasn‟t sure that you really desired me, and I did all that to be a little more like the other girls, to make you want me. HAEMON It was for that?

19

ANTIGONE Yes. And you laughed and we fought and my bad temper got the better of me, and I ran off. (more softly) But I came to you last night so that you would take me, so that I would be your wife, before. (Haemon starts to speak.) You promised not to ask me why. You promised, Haemon! (softly again, humbly) Please... (She turns away, her voice hard again.) Anyway, I‟ll tell you. I wanted to be your wife last night because I love you in that way, very much, and because – I‟m going to cause you pain, oh my darling, forgive me! – because I can never, ever marry you. (He stands stupefied for a moment – she runs to the window.) Haemon, you promised me! Leave. Leave right now without saying anything. If you speak, if you take a single step toward me, I‟ll throw myself out this window. I swear to you, Haemon. I swear to you on the head of the little boy that we had together in our dreams, the only little boy I‟ll ever have. Go now, go quickly. You‟ll know tomorrow. You‟ll know soon. (She ends with such despair that Haemon obeys and begins to move away from her.) Please go, Haemon. It‟s the only thing you can still do for me, if you love me. (Haemon exits. She stands motionless for a moment, her back to the room. She closes the window. She goes to a chair in the middle of the room and sits. Then, softly, as if strangely appeased...) There it is. It‟s finished for Haemon, Antigone. (Ismene enters, calling.) ISMENE Antigone!... Oh, there you are! ANTIGONE (not moving) Yes, here I am. ISMENE I can‟t sleep. I was afraid that you‟d go out and try to bury him, even though it‟s daytime. Antigone, my little sister, we‟re all here around you, Haemon, Nanny and me, and Ginger, your dog... We love you, and we‟re alive, we need you. Polynices is dead, and he didn‟t love you. He was always a stranger to us, a bad brother. Forget him, Antigone, like he forgot us. Let his unfeeling soul wander eternally without rest; it was Creon‟s decision, not ours. Don‟t

20 try to do something that‟s beyond your strength. You always take on everything, but you‟re only a little girl, Antigone. Stay with us, don‟t go out there tonight, I‟m begging you. (Antigone rises, a strange smile on her lips. She goes to the door. On the threshold, she speaks softly.) ANTIGONE It‟s too late. When you saw me this morning, I had just come back. (Antigone exits. Ismene follows her.) ISMENE Antigone! (Ismene exits. As soon as she’s gone, Creon enters with his Page.) CREON One of the guards guarding the body, you said? Bring him in. (The Page exits and returns with the Guard. The Guard is a coarse, simple man, who at the moment is green with fear.) GUARD (standing at attention) Guard Member Jonas, Second Company. CREON What do you want? GUARD Well, here it is, sir. We drew straws to see who‟d come, and I drew the short one. So, here I am, sir. We thought it‟d be better if only one of us came to explain, and also we couldn‟t all three come and abandon our post. There‟s three of us on duty, sir, guarding the body. CREON What do you have to tell me? GUARD It‟s three of us, sir, not just me. The others are Durant and Senior Guard Bodi. CREON Why didn‟t the Senior Guard come?

21 GUARD Right, sir? That‟s the first thing I said. The Senior Guard should go. When there‟s no ranking officer, the Senior Guard is responsible. But the others said no, they wanted to draw straws. Should I go get the Senior Guard, sir? CREON No. You‟re here already, talk. GUARD I have seventeen years in the service. I enlisted voluntarily, the Medallion, two citations. I have a good reputation. I‟m a soldier‟s soldier. I live to carry out orders. My commander is always saying, “You can always count on Jonas.” CREON That‟s wonderful. Get to the point. What are you afraid of? GUARD Normally, it should‟ve been the Senior Guard. I‟ve been recommended for Senior Guard, but I haven‟t been promoted yet. I should‟ve been promoted last June. CREON Will you get to the point already? If something has happened, all three of you are responsible. I don‟t care who‟s standing here. GUARD Well, sir, here it is: the body... We were all alert, though! We had the hardest watch, two o‟clock. You know how it is, sir, when the night is almost over. Your eyelids feel like lead, your neck is stiff, all the shadows moving and the morning fog coming in... They chose the perfect time!... We‟re there, talking, stamping our feet... Nobody was sleeping, sir, I can promise you that none of us were sleeping! Anyway, it was so cold... All of a sudden, I glance over at the body... We were just two steps away, but I looked at it once in a while anyway... I‟m like that, sir, I‟m a stickler. That‟s why my commander says, “You can always...” (Creon cuts him off.) I saw it first, sir! The others‟ll tell you, I raised the alarm. CREON The alarm? Why? GUARD The body, sir. Somebody had covered it up. Well, not totally, you know. They didn‟t have time with us standing right there. Just a little bit of dirt. But still, enough to hide it from the vultures.

22

CREON (goes to him) You‟re sure it wasn‟t a dog, scratching up the earth? GUARD No, sir. We thought so too, we were hoping. But the dirt was thrown across the body, just like the priests do in the rites. It was somebody who knew what he was doing. CREON Who dared? Who was crazy enough to defy my edict? Did you find any tracks? GUARD No, sir. Nothing but a footprint lighter than a bird‟s. Later, we looked more carefully; Durant went farther off and found a shovel, a little kid‟s shovel, all old and rusty. We thought it couldn‟t be a kid that pulled it off. But the Senior Guard held on to it anyway, as evidence. CREON (suddenly lost in thought) A child... The shattered revolution seeping up again already, like acid, all around me. The friends of Polynices with their gold held hostage here in Thebes, the greasy leaders of the masses suddenly allied with the princes, and the priests trying to pocket a little something in the middle of it all... A child! They must have thought it would be more touching. I can see him, their child, with the face of a hired killer and the little shovel gently wrapped in paper under his coat. Unless they trained a real child for the job, seduced him with slogans... The priceless gift of innocence for their cause. A pale young boy who‟ll spit at my firing squad. Precious, fresh, young blood on my hands, how beautiful. (He goes to the Guard.) But they must have accomplices, and maybe in my Guard. Listen carefully... GUARD Sir, we did everything by the book! Durant sat down for half an hour „cause his feet hurt, but not me, sir, I was on my feet the whole time. The Senior Guard‟ll tell you. CREON Whom have you told about this? GUARD No one, sir. We drew straws, and I came straight here. CREON Listen very carefully. You stand a second watch. Send back the relief. Those are your orders. I don‟t want anyone but you three near the body. And not a word. You are all guilty of

