By Will Aitken
Published by University of Regina Press
$24.95 ISBN 9-780889-775213
Great art can pick you up by the heels and shake the daylights out of you, and that鈥檚 what happened to novelist, travel journalist and film critic Will Aitken after he was invited to Luxembourg by Canadian literary phenomenon Anne Carson to sit in on rehearsals for (and the premiere of) Sophokles鈥檚 tragic Greek play, Antigone, which Carson had translated.
The experience undid Montreal鈥檚 Aitken, and in his book Antigone Undone, he unpacks this 鈥渁mbush鈥� and explores why the 2,500-year-old play has been profoundly affecting audiences since first produced.
Antigone Undone packs quite a punch itself. The hardcover is organized into three distinct parts and Aitken鈥檚 sassy style, subject knowledge and humanity illuminate each page. Antigone concerns an unhappy family (naturally). The title character is a teen princess who insists her battle-killed brother be buried, but her uncle, the king, insists he was a traitor and 鈥渉is body must rot in the sun for all to see.鈥�
When Antigone 鈥� played by my favourite, Juliette Binoche 鈥� throws dirt on the body, Kreon walls her in a tomb. But Antigone is no doormat. She doesn鈥檛 go down without a roar.
There is a whack of gender politics happening here, and it鈥檚 easy to find parallels between the princess鈥檚 struggles and what鈥檚 centre stage in the world today (#MeToo).
Of the play鈥檚 immediacy, Aitken says 鈥淎ntigone opened my eyes to the constancy of human suffering and said to me, 鈥楴othing changes, nothing ever will.鈥欌��
The book鈥檚 first section, in diary form, gives us a ringside seat to the rehearsals, plus insights into the book鈥檚 living cast 鈥� the play鈥檚 director (Ivo van Hove), Binoche, Carson (and husband Robert Currie) and Aitken. The section includes zippy candid emails between the author and Carson, his longtime friend.
The latter writes, 鈥淐urrie loves Sondheim. It鈥檚 pretty fun, although Sondheim鈥檚 songs all sound the same to me and Meryl Streep鈥檚 teeth are depressing.鈥� In short, this isn鈥檛 small talk, folks. These intellectuals use words like 鈥渂elvedere,鈥� 鈥渢enebrous鈥� and 鈥渉umis.鈥� They hobnob with Juliette Binoche and use 鈥淔eist,鈥� 鈥淪trauss鈥� and 鈥淛udy Garland singing 鈥楾he Man That Got Away鈥欌�� in the same sentence.
But the suffering author also keeps it real, observing after one rehearsal, 鈥淚 find myself thinking how little I know about acting, despite having watched and written about it for much of my life.鈥�
He considers Binoche鈥檚 acting prowess. 鈥淚 see a fearless woman on a ledge high above the sea, ready to hurl herself into the void, again and again if necessary.鈥�
In Part II Aitken juxtaposes interviews with Binoche, Carson and van Hove, discussing their collaboration. The final section is more academic, with Aitken examining other writers鈥� (Woolf, Kierkegaard, Hegel) responses to Antigone.
Aitken鈥檚 real-world drama makes this book sing, especially the frank writing about his haunting post, Antigone time in Amsterdam, and his return to Canada, when 鈥渟uicidal ideation arrive[d] like a hearse pulled up on the living room rug.鈥�
Curtains rise and curtains fall, but the action on stage over centuries seemingly changes little.
鈥� This book is available at your local bookstore or from www.skbooks.com
