In a timeless setting that could be Thebes or the present day, Ismene and Antigone are buried alive for the same crime: the burial of their brother Polynices. The two sisters clash for the last time over the most ancient boundary: the rites surrounding the lifeless body. Antigone defends its atavistic sanctity. Ismene asserts a pietas that is independent of honour towards the dead body. Our Ismene is the voice of those who do not abandon, of those who choose for the sake of life, of those who find in the courage of care a form of resistance.
Ismene forever explores the deepest recesses of familial love, the labyrinths of sisterhood, the universal values of compassion, solidarity and sacrifice that remain as urgent as ever.
A performance with a powerful emotional impact: the audience, like jailers, are led into the dungeons of the palace of Thebes, a dark room where they may choose whether to illuminate the cramped cage in which the two sisters are imprisoned, deprived of everything except the dignity, pride and love that unites them.
Gestural theatre, compressed by the confined space, becomes a paradigm of action as a vital necessity: every movement is survival, every word an act of resistance.
production Adexo Arti Creative
playwright Katia Colica
director Matteo Tarasco
with Arianna Ilari (Ismene) e Giulia Carrara (Antigone)
sound cage Antonio Aprile
stage photos Marco Costantino
duration 40′
Adexo Arti Creative is a theatre company that presents itself as a distinctive voice on the Italian scene: its stage writing engages with the present through a poetic and profound perspective capable of speaking to our times. It uses Myth as a tool for a critical interpretation of the world, transforming theatre into an act that is both poetic and political.
Its artistic output is characterised by a strong social and environmental focus, in line with its Code of Ethics. Through the rewriting and exploration of Myth, with productions such as Persephone. The Return; Hecuba. The Dream; Cassandra Global Warner; Morgana Free Waters, it develops a contemporary dramaturgy capable of connecting the classical and the present through soundscapes—both real and electronic—as social and identity-based investigations that amplify the power and emotional engagement of the work.
Myth, in fact, becomes a narrative channel for investigating and countering patriarchy and systemic violence, manipulation and gaslighting, the marginalisation and invisibilisation of subjectivities; and the environmental crisis.
Alongside the production of performances, Adexo runs theatre workshops in prisons (women’s section) and training programmes, using the language of the stage as a tool for empowerment, emotional literacy and the development of critical thinking. It has always worked both in centres of excellence and in contexts of urban and social fragility, as an active force for regeneration and awareness.
This company has a strong track record of institutional recognition: it has been working for years on projects supported by the Ministry of Culture, confirming that its artistic output meets the quality standards required by the Ministry. It is recognised as a Theatre Production and Distribution Company by the Calabria Region and has been organising the Balenando in Burrasca Festival for eight editions, which was designated a MiC/FNSV Special Theatre Project in 2023.
