Singularly strong ‘Antigone’

An “Antigone” for only one actor?

Any doubts about the idea of reducing Sophocles’ tragedy to a solo show are erased in the presence of Teresa Ralli, the actress who has taken on this formidable challenge for the Peruvian company Yuyachkani.

Ralli’s electrifying performance in Jose Watanabe’s adaptation of “Antigone” (“Antigona” in Spanish, the language Ralli uses) opened the third annual FITLA -- the International Latino Theatre Festival of Los Angeles -- at [Inside] the Ford on Thursday. It’s there only through Sunday. An English translation by R. Aleida Montejo is projected on a screen above the stage.

In Ralli’s hands, this is hardly a monologue. She plays not only the young Antigone, who feels compelled to properly bury her slain brother, but also Antigone’s primary adversary, the Theban ruler Creon. And she tackles the other male roles of the blind seer Teiresias, Antigone’s conflicted fiance (and Creon’s son) Haemon, and a messenger.

In between individual characters, Ralli is the narrator who serves as this version’s Greek chorus. Then, near the end, the narrator identifies herself as Ismene, Antigone’s previously timid sister, who goes on to take over Antigone’s job of completing the burial rites for their brother in a simple but astonishing ritual, lighted to perfection by Manuel Herrera. Ismene becomes an embodiment of the name of the theater company, Yuyachkani, which is from a Quechuan word meaning “I am thinking, I am remembering.”

Watanabe’s trim but lyrical adaptation is well structured to enable us to marvel at the artistry of Ralli’s transformations from one character to the next.

He eliminates the original play’s initial conversation between sisters, which might look awkward with only one actress. And he deletes the minor character of Creon’s wife, Eurydice, whose sudden appearance in the second act of the original can seem contrived.

Ralli radically changes her voice and posture with each character. But director Miguel Rubio Zapata and Ralli also delineate these people with the help of a versatile cape, designed by Pepe Corzo.

A chair, the production’s only piece of furniture, serves many purposes. Another essential component is the harrowing soundtrack, created by Jose Balado using music by Monongo Mujica.

Unlike many interpretations of the play, this one is indisputably on Antigone’s side, with hardly a trace of sympathy for Creon. It’s not complex, but it’s suffused with primal power.

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‘Antigona’ (Antigone)

Where: [Inside] the Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood

When: 8 p.m. today, 3 p.m. Sunday

Price: $15

Contact: (323) 461-3673

Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes