The Island

"Stagones Zois" presents "The Island", a play by Athol Fugard.

The apartheid-era drama, inspired by a true story, is set in an unnamed prison clearly based on South Africa's notorious Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for twenty-seven years. It focuses on two cellmates, one whose release draws near and one under a life sentence, who spend their days at mind-numbing physical labor and at night rehearse for a performance of Sophocles' Antigone, which they have been asked to present to their fellow inmates by the wardens. One takes the part of Antigone, who defies the laws of the state to bury her brother, and the other takes the part of her uncle Creon, who sentences her to die for her crime. The play examines the parallels between Antigone's situation and black men imprisoned for political reasons and the tensions that arise as the performance approaches, especially when one of the prisoners learns that he has won an early release and the men's deep friendship is tested.

(in Greek)