photo by Joe Mazza and Brave Lux

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Antigone the Dog

ANTIGONE THE DOG
By Jacob Juntunen

CHARACTERS:
ANTIGONE: A woman playing a dog.
CREON: A man playing a king.
HAIMON: A man playing a prince.

SET:
A fake dead body of some kind lying on an empty stage.


NOTE:
After Antigone’s opening lines, the acting should be large and overblown. Antigone should interact as a dog with the two men throughout.




(The dead body of POLYNEICÊS is onstage; ANTIGONE enters and speaks directly to the audience)

                                                            ANTIGONE
“Female characters may occupy center stage and leave a far more indelible emotional impression on their spectators than do their male counterparts… But functionally women are never an end in themselves... Rather they play the roles of catalysts… for the male characters.” From Nothing to Do with Dionysus? Athenian Drama in Its Social Context by Froma I. Zeitlin.

(ANTIGONE puts on ridiculous dog costume ears, lies beside the body, and chews on her leg. After a time, she whimpers and tries to wake PONYNEICÊS. She then turns and starts to bury him, throwing dirt between her legs like a dog. CREON enters.)

                                                            CREON
Antigone! No! Bad dog! Bad dog!

(CREON hits ANTIGONE with a rolled up newspaper. She growls and continues to bury the body.)

                                                            CREON
Haimon! Haimon? Where are you?! Get in here and take care of Antigone.

(HAIMON enters)

                                                            HAIMON
What’s she doing? Oh.

                                                            CREON
I told you; Polyneicês is a traitor; he’s not to be buried.

                                                            HAIMON
She’s a dog, Dad. You can’t expect her to understand your decree.

                                                            CREON
You said when Polyneicês was killed that you’d take care of her, so why am I the one keeping her from the body?

                                                            HAIMON                                 
Antigone, come. Come here, girl.

(ANTIGONE growls; won’t leave the body. She growls and reacts throughout.)

                                                            CREON
She’s as stubborn as Oedipus.

                                                            HAIMON
Is it not natural she should share traits with her first owner?

                                                            CREON
We should just have her put down.

                                                            HAIMON
Is that necessary?

                                                            CREON
Have you come here hating me? Or are you prepared to show me the deference and love a father deserves?

                                                            HAIMON
No dog will stand between me and you.

                                                            CREON       
Good. You’re right not to lose your head over some dog. Sure, you could play fetch with her some, go for some nice runs along the beach, but what about when winter comes? Walking her everyday no matter the weather? Your pleasure with her, then, would surely grow cold. Let her meet her master in hell!

                                                            HAIMON
I don’t think she’s going to go to hell.

                                                            CREON
I suppose you’re arguing that since she’s just a dog she doesn’t understand what she’s doing. Am I right? Can’t she learn to love a new master?

                                                            HAIMON
She does love me, Dad. And you, too. She’s lived with us all these years. It’s just difficult for me to train her to not love her old master.

                                                            CREON
Then it’s your fault she dies! Good dogs are made by discipline. You won’t mind me, so I don’t know why you expect her to mind you. Only by learning obedience can you instill it.

                                                            HAIMON
I’ve always followed your authority, and at all times when I’ve commanded Antigone she’s obeyed, until now.

                                                            CREON
I will not be humiliated by a dog; if you, a man, my son, wish to humiliate me, better to do it yourself then to allow your dog to be untrained.

                                                            HAIMON
Everything you say makes sense; you’re right to warn me against losing my composure, to be swayed by the emotion a dog can provoke in a man. I would never want to upset you, but have you considered whether you’re the one letting a dog’s actions get the better of your reason?

                                                            CREON
You schooling me, boy?

(HAIMON goes to ANTIGONE who is suspicious at first; he scratches her head and under her chin. She lies on her back to allow her belly to be rubbed.)

                                                            HAIMON
She’s cute. She’s been living in the house for years now, first with Oedipus, then with Polyneicês before he betrayed us. But remember: we were friends with Polyneicês for years. You cared for him as a son.

                                                            CREON
That’s why his betrayal is all the more rank!

                                                            HAIMON
Absolutely. But in his dying breath, he asked me to care for Antigone, and I agreed based on that old friendship. We were like brothers once. And I’ve known this dog since she was a puppy.

                                                            CREON
Do you defy me?

                                                            HAIMON
You must believe me: nothing is closer to my heart than your happiness. But let me tell you a story from the North. There was a dog called Dżok whose master died suddenly one day while they walked near a river. The dog was abandoned while the peopled carried the body away. Dżok sat by that river and waited for his master to return; eventually he was found by the master’s servant. She took Dżok home, fed him, and tucked him in for the night. The next day, Dżok escaped the house and made his way back to the river to wait for his master. He did this everyday for many years. The people of the town came to know him, greeting Dżok as he made his way through the City; keeping him safe from traffic; and helping him through the obstacles of old age. He eventually died in the same spot by the river, still waiting for his master. One hopes they were finally able to meet. Now in that City a bronze statue of Dżok is cast and rests eternally by that river.

                                                            CREON
Why do you tell me this ridiculous story?

                                                            HAIMON
The man who does not listen to his City is an empty vessel, and a City may be moved by the loyalty of a dog.

                                                            CREON
You want me to honor a beast that breaks my rules?

                                                            HAIMON
Not at all. If she behaves badly, she must be punished.

                                                            CREON
Then you think she does not behave badly, lying there with her dead master.

                                                            HAIMON
The City, to a man, would deny it.

                                                            CREON
And the City proposes to teach me how to rule?

                                                            HAIMON
It is no City if it takes orders from one voice.

                                                            CREON
You idiot! All this emotion because of a dog! I say she must die!

                                                            HAIMON
If you were not my father, I would say you were perverse. Anyone can see this dog is acting nobly.

                                                            CREON
You’re taken in by a dog! You foolish child! I say the dog dies!

(CREON swiftly plunges a knife into ANTIGONE)

                                                            HAIMON
You have taken her from me! Why have you stolen everything?

                                                            CREON
Nothing of value is lost.

                                                            HAIMON
You punish those that act righteously; then to be righteous, I must be punished, too.

                                                            CREON
Why do you look at me so strangely?

                                                            HAIMON
You cannot even see that what you do is wrong. I will take her to the vet.

                                                            CREON
You will not save that dog.

                                                            HAIMON
Even though she does no wrong?

                                                            CREON
Were the eagles of the gods to come down and try to save her, I would fight them.

                                                            HAIMON
Then she must die. But her death will cause another.

                                                            CREON
What are you saying?

                                                            HAIMON
You are blinded with pride. I see clearly.

                                                            CREON
You will see her die, I swear you shall!

                                                            HAIMON
See it, I shall never.

(HAIMON removes the knife from the dying ANTIGONE and plunges it into himself)

                                                            CREON
What have you done, child! Speak to me! Haimon, I come to you on my knees!

                                                            HAIMON
(dying) The only sin is pride, father; your blindness would not allow a dog to act as the gods 
intended. I die with a clear conscience.

                                                            CREON
My own blind heart has brought me from darkness to final darkness. Haimon, my son, so young to die, I was the fool, not you; and you died for me. That is the truth, but I was late in learning it. Somebody help me! Somebody!

(Blackout)