23 negligence, you‟ll be punished regardless, but if you talk, if news travels through the city that someone buried Polynices‟ body, all three of you will die. GUARD We haven‟t told anyone, sir, I swear to you! Besides, I was here and maybe the others have already talked to the relief... (beginning to panic, stumbling over his words) Sir, I have two children. One of them is very small. You can testify at the court-martial that I was here, sir. I was here, with you! I have a witness! If somebody talked, it was one of them, it can‟t be me! I have a witness! CREON Go, run. If nobody knows, you‟ll live. (The Guard exits, running. Creon is silent for a moment. Then, murmuring...) A child... Come here, young man. (He takes the Page by the shoulder.) This news will spread, we can‟t stop it – and so it needs to come from us first. We have to go tell everyone about this now. And then, things could get really ugly. What fun. Would you die for me? Would you go out there with your little shovel? (The Page looks at him. Creon turns to leave, taking the Page with him.) Yes, of course you would, without a thought... (We hear him sigh again as they exit.) A child... (Creon and the Page exit. The Chorus enters.) CHORUS So here we are: the spring is wound up tight. And when it‟s released, it will unwind all by itself. That‟s the convenient thing about tragedy. You only need the smallest flick of a finger to get it started, almost nothing: a look for one second at a girl tossing her hair as she passes you on the street; a desire for respect, when you wake up one beautiful morning, like something you might have for breakfast; one question too many that you ask one evening... That‟s all. After that, all you have to do is sit back and watch. It‟s relaxing. It runs by itself. It‟s finely crafted, a well oiled machine as old as time. Death, treason, despair all stand ready – and the outbursts, and the storms, and the silences, all the silences: the silence at the end when the executioner‟s arm rises; the silence at the beginning when the two lovers stand naked, facing each other for the first time, not daring to move quite yet, in the darkened room; the silence when the roar of the crowd bursts out around the victor – like a film with a broken soundtrack, silent shouting from all those open mouths, all the clamor is only an image, and the victor, already vanquished, alone in the middle of his silence... Tragedy is clean. It‟s restful, it‟s certain... In melodrama – with its traitors and fanatic villains, with its persecuted innocence, its avengers, its heroic Saint Bernards, its glimmers of hope – death becomes horrible, like an accident. The hero might have saved himself, the nice

24 young man might have arrived in time with the police. Tragedy is relaxing. For one thing, everyone is among friends, since everyone is innocent, after all. It doesn‟t matter that someone kills and someone else is killed. That‟s just how the roles were assigned. And then, most importantly, tragedy is peaceful, because you know that there‟s no hope, no filthy hope; that you‟re caught, like a rat in a trap, the sky has fallen on your back, and the only thing left to do is to shout – not to whine, no, not to complain – to shout at the top of your voice whatever you have to say, things you‟ve never said and, maybe, didn‟t even know were in you. And for no reason: to hear yourself say them, to learn them for yourself. In melodrama, you struggle because you‟re hoping to escape. That‟s demeaning, it‟s practical. Here, it‟s gratuitous. It‟s kingly. And, in the end, there‟s nothing more you can do. (The three Guards enter, pushing Antigone ahead of them.) So, here we are – now it begins. The spring is released. Little Antigone has been caught. For the first time in her life, little Antigone will be able to be herself. (The Chorus disappears as the Guards push Antigone on stage.) GUARD (who has recovered all his composure) Okay, that‟s enough out of you! You can tell it all to the King. I‟m just following orders. Whatever you were doing there, I don‟t want to know about it. Everyone has excuses, everyone‟s protesting something. If we had to listen to people, if we had to try to understand them, we‟d be finished. Yeah, okay! Hold on to her, and be quiet! Whatever she has to say, I don‟t want to hear about it! ANTIGONE Tell them to take their filthy hands off me. They‟re hurting me. GUARD Their filthy hands? You could be more polite, young lady... I‟m polite. ANTIGONE Tell them to let me go. I‟m the daughter of Oedipus, I‟m Antigone. I‟m not going to run away. GUARD The daughter of Oedipus, of course! The hookers we bring in every night, they tell us to be careful too, they‟re all sleeping with the chief of police! (The Guards laugh.) ANTIGONE I want to die, but I don‟t want them to touch me!

25 GUARD What about dirt, and dead bodies, you don‟t mind touching them? “Their filthy hands!” Look at yours. (Antigone looks at her handcuffed hands and smiles slightly. They’re covered in dirt.) They took your shovel away, didn‟t they? You had to use your fingernails, the second time. The nerve this girl has! I turn my back for one second, I ask you for a chew, and there she goes, time enough for me to stuff it in my cheek, time enough to say thank you, there she was, scratching like a little hyena. In broad daylight! And she fought like hell when I grabbed her, the little bitch! She tried to scratch my eyes out! She was screaming about how she wasn‟t done yet... She‟s a lunatic! SECOND GUARD I arrested a loony the other day. She was showing her ass to people on the street. GUARD Hey, Bodi, what kind of a party are we going to have, the three of us, to celebrate! SECOND GUARD Let‟s go to The Hunchback‟s. The old witch has got good beer. THIRD GUARD We‟re off duty on Sunday. Should we bring our wives? GUARD No, let‟s actually have some fun! With the women around, someone‟s always fighting about something, and the kids always have to pee... Hey! Bodi, a few hours ago we didn‟t think we‟d be celebrating anything, did we! SECOND GUARD Maybe they‟ll give us a bonus. GUARD Maybe, if it turns out to be important. THIRD GUARD Flanders, in the Third, when he caught the arsonist last month, he got an extra month‟s pay. SECOND GUARD Woah, hold on! If we get an extra month‟s pay, let‟s not bother with the Hunchback – we should go to the Arabian Palace. The Guard switches from the formal “vous” to the familiar “tu” – in this context, an expression of disrespect.

26

GUARD To drink? Are you nuts? They charge twice as much for drinks at the Palace. If you want to go upstairs, okay. Listen, here‟s what we‟ll do: we‟ll go see the Hunchback, we‟ll fill up, and then we‟ll go to the Palace. Hey, Bodi, you remember the fat one, at the Palace? SECOND GUARD Oh man, you were so hammered, that night! THIRD GUARD But you know, if we get an extra month‟s pay, our wives‟ll find out. I mean, they might give us a public ceremony. GUARD Well, we‟ll see. The party‟s a different thing. If there‟s a ceremony at the barracks, like for decorations, our wives‟ll be there, and the kids. And then we‟ll all go to the Hunchback‟s. SECOND GUARD Yeah, but if we want dinner there we have to order ahead, you know. ANTIGONE (in a small voice) I‟d like to sit down for a bit, please. GUARD (thinks for a moment) Okay, she can sit. But don‟t let her go. (Creon enters, with the Page. The Guard instantly shouts.) Attention! CREON (stopping, surprised) Let go of this young lady – remove those handcuffs! What is this? GUARD The watch, sir. I brought the rest of them. CREON Who‟s guarding the body? GUARD We sent for the relief, sir.

27 CREON I told you to send them back! I told you not to say anything. GUARD We didn‟t say anything, sir. But when we arrested her, we thought one of us should bring her in. And this time we didn‟t draw straws. We decided we should all come. CREON Imbeciles! (to Antigone) Where did they arrest you? GUARD Near the body, sir. CREON What were you doing near your brother‟s body? You knew that I had forbidden anyone to go near it. GUARD What was she doing, sir? That‟s why we brought her in. She was digging up the earth with her hands. She was trying to cover up the body, again. CREON Do you understand exactly what you‟re saying? GUARD Sir, you can ask them. We uncovered the body when I got back; but, with the sun getting hotter, it was starting to smell, so we went up on a little hill, near by, to get some breeze. We told ourselves in broad daylight we weren‟t risking anything. Even so, just to be sure, we decided that one of us would always be watching the body. But by noon, with the sun overhead, and the smell had gotten worse „cause the wind had died down, the heat was like a sledgehammer. I had my eyes glued open, everything was wobbling like jello, I couldn‟t see a thing. I go over to my buddy to ask for a chew to clear my head... Time enough to stuff it in my cheek, sir, time enough to say thank you, I turn around: there she was, digging with her hands. In broad daylight! There‟s no way she thought we wouldn‟t see her. And when she saw me running at her, you think she stopped, you think she tried to escape? No. She kept digging, as fast as she could, like she didn‟t see me coming. And when I grabbed her, she fought like a demon, she tried to keep digging, she yelled at me that the body wasn‟t totally covered yet...

28 CREON (to Antigone) Is this true? ANTIGONE Yes, it‟s true. GUARD We uncovered the body, of course, and then we passed the watch to the relief, without saying anything, and we brought her to you, sir. And here we are. CREON And the first time, last night, that was also you? ANTIGONE Yes, that was me. With a little iron shovel that we used to take on vacation, to make sandcastles at the beach. It was Polynices‟ shovel, actually. He carved his name into the handle with a knife. That‟s why I left it near him. But they took it. So, the second time, I had to use my hands. GUARD We thought maybe it was an animal, scratching in the dirt. When we first saw her, with the air wobbling in the heat, someone said, “No, it‟s an animal.” “You think so,” I say to him, “it‟s too skinny to be an animal. It‟s a girl.” CREON All right. I may ask you for a report in a little while. For the moment, leave me alone with her. Take these men aside, young man. And they don‟t speak to anyone until I see them again. GUARD Should I put the cuffs back on her, sir? CREON No. (The Guards exit, following the Page. Creon and Antigone are alone, facing each other.) CREON Did you tell anyone about your plan?

29 ANTIGONE No. CREON Did you meet anyone on your way? ANTIGONE No, no one. CREON You‟re absolutely sure of that? ANTIGONE Yes. CREON All right, listen: you‟re going to go to your room, go to bed, say that you‟re sick, that you haven‟t been out since yesterday. Your nurse will say the same thing. I‟ll make those three men disappear. ANTIGONE Why? You know perfectly well I‟ll just go out there again. (A silence. They look at each other.) CREON Why did you try to bury your brother? ANTIGONE I had to. CREON I had forbidden it. ANTIGONE (softly) I had to anyway. Those we don‟t bury wander through all eternity without ever finding rest. If my living brother had returned exhausted from a long hunt, I would‟ve taken off his shoes, I would‟ve brought him food to eat, I would‟ve made his bed... Polynices has finished his hunt. He‟s going back to the house where my father and my mother, and Eteocles as well, are waiting for him. He has a right to rest.

30 CREON He was a rebel and a traitor, you knew that. ANTIGONE He was my brother. CREON You heard the edict proclaimed in the square, you saw the notice on every wall in the city? ANTIGONE Yes. CREON You knew the punishment promised to anyone, whoever it was, who dared to give him the funeral rites? ANTIGONE Yes, I knew that. CREON Perhaps you thought that being the daughter of Oedipus, the daughter of the arrogant pride of Oedipus, was enough to be above the law. ANTIGONE No. I didn‟t think that. CREON The law is made first for you, Antigone, the law is made first for the daughters of kings! ANTIGONE If I had been a servant, in the middle of washing my dishes, when I heard the edict being read, I would‟ve wiped the greasy water off my arms and I would‟ve gone out in my apron to bury my brother. CREON That‟s not true. If you‟d been a servant, you wouldn‟t have doubted that you would be killed, and you would‟ve settled for staying home and crying for your brother in private. But you thought that you were of royal blood, my niece and the fiancée of my son, and that I would never dare to have you actually put to death. ANTIGONE You‟re mistaken. I was certain you would have me put to death, actually.

31 CREON (He looks at her in silence. Then, murmuring...) The pride of Oedipus. You are the pride of Oedipus. Yes, now that I see him behind your eyes, I believe you. Of course you thought I would have you killed. And that seemed like a perfectly natural ending for you, you arrogant girl! Just like your father. He was never even searching for happiness – for him, the worst of human suffering was not enough. Humanity doesn‟t fit well on you, in your family. You need a grander destiny, a more personal relationship with death. And so to kill your father and sleep with your mother, and learn all of it afterwards, avidly, word by word... It‟s quite a drink, isn‟t it, the words that condemn you? And how greedily you drink them when your name is Oedipus, or Antigone. And afterwards, what could be easier than to poke out your own eyes and go begging with your children on the highways... Well, not anymore. Those times are over for Thebes. Thebes has a right by now to a prince without a history. My name is only Creon, thank God. I have my feet on the ground, my hands in my pockets, and, since I am king, I‟ve resolved, with less ambition than your father, to return a little order to this absurd world, if that is possible. It‟s not an adventure – it‟s a profession, that you work at every day. And like any profession, not every day is fun. But since the work is here to be done, I will do it. And if tomorrow a grimy messenger comes stumbling down from the depths of the mountains to announce that he isn‟t quite sure about the circumstances of my birth, I will simply ask him to be so kind as to go back where he came from, and I will not, for so little reason, start interrogating your aunt or analyzing dates. Kings have other things to think about than their personal dramas, my child. (He goes to her and takes her arm.) Now, listen carefully. You are Antigone, you are the daughter of Oedipus, that‟s true, but you‟re twenty years old, and not so long ago all this would‟ve been settled with a good spanking and sending you to bed without supper. (He looks at her, smiling.) Have you put to death! Have you looked at yourself, my little sparrow? You‟re too thin. You need to fatten up a bit, so you can bear Haemon a big baby boy. Thebes needs that more than it needs your death, I assure you. You‟re going to go to your room right now, do what I told you, and keep quiet. I‟ll see to the silence of those men. Go on, go! And don‟t annihilate me with your stare like that. You think I‟m a monster, I understand that – you think I have no poetry in my soul. But I love you very much, even with your horrible stubbornness. Don‟t forget that I gave you your very first doll as a present, not so long ago. (Antigone doesn’t reply. She starts to leave. He stops her.) Antigone! Your room is that way. Where are you going? ANTIGONE (stops and replies softly, very simply) You know perfectly well... (A silence. They stand facing each other, again.)

32 CREON (quietly, almost to himself) What game are you playing? ANTIGONE I‟m not playing a game. CREON Don‟t you understand that if anyone other than those three fools finds out what you tried to do, I‟ll be forced to have you put to death? If you give up this insanity, if you shut up about this right now, I have a chance to save you, but I‟ll lose that chance in five minutes. Do you understand that? ANTIGONE I have to go bury my brother. The guards have uncovered him. CREON You really want to repeat this pointless gesture? There are still guards around Polynices‟ body, and even if you manage to cover it up again, they‟ll just uncover it, you know that. All you‟ll accomplish is to make your fingernails bleed and get yourself dragged back in here again. ANTIGONE Nothing but that, I know. But that, at least, I can do. And I have to do what I can. CREON Do you really believe in it, in this burial by the book? In this soul of your brother‟s, condemned to wander forever if you don‟t throw a little dirt on the body with the right words? Have you heard the priests of Thebes reciting the ritual? Have you seen those poor, tired underlings cutting short the gestures, swallowing the words, ruining a decent death so they‟ll have time for another drink before lunch? ANTIGONE Yes, I‟ve seen them. CREON You‟ve never thought that if someone you really loved was there, lying in the coffin, that you might suddenly start screaming? Shouting at them to be quiet, to go away? ANTIGONE Yes, I‟ve thought that.

33 CREON And now you‟re risking death because I‟ve refused to give your brother this ridiculous passport, this litany of gibberish, that you would‟ve been the first to be ashamed of if you‟d seen it performed. It‟s absurd! ANTIGONE Yes, it‟s absurd. CREON Then why are you doing it? For the people, for the ones who believe in it? To turn them against me? ANTIGONE No. CREON Not for them, not for your brother? Then for whom? ANTIGONE For nobody. For me. CREON (Looks at her in silence.) So, you really want to die? You have that look in your eyes, like a rabbit in a trap. ANTIGONE Don‟t get maudlin. Do what I‟m doing. Do what you have to do. But if you‟re a human being, do it quickly. That‟s the only thing I ask of you. My courage won‟t last forever. CREON (moving toward her) I want to save you, Antigone. ANTIGONE You‟re the king, you can do anything, but that you cannot do. CREON You think so? ANTIGONE You can‟t save me, and you can‟t stop me.

34 CREON Proud Antigone! Little Oedipus! ANTIGONE You can only have me put to death. CREON And if I have you tortured? ANTIGONE Why? To make me cry, beg for mercy, swear to anything you want, so that you can watch me begin again as soon as the pain is gone? CREON (gripping her arm) Listen to me. You've cast me as the villain in your little drama, and you‟ve cast yourself as the heroine. And we both know it. But don‟t count on that advantage too much, you little brat... If I were a real barbarian, an ordinary tyrant, we would've cut your tongue out long ago, torn your body limb from limb, and thrown away the pieces. But you see something in my eyes that hesitates, that keeps me from calling in my guards – and so you mock me, you taunt me, you attack me from every direction. What are you after, you little demon? ANTIGONE Let go of me. You're hurting my arm. CREON (gripping more tightly) No. I'm stronger than you are – I have my own advantages. ANTIGONE (a small cry of pain) Ah! CREON (his eyes laughing) Maybe this is all I have to do, after all – twist your arm, pull your hair, just like kids in a schoolyard. (He looks at her, serious again. He leans in close to her.) I'm your uncle, that's true, but we're not very affectionate with each other, in this family, are we? Do you find it funny, at least, this old man hanging on your every word, this pathetic monarch, with the power to do anything, who's had others killed, and just as pitiable as you, I assure you, and who's still here taking all this trouble to rescue you from death?

35 ANTIGONE (after a pause) You're squeezing too hard, now. It doesn't hurt anymore. I can't feel my arm. (He looks at her and then lets go with a little smile.) CREON (murmuring) God knows I have other things to do today, but even so I'm going to spend whatever time it takes to save you, you little pest. (He sits her down in a chair in the middle of the room. He takes off his jacket, turns and advances on her, powerful, intent on his purpose.) The day after a failed revolution, there's plenty of work to be done, believe me. But those pressing affairs will wait. I don't want you to die over a question of politics. You're worth more than that. Because your dear Polynices, his anguished soul and his decomposing body surrounded by guards and this whole drama that's inflaming you, it‟s all politics. First of all, I'm not a tender-hearted man, but I am meticulous; I like things to be clean, orderly, wellscrubbed. You think it disgusts me any less than you, that meat out there rotting in the sun? In the evening, with the wind blowing in from the sea, you can already smell it in the palace. It turns my stomach. But even so, I will not close my window. It‟s revolting, and just between us, it‟s stupid, it‟s monstrously stupid, but all of Thebes needs to smell it for a while. You know that I would‟ve buried your brother, just for the sake of sanitation! But to make the sheep I govern understand, the whole city needs to stink of Polynices‟ body for a month. ANTIGONE You are disgusting! CREON Yes, my dear. The job requires it. We can discuss whether you should do the job or whether you shouldn‟t. But if you do it, you have to do it like this. ANTIGONE Why do you do it? CREON One morning, I woke up king of Thebes. And God knows I loved other things in this life than power... ANTIGONE You should‟ve said no, then!

36 CREON I could have. I considered it. But suddenly I felt like a workman refusing work. It didn‟t seem honest. I said yes. ANTIGONE Well then, too bad for you. I didn‟t say yes! What makes you think that I would care about your politics, your obligations, your sad little stories? I can still say no to anything I don‟t like, and the choice is mine and mine alone. And you, with your crown, with your guards, with all your royal baggage, you can only have me put to death because you said yes. CREON Listen to me... ANTIGONE If I don‟t want to, I don‟t have to listen to you. You said yes. I have nothing more to learn from you. But you... Look at you, drinking in my words. If you don‟t call your guards, it‟s because you want to hear me through to the end. CREON You make me laugh! ANTIGONE No. I make you afraid. That‟s why you‟re trying to save me. It would be easier, after all, to have little Antigone, alive but silent, in the palace. You‟re too sensitive to make a good tyrant, that‟s all it is. But you‟re going to have me put to death soon anyway, you know that, and that‟s why you‟re afraid. Men are so ugly when they‟re afraid. CREON (wearily) All right, yes, I‟m afraid of having to have you killed if you insist on it. It‟s something I‟d rather not do. ANTIGONE I don‟t have to do anything that I‟d rather not do! I suppose you would rather not have refused my brother a grave, either? Say it, would you rather not have done that? CREON I said it already. ANTIGONE And you did it anyway. And now, you‟re going to have me killed, without wanting to. And that‟s what it is, to be a king!

37 CREON Yes, that‟s what it is! ANTIGONE Poor Creon! With my broken, dirty nails, and the bruises your guards left on me, with my fear twisting my stomach, I am a queen. CREON Then have pity on me, live. Your brother‟s corpse rotting under my windows is a high enough price for order to reign in Thebes. My son loves you. Don‟t make me pay with your life as well. I‟ve paid enough. ANTIGONE No. You said yes. Now you will never stop paying! CREON (shaking her, beside himself) But, good God! Try to understand for one minute, you little fool! I‟ve tried hard enough to understand you. There has to be someone who says yes. There has to be someone to steer the ship. It‟s taking on water from all sides, it‟s full of crime, poverty, misery... And the wheel is spinning with the wind. And the crew refuses to work, they‟re busy pillaging the hold, and the officers are building a nice little raft, with enough fresh water just for themselves. And the mast is cracking, and the wind is howling, and the sails are starting to tear, and all these fools are going to die together, because they‟re only thinking about their own precious skins and their own little problems. So, do you think you have time to make precise distinctions, to ask if you should say yes or no, to wonder if you‟ll pay too high a price someday and if you‟ll still be a man when it‟s over? You grab the wheel, you right the ship in the face of a mountain of water, you shout an order and you shoot into the mob, at the first man who advances. Into the mob! It doesn‟t have a name. It‟s like the wave that crashes down on the deck in front of you, the wind that tears at you, and the thing that falls in the crowd has no name, either. It might have been the smiling man who gave you a light the day before. He‟s lost his name. And so have you, clinging to the wheel, you‟ve lost your name. Only the ship has a name, and the storm. Do you understand? ANTIGONE (shaking her head) I don‟t want to understand. It‟s fine for you. I‟m here for other things than understanding. I‟m here to say no to you, and then to die. CREON It‟s easy to say no!

