Three Languages, One Ancient Resistance

Esperanza América as Antíkona and Pollo as Polinices in foreground and Tiffany Bonita Litz as Miquiztli in background. © Craig Schwartz Photography

Antigone: In the Language of Kings at the Getty Villa

On a warm late-summer night in Los Angeles there is no more enchanting place to be than the Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades. On a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean this museum of Roman and Greek antiquities is a cultural time machine that sits ready to transport visitors to places and times long past. The audience that gathered last Wednesday evening was holding tickets for a temporal excursion to Mesoamerica to bear witness to the tragedy of Antigone: In the Language of Kings. This timeless play about duty, loyalty, foolish pride and the will of the Gods rings as true in 15th century Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) as it does in Thebes in the 5th century BCE.

From Tenochtitlan to LA

José Luis Valenzuela and the Latino Theater Company have mounted a production brimming with magic, passion, outrage, ritual and the human desire for true justice. The company attacks the broad and deep play space, backed by stone columns, with an almost religious fervor. From the masked chorus, a dozen strong, raising their voices to expound the stakes at hand, and take the action forward, to the named characters playing out their individual arcs, this company is a perfectly tuned theatre machine bringing light and life to a story of resistance and civil disobedience that continues to be relevant wherever it is told, be it Los Angeles, New York, Gaza, or Minneapolis.

Two Slain Princes and a City Divided

The action begins when two princes, the brothers Etecoles and Polinices, do battle for the throne of Tenochtitlan. The brothers slay each other. Their sister Antikona is devastated and their Uncle Tlahtoani Klion, now the ruler, declares Etecoles a hero to be buried with honors and Polinices a traitor to be left to rot and be eaten by scavengers. He further declares that any who attempt to bury the body of Polinices will suffer death. Antikona defies Klion and so begins the battle between the laws of men and the laws of the Gods. As the story unfolds, the ghostly Miquiztli (a riveting Tiffany Bonita Litz), the Aztec embodiment of Death, robed in black and floating between heaven and earth, watches and waits.

Three Tongues, One Unyielding Truth

Esperanza América brings passion and moral certitude to the role of Antikona. She has no doubt about the rightness of her cause. Tlahtoani Klion as portrayed by Cástulo Guerra is equally sure that he is in the right but he lacks the ability to convince his people, who are drawn to Antikona. The legendary Sal López gives a thrilling turn as the blind prophet Tetzahuitl.

Evelina Fernández’s brilliant adaptation is presented in English, Spanish and the Aztec language Nahuatl through the deft use of projected supertitles and a skilled multilingual company of players.

Crisp Ritual, Crisp Staging, and Transcendent Design

Valenzuela’s staging is both crisp and stately. The production feels like a grand ritual, a passion play depicting a story that we all know yet cannot turn away from. The company is handsomely costumed by Catarina Copelli. Lighting by Xinyuan Li is sometimes nimble, often luxurious, and always in service of the story. Kudos to Yee Sun Nam for projection design.

Get in your car and head out to the Getty Villa for a truly transcendent and thought provoking evening of Theatre at its best.

The Getty Villa Museum and Latino Theater Company present “Antigone: In the Language of Kings“ for the 20th annual “Outdoor Classical Theater” production. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays, Sept. 10 to Oct. 3, at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the Getty Villa Website.