plot synopsis

A riveting take on Sophocles’ classic, Antigone (this play I read in high school) re-conceives the story of Oedipus’ daughter Antigone through the lens of a contemporary woman who can’t shake the character. She imagines Antigone as a fiercely independent young woman determined to control her own body in a kingdom ruled by archaic laws that regulate women’s autonomy. Incisively witty and breathtakingly intelligent, the play paints a world that is both modern and ancient: a world of lost leaders, hapless cops, and one very righteous daughter on an all-night bender.

select productions

— The Public Theater, New York, 2026 (Directed by Tyne Rafaeli)

more press

“No contemporary playwright has addressed the fraught subject of female autonomy with more intellectual honesty than Anna Ziegler.” — The New York Sun (Elysa Gardner)

“A knotty, stiletto-sharp and fiercely funny new play…Ms. Ziegler is too gifted a playwright to shrink a nuanced tragedy into a screeching protest sign…Ms. Ziegler’s sardonic humor flickers or flares in every scene…[The] play concludes on a moving note that is starkly brutal, and bloody, in keeping with classical tragedy. But it also holds out the possibility, through the destiny of Dicey’s baby, of a more hopeful future emerging from the carnage and injustice of history.” — The Wall Street Journal (Charles Isherwood)

“…a thought-provoking, darkly funny, even lyrical ride through a classic everybody thinks they know.” — New York Stage Review (Michael Sommers) ****

“Anna Ziegler’s powerful new play…explodes with timely relevance…By reframing a classical myth through the lens of contemporary moral crisis, [Ziegler] reminds us that the voice of Antigone—unyielding, uncompromising, and fiercely human—still refuses to be entombed.  And in this electrifying production at The Public Theater, it rings louder than ever.” — Stage and Cinema (Gregory Fletcher)

“A new explosive update. Provocative…Laced with a subversive contemporary wit and a bracing grip on what it means to give birth or not.” — The Wrap (Robert Hofler)

“Anna Ziegler’s Antigone (This Play I Read in High School) reimagines Sophocles’ authority-defying heroine (Susannah Perkins) as a young woman seeking an abortion. The procedure has been outlawed by Antigone’s newly coronated uncle, Creon (Tony Shalhoub), who presides over a playfully anachronistic Thebes, in which the palace gate is a walk-through metal detector manned by a befuddled security officer (Dave Quay, a slapstick virtuoso). Ziegler’s humor and sympathy for her characters—including Creon, who desperately wants to do right by everyone—saves the conflict between individual and state from heavy-handedness. Arresting performances by Perkins, Shalhoub, and Celia Keenan-Bolger, as a one-woman chorus, are anchored by a set that, under Tyne Rafaeli’s slick direction, keeps surprising with its inventiveness.”— The New Yorker

“The new play brilliantly operates within the structure of Sophocles’ original…but isn’t the same play you read in high school.  It’s a far more urgent work that resurfaces one of Western literature’s first female rebels, and gives her a new and vital sense of purpose.” — Culture Sauce

“Written with force by Anna Ziegler, this world premiere reframes Sophocles’ Antigone, a tragedy rooted in defiance against state power and the consequences that follow… A piece that feels both historically grounded and urgently present, allowing an ancient argument to take on new weight in a contemporary frame…It resonates deeply…This is not a dry retelling of a Greek tragedy, but a living, breathing exploration of power, agency, and the cost of standing up for what you believe in…Sharp, often very funny…Revelatory and revolutionary.” — Front Mezz Junkies

“…a searing retelling through a modern lens…a devastating portrait of female defiance of male oppression…a compassionate and thought-provoking adaptation.” — Theaterlife

“Ziegler has striven mightily to let both sides of the argument sit out there for the audience to mull over…The production, buoyed by powerful performances and a depiction of a heart-felt duel between a beloved if obstinate uncle and niece, is thoroughly compelling and gives us plenty to chew on as we make the connection between the mythological past and the current state of things.” — Talkin’ Broadway