This September, Songs of the Goat — a new DC theater company focused on staging productions inspired by ancient Greek tragedies and traditions of ritualized storytelling — invites audiences into the war-ravaged city of Thebes for a searing and timely retelling of Sophokles’ Antigone, translated by Anne Carson. Antigone runs September 4–14 at ATLAS Performing Arts Center (1333 H Street NE, Washington, DC).
Songs of the Goat was founded in 2024 by actors associated with DC’s Studio Acting Conservatory to produce Ben Carson’s adaptation of Euripides’ Medea, which won the audience award for Best Drama at the Capital Fringe Festival. Songs of the Goat aims to create opportunities for DC theater artists transitioning from amateur to professional careers and contribute a distinctive body of work to DC’s independent theater scene.
Antigone tells the story of a King overcome by power he is not ready to wield and a young woman who dares to resist. After Antigone’s brothers kill each other in a civil war, Antigone is left to reckon with her uncle King Kreon’s decree: one brother may be buried with honor, the other must be left to rot. That refusal to obey — an act of conscience, love, and defiance — sets off a tragic chain of events emphasizing the importance of good judgment.
While Sophokles’ Antigone first premiered around 442 BC, Anne Carson’s translation is modern, razor-sharp, and even a touch funny. Directed by Kate Debelack, this production is set in 1968, in an era of protests and political change, and the advent of the chant “The whole world is watching.” Director Kate Debelack says, “This play reminds us that the personal is political. Kreon and Antigone are so determined to be right that they lose sight of what is right. It’s about what happens when we forget that our actions have consequences.”
The cast includes Khalid Abayomi (Haimon/Boy), Silas Gordon Brigham (Kreon), Carlotta Capuano (Antigone), Erika Eldrenkamp (Chorus), John Elmendorf (Chorus), Robyn Freeman (Tiresias/Eurydice), Maryanne Henderson (Guard/Messenger), Semaj Kelly (Chorus), Tiana Lockhard (Ismene), and Sia Li Wright (Chorus).
The creative team includes director Kate Debelack (Directing credits: Arts on the Horizon, DC Fringe, etc. Acting credits: Shakespeare Theatre, Studio Theatre, Cherry Red Productions, etc.), Helen Hayes award winning sound designer Eric Norris (Signature Theatre’s Play On, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, In the Heights), lighting designer Solomon HaileSelassie (Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, Avant Bard’s The Margriad or The Tragedy of Queen Margaret, Coriolanus; Annexus Theatre Company), and costume designer Cheyenne Hill (Keegan Theatre’s Noises Off).
Antigone, presented by Songs of the Goat, runs September 4 to 14, 2025, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE, Washington, DC. Tickets are $33.25 (all fees included) and available online.
All performances are mask-encouraged. A designated fully masked performance will take place on Sunday, September 7 at 2:30pm.
Content Warnings: mild usage of swearing/coarse language, mild references to and depictions of self-harm, violence, suicide, grief, and mild depictions of use of weapons.
