Antigone in Molenbeek

Teatr Dramatyczny im. Gustawa Holoubka (Warsaw, Poland)

Monday, 2 June 2025 | 5PM (competition performance) and 8:30PM

Small stage – Teatr im. Wilama Horzycy, pl. Teatralny 1

Earphones: English
napisy rozszerzone: polski
induction loop (portable)
An audio introduction will be available on the website before the performance.

Please note: loud noises and music present

Running time: 1h (no interval)
Ticket price: 100 PLN – regular, 80 PLN – concession

Molenbeek is an underfunded and overcrowded neighbourhood bordering on the inner city of Brussels. It is sometimes referred to as ‘Little Morocco’ or a ‘jihadi haven’. And it is here that Stefan Hertmans has set the action of his play.

The poetic text, full of startling images, tells the story of Nouria, a Belgian woman of Arab descent, a talented law student who tries to retrieve her brother’s body from the local morgue. For her, he is a close relative with whom she spent her entire childhood; for the local authorities, however – the perpetrator of a bombing. As in Sophocles, the protagonist fights for her right to a burial and her own mourning while the authorities, in the name of democratic procedures and security, deny her this possibility. The conflict gradually escalates and the protagonist’s efforts to retrieve the body become increasingly obsessive and radical, revealing an abyss of emotions and issues that the legal code is unable to resolve.

By creating the character of a modern Antigone, Hertmans makes us look where no one wants to, i.e., face difficult questions and try to see the struggle through the eyes of the heroine. In Anna Smolar’s interpretation, the text of the drama is treated like a score, and the music builds a bridge between the ancient dimension and the complex and tense present day.

premiere: 18 April 2024

Creators:

Director: Anna Smolar
Set and Costume design: Anna Met
Music: Jan Duszyński
Lighting, Video: Rafał Paradowski
Choreography: Alicja Czyczel
Vocal instruction: Weronika Krówka
Video editing: Liubov Gorobiuk
Director’s Assistant: Sara Goworowska
Stage manager: Radosław Duda
Production Managers: Małgorzata Błasińska, Olga Stefańska

Cast:

Marianna Linde – Student
Marta Ojrzyńska – Brother, narrator, local police office, judge, male lawyer, female lawyer
Maniucha Bikont (guest appearance) – live music

Photo: Karolina Jóźwiak