Columbia Stages And Extant Arts Company To Present ANTIGONE/PROGENY, 10/17-20

Columbia Stages partners with Extant Arts Company to present ANTIGONE/PROGENY, a new translation of Sophocles's classic work paired with a world-premiere adaptation for the 21st century. The new translation of ANTIGONE and the original play PROGENY will run in repertory October 17 - 20, 2012 at The Riverside Theater, and will be the first production featured in the Columbia Stages season, comprised of MFA thesis plays directed by graduating Columbia University School of the Arts students.

Developed by Director Greg Taubman, ANTIGONE/PROGENY grows out of Extant Arts Company's mission to combine enduring works with new projects that speak directly to the way we live now. "ANTIGONE is one of those plays that you read in high school and think you know," says Taubman, "but I've been challenged again and again by just how complicated Antigone and Creon are as characters. There's a real conversation between the two pieces about the costs of certainty, and I think audiences will find the questions that are raised to be quite different from what they may expect."

A brisk, new translation of Antigone, led by Sarah Sharp, features fully sung-and-danced choruses and three actors performing all of the major roles. PROGENY asks: "What would Antigone look like if it happened now?" By updating the central themes and core story to the present moment, it recenters the eternal conflict between divine and secular law on the struggle over women's reproductive rights.

The Riverside Theatre is located at 91 Claremont Ave. between 120th & 122nd Streets. The closest subway: 1 train to 116th Street – Columbia University.

Showtimes are October 17 – 20, 2012: ANTIGONE at 9pm 10/17, 8pm 10/18 & 10/20
and PROGENY at 6:30pm 10/17, 8pm 10/19, 2pm 10/20. Tickets are priced at general admission at $15, $5 for Seniors, and Free with Student ID. For more information visit columbiastages.org.

Columbia Stages is the producing arm of the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University School of the Arts. Columbia Stages presents annually a season of graduate actor and director productions as well as a festival of new plays by emerging playwrights. The Theatre Program at Columbia University School of the Arts offers MFA degrees in: Acting, Directing, Playwriting, Dramaturgy, Stage Management, and Theatre Management and Producing. For more information about the Columbia University School of the Arts Theatre Program visit http://arts.columbia.edu/theatre.

Extant Arts Company, founded in 2006, crafts high-quality productions from the classical canon coupled with new work in venues throughout the New York metropolitan area. Committed to continued engagement with enduring stories, Extant Arts's dedicated artists and staff have explored the works of such luminaries as Euripides, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen, Feydeau, and Schnitzler, as well as contemporary voices like Rebecca Gilman, and Ellen McLaughlin, all while working with schools to foster a passion for theatre in the next generation. For more information visit www.extantarts.org.

Greg Taubman is an exciting young theatre artist with a lifelong passion for enduring stories and classical theatre. After earning highest honors studying Classics at Princeton, Greg founded Extant Arts Company in New York with the mission of engaging audiences in a conversation about our shared narratives. While guiding Extant through 16 productions in six short years, Greg also served as a dramaturg on The Public's Bacchae in 2008 and Classic Stage Company's Orlando in 2010. For the last three years, Greg has been refining his craft in Columbia's rigorous MFA Directing Program. ANTIGONE/PROGENY is the product of years of study and development by Greg, who co-translated Antigone and adapted Progeny.