Video: Celia Keenan-Bolger and Tony Shalhoub in Antigone (This Play I Read in High School) Off-Broadway

The Sophocles-inspired play by Anna Ziegler has extended its run at the Public.

March 18, 2026 By Meg Masseron, Margaret Hall

Playbill has a look at Anna Ziegler's Antigone (This Play I Read in High School) starring Tony winners Celia Keenan-Bolger and Tony Shalhoub. Take a look at the video above. The production officially opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theater March 11. It was previously scheduled to complete March 22 but will now continue through April 5 in the company's Barbaralee Theater. Previews began February 26.

Directed by Tyne Rafaeli, the work reimagines the Sophocles tragedy through a modern lens, following an independent young woman determined to have control of her own body even in a world governed by archaic and misogynist laws.

Keenan-Bolger and Shalhoub star as Chorus and Creon (respectively), opposite co-stars Ethan Dubin as Copy 3/Achilles, Katie Kreisler as Cop 1/Proprieter, Susannah Perkins as Antigone, Dave Quay as Cop 2/Palace Guard, Calvin Leon Smith as Haemon, and Haley Wong as Ismene.

Photos: Antigone (This Play I Read in High School) at The Public Theater

“I wrote this Antigone adaptation hoping to capture how absurd, painful, and deeply human it feels to navigate the moral minefields of our moment,” said Ziegler in an earlier statement. “I’m so excited to bring it to The Public, a theatre that has shaped my imagination for decades and welcomes nuance and conversation. My hope is that audiences leave with a renewed appreciation for Antigone’s bravery—and also a sense, however begrudging, of how hard it is to lead other human beings, even as so many of our own leaders fall short.”

“Anna's adaptation ofAntigone pulls this ancient text into our modern moment without gimmick or reduction,” added Rafaeli. “By channeling what made the original so radical, she has created a singular theatrical world that straddles ancient Thebes and modern America and asks the most important question of our time: what is a citizen to do in the face of an unjust law? She does so with wild imagination, humor, sophistication, and visceral force. For the Greeks, theatre was a democratic imperative, a space for the public to collectively process their world. Today, there is no better home for this play than The Public—one of the last true civic gathering places we have. I am thrilled to be working with The Public on this astonishing play that has survived millennia for a reason.”

The production features scenic design by David Zinn, costume design by Enver Chakartash, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design and music by Daniel Kluger, and prop management by Claire M. Kavanah.

Tickets are at PublicTheater.org.