‘Antigone’ is the latest challenge for Academy for Performing Arts students

The latest play being performed by students in Huntington Beach High School’s Academy for the Performing Arts has roots in Greek mythology and is challenging even for the most experienced of actors.

It’s a 1940s adaptation of the Sophocles play “Antigone,” written by Jean Anouilh, and it is being presented through Saturday.

Adding another layer of complication is that it is set during World War II, and though the classic characters are still there, the production is more a commentary on Nazi Germany, with costumes from the time too.

The play follows Antigone, who defies the laws of the king by giving her brother Polynices a proper burial. Polynices had been expelled by their brother, Eteocles, because Eteocles did not want to share the throne, which was passed on to them by their father, Oedipus.

Polynices then left the kingdom, gathered an army for an attack on the city of Thebes and died in battle, along with his brother.

King Creon, who ascended the throne after the brothers’ deaths, decided that Polynices, because of his leadership in the attack, does not deserve to be buried or even mourned, and Antigone fights to have her brother recognized, even if that means putting herself in danger and losing the trust of the kingdom.

Guest director Kellie Nitkin said the play is compelling in that there are no clear lines regarding who’s right and who’s wrong. Everyone is fair game for judgment.

“In Sophocles, Antigone is a martyr that we are all supposed to believe in, and Creon is just a black and white villain,” said Nitkin, who studied in APA’s theater program when she attended the high school in the early 2000s. “In this play, we get to see them both be right and both be wrong.”

Nitkin said she believes that even though the drama focuses on heavy themes of death, justice and betrayal, the cast members, who range in age from 14 to 17, are equipped to handle it.

One challenging scene, Nitkin said, includes Antigone trying to convince Creon to follow through with his law and put her to death while Creon, the father of Antigone’s fiance, is trying to convince her to live.

“The life-and-death circumstances never go away in this play,” Nitkin said. “These aren’t ideas that the kids would be dealing with on a normal basis.”

There are also difficult grabs, throws and “meticulous movements” during the battle scenes, she said.

“I find actually that sometimes it’s a lot easier to get things out of kids that age than adults,” she said. “They’re just sort of raw and don’t have preconceived notions about what they should be. They’re not as timid. They’re so eager and excited about being trusted with a project like this, because I don’t think they’re often given the benefit of the doubt in other areas of their lives that they had that maturity already.”

The student performers, who have been rehearsing for about two months, said they feel challenged by their roles to be better actors and think outside the box. But some are having more trouble with the play than others.

Tatum Allen, a 14-year-old freshman who plays a chorus member, said she hasn’t “really gotten to connect and feel like how Antigone or any of these other characters would have felt.”

“It’s incredibly fun and incredibly rewarding, but at the same time, it’s so difficult because this is so big for a high school play, and I feel like there’s nothing we’re doing in real life that’s as big and as tragic as this story,” she said.

Tatum isn’t the only freshman in the production. In a cast of 17, many are first-year high school students, Nitkin said.

In fact, a 14-year-old is playing the title role. Freshman Kaylie Flowers was cast as Antigone because she is a perfect fit, Nitkin said.

“The quality that Kaylie brought to the role, I think because she was brand new on campus, was something that really added to her idea of Antigone,” she said. “Her character is just about her age, and the seniors who were up for the part were just a little too confident, seasoned and mature to take on a role of someone who has so much naivety and someone who is so terrified yet so brave at the same time. Kaylie didn’t have to try to layer those qualities onto herself. She already was that.”

Still, Kaylie felt like she was at a disadvantage being so young and tackling such a big role.

“I haven’t dealt with nearly this much drama in my life, so it’s been really hard for me to connect with Antigone and all her deep sorrow and wanting to kill herself,” she said.

To get her students to feel more at ease with their characters, Nitkin recommended films to them and required some of them to make changes to their appearance to better fit into the time period.

For Kaylie, this meant cutting her waist-length hair to her shoulders so she could appear less feminine. For Jake Webber, a 17-year-old senior who plays Haemon, this meant cutting the hair that he’s grown for years and was longer than that of many of the girls in the class. For Haley Blizzard, a 17-year-old senior who plays Ismene, this meant dying her blue locks back to a natural brown.

But Nitkin said it was necessary, especially in the professional environment that APA strives to promote.

“This is a pre-professional training program, which means that whether these kids go on to pursue the arts is sort of irrelevant because they’re in the program now, so I have to treat everyone as if they’re intending to go out into the acting world after high school,” the director said. “Morphing your looks is fortunately and unfortunately part of this business.... These kids are ready to tackle some drama, and not the typical comedies, because the APA program preps them for it.”

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IF YOU GO

What: “Antigone”

When: 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday

Where: Black Box Theater at Huntington Beach High School, 1905 Main St. in Huntington Beach

Cost: $12 for adults and $6 for students and seniors

Infomation: hbapa.org