Antigone (on Strike) by Alexander Raptotasios follows the spirit of the ancient Greek play by Sophocles, setting it in a contemporary UK where the fictional story explores aspects of the real case of Shamima Begum, who left the UK as a child to join the Islamic State group in Syria.
British governments have for decades created and fed the prejudice against Muslims by invading predominantly Muslim countries and opportunistically characterising much of the resistance of those countries as Islamic extremism.
The institutional and individual prejudices this generates against Muslims can create a reaction. In the case of the fictional fourteen-year-old Esmeh (Hanna Khogali), who was born in Homerton, she “wanted to help Muslims in Syria” by joining the ruthless Islamic State group (IS) that grew out of the resistance to the US/UK invasion of Iraq and was struggling against the Assad dictatorship in Syria.
But as the Islamic State is defeated, she is confined pregnant to a Syrian camp, her requests to return to the UK being denied. We only meet her on video calls projected onto a side screen in the traverse performance space. Although the UK cruelty to Esmeh is the central issue of the play, the drama centres on the campaign to end that cruelty.
Her sister Antiya becomes part of that campaign, getting arrested and searched by police for sitting outside the Home Office. A cast member points out that Muslims who are stopped by police are eight times more likely to be searched than other ethnic groups.
Eammon (Ali Hadji-Heshmati), the son of the Home Secretary, is a member of Amnesty International, an organisation that has supported Esmeh. He is also in a relationship with Antiya, so his discussions with his father are often heated. Trying to change his dad’s mind, he asks, "are you justifying these things to dazzle right-wing idiots?”
Their relationship becomes even more strained as Antiya, given a powerful and sometimes passionate performance by Hiba Medina, embarks on a hunger strike in support of her sister.
The sympathies of the show are with the young people critical of government decisions, but the suited figure of the very articulate Home Secretary played by Phil Cheadle, in conversations with his advisor (Sorcha Brooks), or separately with his son, reflects more politely those we hear from our politicians.
The differing political responses to the issues thrown up by the play don’t end with the views of the fictional characters. The performance imaginatively includes the audience, a number of whom are directly asked to make a judgement on a character, and everybody is given the opportunity to vote on a series of questions via individual, small, handheld clipper tablets, the results of which are then immediately projected onto a screen.
Thus, when asked if we should let people who had been members of ISIS into the UK, 52% of the audience said yes and 48% said no. Most votes reflected the liberal attitudes of theatre audiences, for instance 80% voted it was right to break the law if it is unjust.
The show is always engaging. It not only holds our attention with its believable characters and issues, it also encourages us to think and perhaps act on the cruel injustice against Shamima Begum and the many other UK citizens including children being held in the appalling detention camps of Syria. British politicians should see this play and side with Antigone.
Its citizens should be allowed to come home today.