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THEATRE REVIEW - Antigone

Antigone

One of the things I've learned about American theater since becoming the Journal's drama critic three years ago is that it stretches from sea to shining sea. Yes, Broadway is where the money is, but most of the best shows in America are to be found Off Broadway or out of town. I reviewed plays in 14 states and the District of Columbia during 2006, and saw good things nearly everywhere I went. For those who thrill to the inexplicable, irreplaceable magic of live theater, those are truly glad tidings.

Unadventurous playgoers who stick to the well-worn rut that runs between 41st and 54th Streets in Manhattan have a way of forgetting that there is often (if not always) an inverse relationship between the artistic quality of a play and the size of its production budget. Among the most pleasing shows I saw in 2006, for instance, were four revivals, three Off Broadway and one in Chicago, produced by vest-pocket companies that between them didn't have a quarter to spare on frills or furbelows. Yet the Irish Repertory Theatre's "Meet Me in St. Louis," the Mint Theater Company's "Susan and God," Phoenix Theatre Ensemble's "Antigone" and Remy Bumppo Theatre Company's "The Best Man" were edge-of-the-seat shows whose splendid casts and spare yet effective sets all packed a bigger punch than 10 "Tarzans" in a row.

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