'The Other Place' Off-Broadway review — grief is timeless in this gripping family drama
Read our review of The Other Place off Broadway, a contemporary adaptation of Sophocles's Antigone written and directed by Alexander Zeldin at The Shed.
Summary
- The Other Place is a modern reimagining of the ancient Greek play Antigone
- This version follows a family that comes into conflict over the aftermath of a relative's death and how to deal with the lingering grief 10 years later
- The show explores the timelessness of the themes in the original Antigone
- The show is recommended for fans of family dramas; classics; and fans of lead actors Emma D'Arcy and Tobias Menzies of the Game of Thrones universe
After a modern reimagining of Sophocles’s Oedipus proved a hit on Broadway earlier this season, it feels only fitting to revisit the sequel, Antigone, in a fresh adaptation of its own: The Other Place, now at The Shed after a successful run at London’s National Theatre. Writer/director Alexander Zeldin has created a masterful reimagining of the ancient Greek tragedy not just by updating the plot to suit a modern era, but by exploring what has made this tragedy resonate for thousands of years.
Tragedy is the defining theme of the show, no less epic for its setting in a suburban home rather than a Greek palace. Grief spills out from dialogue or brimming in the eyes of the characters. It even exists in a quiet, static form as the ever-present urn of a dead father, scribbled with drawings in an attempt to conquer that grief.
The Other Place follows a blended family unit settling into their “new” home. Patriarch Chris (Tobias Menzies) and his partner Erica (Lorna Brown) are redoing Chris’s childhood home for their family, hoping for a fresh start for Lorna’s child Leni (Lee Braithwaite) and Chris’s niece Issy (a cherubic Ruby Stokes). Neighbor Terry (Jerry Killick) drops in for color and as moral support for Chris. But what they’re all ignoring, and what only Issy’s estranged sister Annie (Emma D’Arcy) is willing to point out, is that the home used to belong to Chris’s dead brother, Annie and Issy’s father. In fact, the house is the site of his suicide. It’s also the place where Chris tried to help his brother’s daughters pick up the pieces in the aftermath of that tragedy 10 years ago.
The cast brings it all to life with searing realism. Issy’s conflicting emotions and Chris’s vitriol for Annie are heartfelt. But D’Arcy immediately endears us to their character by directing Annie’s incredulity, pain, and awkwardness through the fourth wall, towards the audience. It’s as if Annie, palpably alone in her childhood home, is looking for someone, anyone, to empathize with her and maybe even take her side.
The fact that this family does have an audience can never be forgotten thanks to set designer Rosanna Vize’s appropriately bleak domestic set. Enormous sliding glass doors line the back wall of the house behind an open-plan kitchen and dining room (Annie immediately notes that Chris must have knocked down a wall to make it so). With a pitch-black background beyond them, the glass doors reflect us, the audience, back to ourselves for the show's entire 80-minute runtime. Annie even likens the doors to an aquarium, as if she feels like she is on display. And when characters stare out into the backyard through the glass, there is an unnerving illusion that they are taking notice of the people who've been watching them the entire time.
The Other Place summary
Siblings Annie and Issy reunite in their childhood home to put their late father’s ashes to rest. But there are some caveats: their uncle Chris and his new family now own the house, and Chris has very specific ideas about how to move the family on from the grief that clouds their past. While Issy lives under Chris’s roof and accepts his decisions, the estranged Annie can’t let go of their past so easily, and long-simmering tensions boil immediately.
The play is a loose adaptation of Antigone, Sophocles's ancient Greek tragedy about a young woman who defies a king to give her exiled brother a proper burial when he dies.
What to expect at The Other Place
The parallels between The Other Place and Antigone are there for anyone to pick up. Even the characters' names reveal their Greek inspirations: Annie is Antigone, Issy is Ismene, Chris is Creon. The central conflict revolves around what to do with the remains of a family member, mirroring Antigone’s crusade to bury her slain brother with honor. But Zeldin’s writing is so true-to-life, the characters such fully fleshed-out people, that it’s easy to forget we’re not just sitting in someone’s living room, eavesdropping on their uncomfortable family squabbles.
One element that makes the story feel so unbelievably real is the abrupt way the characters’ emotions swing. Chris in particular appears at first as a reliable, responsible patriarch, but this facade chips away as he lets his anger toward Annie get the better of him. When he suspects her of having stolen her father’s ashes, he pounces on her without warning to search the clothes on her body for them. It betrays a wild, territorial kind of violence about him and foreshadows the dark truth about the relationship between this niece and uncle, her former caretaker.
What audiences are saying about The Other Place
Fans have been taking to social media to praise The Other Place in its early performances.
- “Astonishingly powerful show” - Instagram user @iwantareddress
- “Adore the cast and Emma and Tobias[, I] LOVE your range of talent.” - Instagram user @tribeleanor
- “Absolutely brilliant performances from everyone” - Instagram user @davo_808
Read more audience reviews of The Other Place on Show-Score.
Who should see The Other Place
- Theatregoers who are drawn to plays inspired by Greek tragedy will be delighted with how cleverly Zeldin has taken the core of Antigone and translated it into a contemporary drama.
- Anyone who enjoys watching family drama unfold on stage will be captivated by this tight, fast-paced play that follows a family reunion and its explosive aftermath, all within a span of less than 24 hours.
- Fans of the Game of Thrones universe will appreciate seeing Emma D’Arcy (House of the Dragon) and Tobias Menzies (Game of Thrones) face off in a family drama with just as much tension and intrigue as the fantasy series (minus the dragons).
Learn more about The Other Place off Broadway
The Other Place is not just a modern reimagining of Antigone, but a searing, deeply intimate portrayal of a family stymied by grief, performed by a powerhouse cast.
Photo credit: The Other Place off Broadway. (Photos by Maria Baranova)
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