Step into a funeral unlike any other—where incense wafts through the air, coffins have a voice, and restless spirits demand to settle old scores. Anti-Gone is a bold bilingual reinterpretation of Sophocles’ Antigone, reimagined in a Northern Chinese village during a three-day burial ceremony in the 1980s. After a highly acclaimed run in New York City, this captivating production will make its UK premiere at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In the mourning hall, Polynikes, the eldest son of Oedipus, lays in his coffin as his spirit remains entangled with the living. His brother Eteocles awaits him in the afterlife, while their surviving sisters become embroiled in conflict. Antigone struggles to honor the brother she despises, and Ismene attempts to prevent further discord. Meanwhile, Polynikes’ young children strive to assert themselves in a world dominated by adult concerns.
As family tensions boil over and spectral figures rise, Anti-Gone examines how tradition, ideology, and memory continue to haunt the living long after rituals conclude. What starts as a solemn funeral quickly descends into chaos, igniting class struggles and ancestral grievances that refuse to stay buried.
Join us at The Lime Studio, Greenside on George Street for this groundbreaking bilingual theater experience. Following its successful New York run, Anti-Gone offers alternating performances in Mandarin and English, complete with surtitles to ensure accessibility for all audiences.
Performance Schedule:
- Wednesday, August 13 at 11:30 AM (English)
- Thursday, August 14 at 11:30 AM (English)
- Friday, August 15 at 11:30 AM (English)
- Saturday, August 16 at 11:30 AM (Mandarin)
Runtime: 50 minutes
Seating is limited and unreserved. Doors open shortly before the performance, and latecomers may not be permitted. Tickets can be purchased here.
Cast Includes:
- Yang Antigone
- Lana Zhang as Ismene/Sphinx
- Jaden Zhao as Polynikes’ child, and others
The play is crafted by Yiwei Lu, a Shanghai-born writer with a focus on Epic Literature and Intellectual History from NYU Gallatin. Yiwei aims to explore themes of family loyalty and societal obligation through the lens of a post-Cultural Revolution China, asking what it means to defy not just a tyrant, but one’s own kin.
Directed by Dejing Eloise Wang, a Brooklyn-based director born in Qingdao, this production embraces the rich interplay of theater and culture. Eloise emphasizes that this adaptation reconsiders the traditional narrative of Antigone’s victory over Creon, immersing the audience in a vibrant clash of familial loyalty and societal law amid a chaotic 1980s funeral setting.
The creative team includes:
- Scenic, prop, and puppetry designer: Junran Charlotte Shi
- Lighting designer: Zijun Neil Wang
- Sound designer: Henry Shen
- Costume designer: Yinxue Wang
Producer and Dramaturg Zihe Tian champions East Asian aesthetics and narratives, making a compelling case for Anti-Gone as a timely and urgent exploration of oppression shaped not by a single ruler, but by shared memories and traditions.
Significantly, Act 3 introduces Chinese shadow puppetry, transitioning the narrative into a world of silhouettes and light, challenging Western theatrical conventions while asserting the importance of Eastern artistic traditions.
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