About the work
“Antigone. Der Abschied” is the German-language title of “The Other Place”, a play by the British writer and director Alexander Zeldin that transposes Sophocles’ “Antigone” into a present-day family. Zeldin directed the premiere himself; it opened on 27 September 2024 in the Lyttelton Theatre of the National Theatre in London, created in association with his company A Zeldin Company. The chamber piece, running a little over an hour, observes the classical unities of place, time and action.
Plot
Chris has taken over the house of his late brother Adam, is having it renovated and wants to make a fresh start there with his new wife Erica; Adam’s younger daughter Issy also lives with them. Adam’s ashes have stood in an urn for years, and Chris now wants to scatter them at last so that the family can move on. The elder daughter Annie returns after a long absence and opposes him: like Antigone facing Creon, she demands justice for the dead. In the dispute, long-concealed wounds within the family break open, and the reunion ends in tragedy.
Cultural significance
London critics received the premiere, with Emma D’Arcy as Annie and Tobias Menzies as Chris, as a naturalistic reinterpretation of the ancient material that begins quietly and culminates in a shocking revelation. In September 2026 the English-language production visited the Festival d’Automne à Paris at the Théâtre de la Ville; its co-producers also include the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and the Comédie de Genève.