We are pleased to share the next installment of the recordings of Antigone, taken from lines 997–1114. This excerpt begins when Antigone is led away by the guards. Tiresias warns Creon about his actions.
Credits
A special thank you to all involved with this production.
Facilitators
Lyceum № 208 in Kyiv http://l208.kiev.ua/ , 02002, Ovanesa Tumanyana str. 2, Kyiv
The theatre of the modern drama and comedy http://modern-teatr.kiev.ua Rusanivska Nabererzna 12, Kyiv, The European theater center “Krakow”
Oleksandr Bilera, director, CEO of the Theatre of the modern drama and comedy.
Oleksandr Gerasymov, producer and co-director
Students acting
Marharyta Babak as Creon
Severyn Nikolenko as Teiresias
Solomiia Svystkova as Antigone
Joseph Gerasymov as Teiresias’ guide
Anna Lesyk as the chorus leader
Chorus:
Olha Scherbak
Polina Bondar
Polina Khokholkina
Video and sound engineer: Bohdan Yanovich
In the play the excerpts of Ukrainian translation of Antigone by Borys Ten (Mykola Khomychevkyi) were used, source: Ancient Greek Tragedy. Kyiv: Dnipro, 1981, p. 119 0150166. The text of the Ukranian translator was used only for in dialogues between the characters of tragedy. The chorus performs in English.
Costumes and scenery are obtained from the Theatre of Modern Drama and Comedy
The project was undertaken due to the sincere effort of all students with the joint assistance of Lyceum № 208 in Kyiv and the Theatre of Modern Drama and Comedy.
The process
The rehearsals took place from October to mid December 2017 in the premises of the European theatrical center “Krakow” and Lyceum № 208. The rehearsals included close reading of the text of Antigone. Students discussed the overall plot of the tragedy, its characters, as well as the narratives of the myths referenced through the choral sections. Participants learned information about the cultural and historical context in which the tragedy Antigone was written and performed in the fifth century BCE.
All performance participants are the same age as US high school students, except for 9 year old Joseph Gerasymov (who acts as Teiresias’ guide). Four of them are also students of Theatre of the modern drama and comedy junior acting studio (Marharyta Babak, Severyn Nikolenko, Solomiia Svystkova, Anna Lesyk).
The Ukranian translation by Borys Ten
The project is non-commercial and pursues exceptionally educational purposes. The excerpts of translation of Sophocles’ Antigone from the Ancient Greek to Ukrainian by Borys Ten (Mykola Khomychevkyi 1897–1983) published in 1981 in the USSR were used lawfully according to the art. 21 of the Copyright Law of Ukraine ( http://zakon0.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/3792-12/parao254#o254) which according to the passage two of the art. 21 of this Law allows lawful use without the consent of the author “of literary and artistic works in volume, justified by the goal, as illustrations in the publications, broadcasts, audio recordings or video recordings for the educational purposes.”
Mykola Khomychevkyi was born in Ukraine in 1897 which was at the time a part of the Russian Empire. He was a child of priest and received good education in classics which was mandatory for the school programs at that time.
Mykola Khomychevkyi was convicted in 1930 by the Soviet state for his religious activity as a priest and hierarch of the Independent Ukrainian Orthodox church (Ukrainian Autokephalna church). He was ordered to spend 10 years in Soviet corrective labor camps in the Far East (near Alaska Peninsula). He was never rehabilitated but managed to return to the life of an ordinary Soviet citizen. For this he had to accept the rules of the communist society and ideology, giving up his activity as a priest. He returned to translation activity due to the protection of famous Soviet writer Maksym Rylskiy who was in with the Communist rulers. Nevertheless, he acted under a strict surveillance by the KGB (Soviet secret police) and was treated with cold prejudice by the Soviet officials almost to the end of his life.
Mykola Khomychevkyi had been working on the translations of the Iliad and Odyssey for 31 years, and it remains the only Ukranian translation. He knew 10 languages and translated works of Friedrich Schiller, William Shakespeare, Aristotle, Plato, etc. He made a scientific research on hexameter in his book “Notes on rhythm of hexameter”. His translation of Homer, and ancient Greek tragedies are extraordinary, as he was also a singer and translated many Italian and German opera librettos.
He had a dream to visit Greece. He asked several times for permission but was never allowed to cross the Iron Curtain. His literary alias Borys Ten is dedicated to the biggest Ukrainian Dnipro River that was designated as Borysthenes by Ancient Greeks.
Notes by Oleksandr Gerasymov
References
- Wikipedia: Борис Тен (Borys Ten) https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81_%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%BD
- Борис Тен – український Гомер (Boris Ten – Ukranian Homer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuwUB9DZO38&feature=youtu.be - ІСТОРИЧНА ВОЛИНЬ: Хомичевський Микола Васильович (Борис Тен) (1897-1983) (Homichevsky Nikolai Vasilievich (Borys Ten) (1897-1983))
http://istvolyn.info/index.php?option=com_datsogallery&func=detail&catid=2&id=1263&Itemid=18 - Dmitry Drozdovsky: Людина з іменем Дніпра Дмитро Дроздовський (Man with the name of the Dnieper)
http://litakcent.com/2008/02/05/dmytro-drozdovskyj-ljudyna-z-imenem-dnipra/ - Видатні люди: Борис Тен (Микола Васильович Хомичевський) (Outstanding People: Borys Ten ((Nikolai Vasilyevich Khomichevsky))
http://www.famous-people.pp.ua/2012/03/blog-post_14.html - свобода Vol. 117, No. 1, 2010
http://www.svoboda-news.com/arxiv/pdf/2010/Svoboda-2010-01.pdf - Микола Кордон (м. Житомир): ОДІСЕЯ БОРИСА ТЕНА (09.12.1897 – 12.03.1983) (Mykola Cordon (Zhytomyr): ODICEIA BORIS TENA (09.12.1897 – 03.03.1983)) http://eprints.zu.edu.ua/4876/1/Kordon_2.pdf
- Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Ten, Borys
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CT%5CE%5CTenBorys.htm