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

Is Antigone Pro Life? Two plays in rotating repertory raise challenging questions about Sophocles' signature Heroine. Columbia Stages partners with Extant Arts Company to court controversy in ANTIGONE/PROGENY, a new translation of Sophocles' classic work 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.

ANTIGONE/PROGENY grows directly out of Extant's mission to combine enduring works with new projects that speak directly to the way we live now, inspired the combination of an original work, and a new translation of Sophocles' classic into a theatrical conversation. "Antigone is one of those plays that you read in high school and think
you know," says Director Greg Taubman, "but I've been challenged again and again by just how complicated Antigone and Creon are as characters. I think audiences will find The Combined meaning of these plays to be quite different from what they may expect."

In ANTIGONE, a brisk, new translation lead 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, recentering the eternal conflict between divine and secular law the struggle over women's reproductive rights.

Performing at Riverside Theatre 91 Claremont Ave, between 120th & 122nd, closest subway 1 at 116th Street – Columbia University. Showtimes are October 17 -20, 2012 Wednesday through Friday at 8pm and Saturday at 2pm & 8pm. Tickets are priced at $15 for general admission, $5 for Seniors, and free for students with valid Student ID. Tickets can be purchased at columbiastages.org.

Extant Arts Company, founded in 2006, has produced 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' 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.

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 represents is the product of years of study and development by Greg, who co-translated Antigone and adapted Progeny.

Columbia Stages is the producing arm of the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University School of the Arts. Columbia Stages annually presents 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's 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.