38 ANTIGONE Not always. CREON To say yes, you have to sweat, roll up your sleeves, seize life with both hands and plunge into it up to the elbows. It‟s easy to say no, even if it means you have to die. You only have to sit and wait. Wait to live, wait for them to kill you. It‟s too cowardly. It was invented by men. Can you imagine a world where even the trees had said no to the sap, or the animals had said no to their instinct to hunt or to mate? The animals, they at least are good and simple and strong. They move together, pushing one after the other, courageously, all on the same road. And if one falls, the others pass by, and it doesn‟t matter how many are lost, there will always be one from each species ready to bring more children into the world and continue on the same road with the same courage, just like those who came before. ANTIGONE What a dream, huh, for a king – animals! That would be so simple. (A silence. Creon looks at her.) CREON You despise me, don‟t you? (She doesn’t respond. He continues, almost to himself.) It‟s funny. I‟ve imagined it many times, this conversation with a pale young man who would have tried to kill me, and from whom I could get nothing, afterwards, but scorn. But I never thought it would be with you, over something this stupid... (He puts his head in his hands. He seems to be near the end of his rope.) Listen to me, anyway, for the last time. I don‟t like my part in all this, but it‟s my part and I will have you killed. Only, first, I want you to be absolutely sure of yours. Do you know what you‟re dying for, Antigone? You‟re about to sign your little name in blood, for all eternity, but do you know what you‟re signing? Do you know the whole sordid story? ANTIGONE What story? CREON The story of Eteocles and Polynices, the story of your brothers. No, you think you know it, but you don‟t. No one in Thebes knows it, except for me. But it seems to me that, today, you have the right to hear it. (He sits lost in thought for a moment, his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. He murmurs...) It‟s not a very pretty story, as you‟ll see.

39 (He begins wearily, not looking at Antigone.) First, what do you remember about your brothers? Two playmates who made fun of you, no doubt, who broke your dolls, always whispering secrets in each other‟s ears to infuriate you? ANTIGONE They were older... CREON Later, you must have admired them, with their first cigarettes, their first suits; and then they started going out at night, smelling like men, and after that they never noticed you at all. ANTIGONE I was a girl... CREON You heard the doors slamming when they came home, your mother crying, your father shouting, their giggling in the hallways. And they walked right past you, sneering and spineless, smelling of liquor. ANTIGONE Once, I had hidden myself behind a door, it was morning, we had just gotten up and they were coming home. Polynices saw me behind the door, he was all pale, his eyes shining, so handsome in his evening clothes! He said to me, “Well, what are you doing there?” And he gave me a big paper flower that he had brought back from his evening. CREON And you kept it, didn‟t you? And yesterday, before you went out, you opened the drawer where you keep it and you looked at it, for a long time, to give yourself courage. ANTIGONE (startled) Who told you that? CREON Poor Antigone, with your paper flower from a nightclub! Do you know who your brother was? ANTIGONE I knew you would say terrible things about him, whoever he was. CREON A mindless party animal, a vicious, soulless little carnivore who only knew how to drive his cars faster than the rest, and spend more money in the bars. Once, when I was there, your

40 father had just refused to pay off one of his huge gambling debts. His face went white, and he raised his fist, spitting foul words at your father. ANTIGONE That‟s not true! CREON The bastard punched your father right in the face. It was pitiful. Your father was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands. His nose was bleeding. He was crying. And, leaning against the wall, Polynices sneered and lit up a cigarette. ANTIGONE (almost pleading now) That‟s not true! CREON You were twelve years old. None of you saw him for a long time after that. That‟s true, isn‟t it? ANTIGONE (dully) Yes, that‟s true. CREON It was after that fight. Your father didn‟t want to have him punished. So he left. He enlisted in the Argive army. And from the day he joined the Argives, the manhunt began against your father, against this old man who couldn‟t make up his mind to die, to let go of his kingdom. One attack followed another, and the assassins we caught always confessed, in the end, that they‟d been paid by him. But not only by him. This is what I want you to know, what took place in the wings of this drama in which you‟re burning to play a part, what went on in the kitchen. Yesterday I saw to it that Eteocles was given a grand funeral. Eteocles is now a hero and a saint for Thebes. The whole city was there. Schoolchildren emptied their piggy banks to buy the wreaths; old men, pretending to be moved, with trembling voices glorified the good brother, the faithful son of Oedipus, the loyal prince. I also gave a speech. And every priest in Thebes in all their finery, with an air of such solemnity. And the stirring music, and the military honors... It had to be done. I couldn‟t allow myself the luxury of having a villain in both camps. But I‟ll tell you something, just between us, something that only I know, something horrible: Eteocles, the paragon of virtue, was not worth any more than Polynices. The good brother also tried to have his father assassinated, the loyal prince also decided to sell Thebes to the highest bidder. Isn‟t it funny? The treason for which Polynices‟ body is now rotting in the sun, I have proof that Eteocles, sleeping in his marble tomb, was also preparing to commit. It was only by chance that Polynices‟ plan succeeded first. We‟re talking about two petty thieves, who lied to each other as well as to us, who slaughtered each other like the

41 cheap hoodlums they were, over a division of the spoils... Only, I had to make a hero out of one of them. So, I had their bodies located out on the battlefield, in the midst of all the others. We found them in each other‟s arms – for the first time in their lives, probably. They were skewered on each other‟s swords, and then the Argive cavalry had ridden over them. They were mashed to a pulp, Antigone, unrecognizable. I had one of the bodies brought in, the less mangled of the two, for my national funeral, and I gave the order to let the other one rot where it was. I don‟t even know which was which. And I assure you, I don‟t care. (There is a long silence, neither one moving, not looking at each other. Then Antigone speaks softly.) ANTIGONE Why did you tell me this? (Creon gets up, puts on his jacket.) CREON Would it have been better to let you die a victim to that ridiculous story? ANTIGONE Maybe. I believed. (A silence. Creon approaches her.) CREON What are you going to do now? ANTIGONE (standing up, like a sleepwalker) I‟m going to my room. CREON Don‟t stay alone. Go see Haemon this morning. Have the wedding soon. ANTIGONE (sighing) Yes. CREON You have your whole life ahead of you. All this arguing was just a lot of empty talk, I promise you. You have the real treasure – you have yourself, your life.

