Antigone [on strike] Review

Ty (Sorcha Brooks), welcomes us. If we haven’t done our Greek Classics homework, we learn the meaning behind the title of the production. Antigone [on strike] is written and directed by Alexander Raptotasios, whose company Ferrari Bridges CIC was founded to create challenging political work.

The opening sequence is confusing, and it is supposed to be. A collective of journalists and news reporters talk over one another, presenting to each side of the audience, before coming to a dramatic stop. They are, as the synopsis of the play suggests, reporting on a case of a young ISIS bride, fighting for her right to be brought back to the UK. Based on the real stories of the young girls who married members of ISIS, and obviously Shamima Begum’s case where she travelled to Syria, aged 15, the production switches between acted scenes and debates between the characters with audience polls.

Hiba Medina as Antiya, plays the sister of Esmeh (played by Hanna Khogali, virtually) who is the centre of a political storm over whether her citizenship is revoked, following her decision to depart the UK, aged 14, to marry into ISIS. Her performance is emotional and real, and you feel for her. Helping her along the way, whilst also fulfilling his role as her boyfriend is the Home Secretary’s son, Eammon, played intelligently and passionately by Ali Hadji-Heshmati. They are a believable young team, who feel out of control against the establishment, including Eammon’s father Creighton (Phil Cheadle). Perfectly cast, Cheadle brings a sense of authority to the stage, but also a fragility and his despair when his family becomes the centre of a public relations nightmare.