A new play being performed at the MAC in Belfast has been described as a political thriller which will resonate with the current tumultuous times we're living in.
X'ntigone is a modern day adaption of Sophocles' classical Greek play, Antigone.
The play focuses on themes of power and state vs individual, and has been adapted for modern audiences with a new angle that incorporates what it's like to live in a society dealing from the effects of a virus.
The description of the play reads: "The virus has ravaged Thebes. Millions are dead and the economy has tanked. Vaccinations have been administered and the Festival of Liberty is imminent. Things are finally about to change.
"The countdown is on but leader Creon and his quarantined niece, the self-identifying X’ntigone , have unfinished business before the celebrations can commence. What happens when old-world order meets a radical new world vision?"
Written by Belfast-based playwright Darren Murphy, X'ntigone stars local actors Michael James Ford and Eloïse Stevenson. Director Emma Jordan explained to us how the play came about.
She told us: "X'ntigone came about during Covid. Darren had sent us a draft, a very early draft of an idea. I was immediately receptive to it because the story really holds in terms of contemporary issues - there being a plague and the politics issues associated with things like state and personal freedom.
"And certainly at the minute in the shenanigans that are happening in Downing Street, it's very timely. So we commissioned it. It feels like it's really of the moment. It's set in the modern day, but it retains Thebes in the background, so that classical element is there.
"Then you have the character of Creon, and there's a bit of Boris in him. He's someone who understands power. He's set up against Antigone, who is opposed to that in many ways. It's written almost like a politic thriller, with these two characters trying to outmanoeuvre each other with their wits."
Emma is excited for audiences to see the play, and praises the acting abilities of X'ntigone's two leads, Michael James Ford and Eloïse Stevenson. But she said that the road back to putting on productions after lockdown has been a long and tough one.
"It's still really difficult to do this," she explained, "because if one member of your team goes down - that's everything put off for a while.
"It's a tough adjustment, and everybody has to rally round and work harder. And we have to be very, very careful, because it would be financially disastrous if we got shut down. We don't have the luxury of understudies, so again, we have to be very careful with health and safety. But the nature of theatre is that people are resourceful, we always will be."
Emma also praised the work of the MAC, who have gone to significant lengths to ensure that people who are returning can do so safely.
"The MAC has retained social distancing in the theatre, even though that isn't mandatory, because they we want to give confidence to people returning to the theatre after two difficult years."
X'ntigone is currently being performed at the MAC until February 13 before it moves to the Abbey Theatre, Dublin in March. Find out more here.