42 ANTIGONE Yes. CREON Nothing else matters. And you were going to throw it away! I understand you, I would‟ve done the same thing at twenty. That‟s why I was drinking in your words. I was listening, from the depths of time, to a little Creon, thin and pale, who was ready to sacrifice everything, just like you... Get married quickly, Antigone, be happy. Life is not what you think it is. It flows like water between your open fingers, when you‟re young, and you can‟t even feel it. Close your fingers, close your hands, quickly. Hold on to it. You‟ll see, there in your hands it‟ll become a very simple thing, a hard little nugget that you gnaw at, sitting in the sunlight. Everyone will tell you that it‟s something else, because they need your strength and your spirit. Don‟t listen to them. Don‟t listen to me when I give my next speech in front of Eteocles‟ tomb. It won‟t be true. Nothing is true but what you don‟t say... You‟ll learn just like I did, too late, that life is a book that you love, a child playing at your feet, a tool you hold firmly in your hand, a bench you sit on in the evening outside your home. You‟ll still despise me, but you‟ll see that I‟m right, that this discovery is the meager consolation in getting old – there may, after all, be nothing more to life than happiness. ANTIGONE (murmuring, lost in thought) Happiness... CREON (suddenly a bit ashamed) Not much of a word, huh? ANTIGONE (softly) What will my happiness be? What kind of a happy woman will she become, little Antigone? What ugly little things will she have to do, day after day, to get her teeth into life and tear off her little shred of happiness? Tell me, who will she have to flatter, who will she have to lie to, who will she have to sell herself to? Who will she have to let die as she looks away? CREON (shrugging his shoulders) You‟re out of your mind, be quiet. ANTIGONE No, I will not be quiet! I want to know what I have to do to be happy. Right now, because I have to decide right now. You say that life is so beautiful. I want to know what I have to do to live.

43 CREON Do you love Haemon? ANTIGONE Yes, I love Haemon. I love a Haemon who is young and unyielding, demanding and faithful, like me. But if your life, your happiness, are going to wear him down, if Haemon stops growing pale when I do, if he stops thinking I must be dead when I‟m five minutes late, if he stops feeling alone in the world and hating me when I laugh and he doesn‟t know why, if my husband turns before my eyes into a distinguished stranger, if he has to learn to say yes, too, then that Haemon I don‟t love! CREON You don‟t know what you‟re saying anymore. Be quiet. ANTIGONE No, I know what I‟m saying, but you can‟t hear me. I‟m speaking to you from too far away now, from a kingdom you can‟t enter anymore, with all your wisdom, your wrinkles, your belly. (She laughs.) I‟m laughing, Creon, because suddenly I see you at the age of fifteen! With the same look of helplessness, clinging to your belief that you can do anything. Life has only added the lines on your face and the flab around your middle. CREON (shaking her) Will you ever be quiet? ANTIGONE Why do you want me to be quiet? Because you know I‟m right? I see it in your eyes – you know I‟m right, but you‟ll never admit it because at this very moment you‟re defending your happiness, like a bone. CREON Yes, yours and mine, you idiot! ANTIGONE You all disgust me, with your happiness! With your life that you have to love, at all costs. You‟re like dogs that lick everything they see. Looking every day for that little chance at happiness, if you don't ask for too much... I want everything, here and now, whole and complete – or else I want nothing! It‟s not enough to be modest and content myself with a

Antigone switches from the formal “vous” to the familiar “tu” – in this context, an expression of disrespect.

44 few crumbs if I've been very good. I want to be sure of everything, today, everything as precious and beautiful and perfect as when I was young – or else I want to die. CREON Now it begins, just like your father! ANTIGONE Like my father, yes! We ask questions all the way through to the end. Until there's truly not a chance of hope left alive, not the smallest chance of hope left to strangle. We stamp it out wherever we find it, your hope, your precious hope, your filthy hope! CREON Shut up! If you could see yourself shouting those words, how ugly you are! ANTIGONE Yes, I am ugly! It's demeaning, isn't it, the shouting, the fighting over scraps? Papa only became beautiful afterwards, when he was really sure, in the end, that he had killed his father, that he had slept with his mother, and that nothing, absolutely nothing, could save him. Then he grew calm, very suddenly, almost smiling, and he became beautiful. It was finished. He only had to close his eyes to never see any of you again! Oh, your faces, your sorry-looking faces, all candidates for happiness! You are the ugly ones, even the most beautiful of you. You all have something ugly in the corner of your eye, or clinging to your mouth. You said it so well just now, Creon, the kitchen. You all look like cooks! CREON (grabbing her arms, trying to overpower her) I order you to be quiet, do you hear me? ANTIGONE You order me, cook? You think you can order me to do anything? CREON You‟re throwing your life away! The antechamber is full of people. They'll hear you! ANTIGONE Well, open the doors, then. Let them hear me! CREON (trying to cover her mouth) Good God, will you ever be quiet?

45 ANTIGONE (struggling) Hurry up, cook! Call your guards! (Ismene enters.) ISMENE Antigone! ANTIGONE What do you want? ISMENE Antigone, forgive me! You see, I came, I have courage. I'll go with you now. ANTIGONE Where will you go with me? ISMENE If you have her killed, you'll have to kill me with her! ANTIGONE Oh, no! Not now. Now it's me, it's me alone. You're not going to come die with me now. That would be too easy! ISMENE I don't want to live if you die, I don't want to live without you! ANTIGONE You chose life and I chose death. Spare me your whining. You could‟ve come with me this morning, on all fours, in the night. You could‟ve come back with me the second time to dig up the earth with your fingernails, to be arrested like a common thief! ISMENE Well, I'll go tomorrow! ANTIGONE You hear that, Creon? Her too. Maybe it‟ll catch on, when others hear me! Why are you waiting to shut me up, why are you waiting to call your guards? Come on, Creon, a little courage, it'll only hurt for a second. Come on, cook, you don't have any choice! CREON Guards!

46 (The three Guards appear immediately.) Take her away. ANTIGONE (with great relief) Finally, Creon! (The Guards grab Antigone and lead her away. Ismene follows them, calling after her.) ISMENE Antigone! Antigone! (Creon is left alone. The Chorus enters and goes to him.) CHORUS You're out of your mind, Creon. What have you done? CREON (staring into the distance in front of him) She had to die. CHORUS Don't let Antigone die, Creon! We will carry the scar with us for centuries. CREON She wanted to die. None of us was strong enough to make her want to live. I understand it now – Antigone was made for death. She may not have known it herself, but Polynices was only a pretext. When she had to give that one up, she found other reasons soon enough. The important thing for her was to say no and to die. CHORUS She's a child, Creon. CREON What do you want me to do for her? Condemn her to live? (Haemon enters.) HAEMON Father! (Creon goes to Haemon and embraces him.)

47

CREON Forget her, Haemon; forget her, my son. HAEMON You're out of your mind, Father. Let me go! CREON (holding him tighter) I tried everything to save her, Haemon. I tried everything, I swear to you. She doesn't love you. She could have lived. She‟s obsessed – she chose death. HAEMON (struggling to pull away) But, Father, they're taking her away! Father, don't let those men take her away! CREON She's spoken now. All of Thebes knows what she did. I have no choice but to have her put to death. HAEMON (freeing himself) Let go of me! (A silence. They stand facing each other.) CHORUS (approaching) Can't we make up something, say that she's crazy, lock her up? CREON They'll say it isn't true. That I'm sparing her because she's going to marry my son. I can't. CHORUS Can‟t we buy some time, maybe get her out of the city? CREON The people already know, they‟re shouting outside the palace. I can‟t. HAEMON Father, the people are nothing. You are the master.

