Antigone in Ferguson, seen in 2018 at Harlem Stage, will return for a free, ten-week run at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn this spring. As with the run last fall, the encore engagement will feature a rotating roster of actors, including Chris Noth, currently Off-Broadway in The Mother, and Billions' Obi Abili, both of whom performed in Antigone in Ferguson at Harlem Stage.
Presented by Theater of War Productions and Brooklyn Public Library and exclusively supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), free performances of Antigone in Ferguson will run May 8–July 13 at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church. Previously the home of Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse theatre, the 800-seat church has a long history of welcoming shows that are at the intersection of live performance and social justice.
Drawing from the the tragic death of Michael Brown in 2014, Antigone in Ferguson uses Sophocles’ original text combined with live choral music performed by a choir of activists, police officers, youth, and concerned citizens from Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City.
Each evening, the performance is the catalyst for panel and audience-driven discussions about racialized violence, structural oppression, misogyny, gender violence, and social justice.
Other actors slated to perform in Antigone in Ferguson in Brooklyn include Zach Grenier (The Good Wife), Paul Giamatti (Billions), David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck), Amy Ryan (The Wire), Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade), Linda Powell (Chicago Fire), and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Each week will feature a different group of actors. Joining The Phil Woodmore Singers will also be a host of local choirs, including Bethel Gospel Assembly, R.Evolución Latina, Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir, and United Voices of Hope. Two police choirs, The Guardians and The Police Athletic League Choir—both led by Sergeant Marcus Lewis—will also join the run, marking the first participation of full police choirs in the show.
Antigone in Ferguson is translated and directed by Theater of War Productions Artistic Director Bryan Doerries and composed by Phil Woodmore.
