***THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT . A LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE PERFORMANCE***

“Antigone in Ferguson” to Present Readings of Sophocles’ “Antigone” at Coppin State University, Followed by Powerful Discussions with Concerned Citizens, Activists, & Law Enforcement

Actors Include: Paul Giamatti (Billions, John Adams), Sonja Sohn (The Wire), Duane Foster (Ragtime), and Marjolaine Goldsmith (Compromise)

Ancient Choruses Performed by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Choir & One Love Alliance

In a groundbreaking social justice project, aimed at bridging the growing divide between law enforcement and local communities, the Brooklyn-based social impact company Outside the Wire announced today that it will present Antigone in Ferguson at the James Weldon Johnson Auditorium at Coppin State University on Saturday, January 21, 2017. The project will present dramatic readings of Sophocles’ Antigone—an ancient Greek tragedy about what happens when personal conviction and state law clash, and violence ensues—for diverse audiences, composed of concerned citizens, members of faith communities, city officials and law enforcement, with the goal of generating powerful dialogue between these communities, fostering compassion, understanding, and positive action. The dramatic reading of Sophocles’ Antigone is supported by a 30+ person gospel choir—including police officers and activists from Ferguson and Baltimore—which sings the choruses of the ancient play, culminating in a lively, facilitated audience discussion.

***THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT . A LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE PERFORMANCE***

James Weldon Johnson Auditorium
Coppin State University
2500 W North Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21216

Antigone in Ferguson was developed by Outside the Wire, led by director/translator Bryan Doerries, with the partnership of the PopTech Institute. The project premiered in Ferguson, Missouri on September 17, 2016, with three highly successful performances at Normandy High School and at Wellspring Church, attended by large, diverse audiences, resulting in national and international media attention by outlets such as National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour, and Kathermirini.

This production is co-presented with the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance and Coppin State University.

An acclaimed cast, listed above, will perform dramatic reading of Sophocles’ Antigone, and the choral sections will be performed by the Phil Woodmore Singers, a gospel group including members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Choir, Trinity Community Church Choir, Center of Creative Arts Singers, and Baltimore’s One Love Alliance, which is under the direction of Bruce Henderson.

About the Play
Sophocles’ Antigone is an ancient Greek tragedy about a teenage girl who wishes to bury her brother, Polyneices, who recently died in a brutal civil war. Creon, the new, untested king, has ruled that Polyneices’ body must remain above the earth, and that anyone who breaks this law will be put to death. Antigone openly and intentionally defies his edict, covering her brother’s body with dirt and publicly declaring her allegiance to a higher law, one that transcends that of the state—the law of love. Creon is then forced, by his own political rhetoric, and by the fragile social order that he has barely begun to establish since the civil war, to make an example of his niece, by sentencing her to death. In the process of following through with his own decree, Creon loses everything—his son, his political office, and the social order he struggled so hard to defend. At its core, Antigone is a play about what happens when personal conviction and state law clash, raising the question: When everyone is right (or feels justified), how do we avert the violence that will inevitably take place?