48 CREON I am master under the law. Not above it. HAEMON Father, I am your son, you can‟t let her be taken from me. CREON Yes I can, Haemon, my son. Be brave. Antigone has ended her life. Antigone has already forsaken us all. HAEMON Do you think I can live without her? Do you think I‟ll accept your life? Every day, from morning to night, without her. And all your petty problems, and all your mindless chattering – all that emptiness, without her. CREON You have to accept it, Haemon. We all have a day – more painful for some than for others, it comes sooner or later, but it comes – when we finally have to accept the fact that we are men. For you, that day is today. And I see the tears in your eyes and the pain in your heart – my little boy, for the last time... When you turn and walk away from me, when you cross the threshold as you leave, in a moment, it will be over. HAEMON (recoiling, softly) It‟s already over. CREON Don‟t judge me, Haemon. Not you. HAEMON (after a pause) All that strength and courage, that giant god who lifted me in his arms and saved me from the monsters and the shadows, was that you? That smell of old paper, in the glow of the lamp at night in your library, when you showed me the secrets of all your old books, was that you? CREON (humbly) Yes, Haemon. HAEMON All that care, all that pride, all those books full of heroes, all that just to wind up here? To be a man, like you said, and so happy just to be alive?

49 CREON Yes, Haemon. HAEMON (crying suddenly, like a child, as he throws himself in his father’s arms) Father, this is not right! You can‟t let this happen, this can‟t be happening! We‟re not standing with our backs against a wall where we can only say yes. You‟re still powerful, like you‟ve always been. I‟m begging you, Father, let me admire you, let me still admire you! I‟m too alone and the world is too bare if I can‟t admire you anymore. CREON (moving him gently away) We are all alone, Haemon. The world is bare. And you‟ve admired me for too long. Look at me – this is when you become a man, the day you look clearly and see your father‟s face. HAEMON (stares at him, then shrinks back, shouting) Antigone! Antigone! Help! (Haemon exits, running.) CHORUS (going to Creon) Creon, he ran out like a madman. CREON (not moving, staring into the distance in front of him) Yes. Poor boy, he loves her. CHORUS Creon, you have to do something. CREON There‟s nothing more I can do. CHORUS Creon, he is wounded to death. CREON (wearily) Yes, we are all wounded to death.

50 (The three Guards enter, pushing Antigone ahead of them. The Guards brace themselves against the door, with a howling mob outside.) GUARD Sir, they‟re crowding into the palace! ANTIGONE Creon, I don‟t want to see their faces anymore, I don‟t want to hear their shouting anymore, I don‟t want to see anyone anymore! You have my death now, that‟s enough. Let me be alone until it‟s over. CREON (exiting as he shouts to the Guards) Guards at the doors! Empty the palace! You stay here with her. (Exit all but Antigone and the Guard. Antigone looks at him in silence for a moment.) ANTIGONE So, it‟s you? GUARD What‟s me? ANTIGONE My last human face. GUARD Guess so. ANTIGONE Let me look at you... GUARD (walking away, annoyed) Okay, okay... ANTIGONE Was it you who arrested me, earlier? GUARD Yeah, that was me.

51 ANTIGONE You hurt me. You didn‟t have to hurt me. Did I look like I wanted to escape? GUARD Okay, don‟t give me that! If you weren‟t here waiting to die, I would be. ANTIGONE How old are you? GUARD Thirty-nine. ANTIGONE Do you have children? GUARD Yeah, two of „em. ANTIGONE Do you love them? GUARD That‟s none of your business. (A pause. He begins to pace. For a moment, all we hear is the sound of his footsteps.) ANTIGONE (meekly) Have you been a guard for a long time? GUARD After the war. I was a sergeant. I re-enlisted. ANTIGONE Do you have to be a sergeant to be a guard? GUARD Usually, yeah. That or assignment in a special unit. But if you become a guard as a sergeant, you lose your rank. So, say if I meet an army private, he doesn‟t have to salute me. ANTIGONE Really?

52

GUARD Yeah. Of course, generally, he does. Privates know that a guard is an officer. On the financial side: a regular guard‟s pay is about the same as for special units, but the first six months, you get a bonus that brings you up to a sergeant‟s pay. Only, as a guard, there are other advantages: housing, utilities, benefits... When you add it up, a married guard with two kids brings in more than a sergeant on active duty. ANTIGONE Really? GUARD Yep. That‟s why there‟s this rivalry between the guards and the sergeants. You‟ve probably noticed the sergeants make a point of looking down on the guards. Their big argument is advancement. In a sense, that‟s true. Advancement in the guards is harder and takes longer than in the army. But you can‟t forget that a brigadier in the guards is different from a sergeant chief. ANTIGONE (suddenly) Listen... GUARD Yeah? ANTIGONE I‟m going to die soon. (The Guard doesn’t respond. A silence. He paces. After a moment, he continues.) GUARD On the other hand, people have more respect for a guard than for a sergeant. A guard is a soldier, but he‟s really a civil servant, too. ANTIGONE Do you think it hurts to die? GUARD I couldn‟t tell you. In the war, guys who were wounded in the stomach, they had it pretty bad. I‟ve never been wounded. And, actually, that‟s hurt my chances for advancement.

53 ANTIGONE How are they going to put me to death? GUARD I don‟t know. I think I heard them say that in order not to defile the city with your blood, they were going to wall you up in a cave. ANTIGONE Alive? GUARD Yeah, at first. (A silence. The Guard pulls out his chewing tobacco, starts to make himself a plug.) ANTIGONE My tomb, my bridal bed... My final resting place. My eternal home beneath the earth. (She sits, small and alone in the middle of the big empty room. She seems to be a little cold. She wraps her arms around herself. She murmurs...) All alone... GUARD (putting away his tobacco) In the caves of Hades, outside the city gates. In the middle of the day, out there in the sun. Really a great time for whoever gets the detail. At first, they decided to give it to the army. But, last I heard, it‟ll be the guards who get the job. Give it to the guards – they can take anything! You still surprised there‟s bad blood between the guards and the sergeants? ANTIGONE (softly, a bit wearily) Two animals... GUARD What about „em? ANTIGONE Animals press up against each other to keep warm. I‟m all alone. GUARD If you need something, you know... I can send out for it.

54 ANTIGONE No. I just want you to give someone a letter, after I‟m dead. GUARD What? A letter? ANTIGONE A letter that I‟ll write. GUARD Woah... Are you kidding? A letter? You‟ve got a lot of nerve! You know what kind of a risk I‟d be taking, playing that little game? ANTIGONE I‟ll give you this ring if you accept. GUARD Is it gold? ANTIGONE Yes. It‟s gold. GUARD You understand, if they search me, I‟ll be court-martialed. That doesn‟t bother you? (He looks at the ring again.) What I can do, if you want, is I can write in my notebook what you would‟ve wanted to say. Later, I‟ll tear out the page and deliver it. In my handwriting, it‟s not a problem. ANTIGONE (closing her eyes, then murmuring, with a pained smile) Your handwriting... (She shudders slightly.) It‟s too ugly, all of this, it‟s all too ugly. GUARD (annoyed, offering to give back the ring) Look, you know, if you don‟t want to, I... ANTIGONE Yes, alright. Keep the ring and write. But hurry up... I‟m afraid we don‟t have much time left... Write: “My darling...”

