The two productions are extremely different, with the BBC one being in relatively typical ancient greek dress while the national theatre appears to have more world war two or later era costuming, with the beginning appearing to show some sort of industrial setting. With people watching some sort of TV.
The other one begins with photos of Creon descending from the roof and soldiers saluting. This seems to show the beginning of an authoritarian state as Creon comes to power and immediately implements martial law and makes orders that go against the Gods. This continues a theme in the Theban plays where man vs god especially within the law is a common conflict. The posters appear to watch the area and the scene between the sisters in a 1984-esque idea of “big brother is watching you”.
In terms of staging in the BBC version, the sisters stand in a closed-off area but stand far away from each other, showing distance between the two as they argue. While in the national theatre one, they stand close together, while in the National Theatre production, they stand close together in a very open hall. At times they also stand on the steps continuing an occasional motif in Oedipus Rex of greater height signifying greater power which may link to the line about Antigone and Ismene having “royal blood”.
In conclusion, the two productions are extremely different with the National Theatre version being very close to the original play in terms of set design and costumes while the BBC version changes the era possibly in order to relate the recent battle that takes place in Thebes before the play to WW2 or another conflict from the era in order to make the audience understand the scale of the conflict.
Excellent attention to the thematic implications of the setting and set design of each! What about the dynamics between the sisters and the positioning of your sympathies?
A line that particularly stood out to me was ‘the honour of being Oedipus’ daughter’ which has so many different connotations – knowing the story of the last three plays, this oxymoron implies nothing less than utter shame but also serves to convey the lingering pride and familial love that Antigone and Ismene still have for their father, who, despite his tragic fate, was the saviour and beloved king of Thebes for a long time. When Ismene states that they as women are ‘barred from any political power. Men are in power and we have to obey them’, it’s another interesting callback to Oedipus Rex, where Jocasta was a fully equal part of the triumvirate, and perhaps creates some subtle tension regarding the way Thebes has changed in the time since Oedipus’ crown was seized. –interesting view from Lila’s ELP post on the two productions