55 GUARD (taking out his notebook, licking his pencil) It‟s for your boyfriend? ANTIGONE My darling, I wanted to die, and perhaps you won‟t love me anymore... GUARD (repeating slowly as he writes, her words rough and coarse in his voice) “My darling, I wanted to die, and perhaps you won‟t love me anymore...” ANTIGONE And Creon was right, it‟s terrible now, next to this strange man – I don‟t know anymore why I‟m dying. I‟m afraid... GUARD (having trouble – not quite keeping up) “Creon was right, it‟s terrible...” ANTIGONE Oh, Haemon, our little boy! Only now do I understand how simple it was to live... GUARD (stopping) Hey! Come on! You‟re going too fast. How do you expect me to write it all down? It takes time, you know... ANTIGONE Where were you? GUARD (reading) “It‟s terrible now, next to this strange man...” ANTIGONE I don‟t know anymore why I‟m dying. GUARD (licking his pencil again, writing) “I don‟t know anymore why I‟m dying...” Nobody ever knows why they die.

56 ANTIGONE (continuing) I‟m afraid... (She stops suddenly.) No. Cross that out. It‟s better if no one ever knows. That would be like them seeing me naked, and touching me, after I‟m dead. Just put, “Forgive me.” GUARD So, I cross out the end and I put “forgive me” instead? ANTIGONE Yes. Forgive me, my darling. Without little Antigone, you all would have had such peace. I love you... GUARD “Without little Antigone, you all would have had such peace. I love you...” That‟s it? ANTIGONE Yes, that‟s it. GUARD That‟s a funny letter. ANTIGONE Yes, it‟s a funny letter. GUARD So, who‟s it to? (At that moment, the door opens. The other Guards appear. Antigone gets up, looks at them, then looks back at the first Guard, who has stood up behind her as he pockets the ring and closes his notebook, with an air of importance... He sees Antigone looking at him. Flustered, he shouts to regain his composure.) GUARD Okay! That‟s enough out of you! (Antigone smiles sadly. She lowers her head. She goes to the other Guards without a word. They all exit. The Chorus enters.) CHORUS There! It‟s over for Antigone. And Creon‟s turn is coming, soon enough. We all have to face the same moment, in the end.

57

(The Messenger enters suddenly, in great agitation.) MESSENGER The Queen? Where is the Queen? CHORUS Why? What do you have to tell her? MESSENGER Terrible news. Antigone had just been thrown into her cave. They were rolling in the last blocks of stone when suddenly we heard wailing coming from the tomb. Everyone is silent and listens – it‟s not Antigone‟s voice. It‟s an unexpected cry that comes from the depths of the cave... Everyone looks at Creon – he‟s the first to realize, and he howls suddenly like a madman, “Take away the stones! Take away the stones!” The slaves throw themselves at the wall of stones, and in their midst the King toils and sweats along with them, with bleeding hands. The stones finally move enough for the smallest man to squeeze through the opening. Antigone is at the back of the tomb, hanging from the cords of her sash, blue, green and red, like a child‟s necklace, and Haemon is there, on his knees, holding her in his arms and moaning, his face buried in her dress. Another stone is moved and finally Creon can enter. We can see his white hair in the shadows, at the back of the cave. He tries to lift Haemon up, he pleads with him. Haemon ignores him – but then suddenly he turns, his eyes black, his face so much like the young boy he once was; he looks at his father in silence, and then suddenly he spits in his face, and draws his sword. Creon springs back out of reach. Haemon stares at him with his child‟s eyes, heavy with scorn, and Creon is impaled by his stare, like a knife. Haemon stands looking at this old man trembling at the other end of the cave, and then, without a word, he plunges his sword into his own stomach and collapses against Antigone, embracing her in a giant pool of blood. (Creon enters with his Page.) CREON I‟ve laid them out next to each other, at last. They‟re washed clean now, at peace. A little pale, but so calm. Two lovers the morning after their first night. Their story is over. CHORUS But not yours, Creon. There‟s still something for you to learn. Eurydice, the queen, your wife... CREON A good woman, always talking about her garden, her jams, her sweaters, her eternal sweaters for the poor. It‟s funny how the poor are eternally in need of sweaters. You‟d think they didn‟t need anything but sweaters...

58

CHORUS The poor in Thebes will be cold this winter, Creon. When she heard about the death of her son, the Queen finished her row of knitting, and then she put down her needles, carefully, deliberately, like everything she does, maybe a little more calmly than usual. And she went back to her room – her lavender-scented room, with all its cushions and embroidered lace – and she cut her throat, Creon. She‟s lying on one of the two old-fashioned twin beds, exactly where you saw her as a young girl one night long ago, and with the same smile on her face, maybe just a little bit sadder. If it weren‟t for the large red stain on the sheets around her throat, you‟d think she was sleeping. CREON Her too. They‟re all sleeping. That‟s good. It‟s been a rough day. (a pause, then wearily) It must be nice to sleep. CHORUS And now you‟re alone, Creon. CREON Alone, yes. (A silence. He puts his hand on the Page‟s shoulder.) Young man... PAGE Sir? CREON I‟ll tell you something, which they all don‟t seem to understand... When the work is there in front of you, waiting to be done, you can‟t just cross your arms and say no. They say it‟s a dirty job, but if you don‟t do it, who will? PAGE I don‟t know, sir. CREON Of course you don‟t. You‟re lucky! The real trick is never to know. Are you in a hurry to grow up? PAGE Oh yes, sir!

59 CREON You‟re a fool, young man. You should never grow up. (A clock strikes the hour in the distance. He murmurs.) Five o‟clock. What do we have today at five o‟clock? PAGE Council meeting, sir. CREON Well then, if we have a council meeting, young man, we will go to it. (They exit, Creon leaning on the Page.) CHORUS (coming forward) And so, here we are. Without little Antigone, it‟s true, they all would have had such peace. But now, it‟s over. They‟re at peace anyway. Everyone who had to die is dead. Those who believed one thing, and those who believed another – even those who believed nothing, and were caught up in the story without understanding any of it. Just as dead, all of them – stiff, useless, rotting. And those who still live will begin very slowly to forget them and to mix up their names. It‟s over. Antigone‟s fever has subsided, and we‟ll never know its name. Her work is done. A great, sad quiet falls on Thebes and on the empty palace where Creon will begin to wait for death. (As he was speaking, the Guards have entered. They sit down, their beer bottles next to them, their collars unbuttoned, and they begin to play cards.) CHORUS Only the guards are left. To them, all of this means nothing; it‟s not their business. They go on playing cards... (The curtain falls quickly as the game of cards continues.)

END OF PLAY