Theatre Department ’family’ to present ’The Burial at Thebes’

Margaret Leisenheimer can still recall walking into the Theatre Department as a freshman from Queens, N.Y.

“I was so nervous,” she said. “I didn’t know anyone. Then I was cast in Hamlet and thought: ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ Soon, I was part of a big family.”

Today, that Theatre Department family includes freshman Connor Brannigan, who has absorbed knowledge and advice from faculty members and upperclassmen such as Leisenheimer.

“I feel like I learn a little something from every person in the room,” he said. “It’s so collaborative and open. There are no feelings of superiority or hostility. Everyone is welcoming. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”

The Burial at Thebes, the final Mainstage production of the 2018-19 season, is monumental for both Leisenheimer and Brannigan.

For Leisenheimer, who plays a member of the chorus, the show caps a Binghamton University career that has seen her play roles ranging from Olympe de Gouges in The Revolutionists to the Cowardly Lion in a musical version of The Wizard of Oz. For Brannigan, “Thebes” allows him to take center stage in a royal, starring role as King Creon.

Thebes, a version of Antigone by Sophocles, was translated for the stage in 2004 by the late Irish poet/playwright Seamus Heaney. The Theatre Department’s production of Thebes, which features student-designed costumes, sets, props and lighting, will take place at 8 p.m. April 26-27 and May 3, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 28 and May 5, in Watters Theater. Tickets are $18, general; $16, alumni/faculty/seniors/staff; and $10, students ($5 on opening night at the box office).

Set in the fifth century B.C., The Burial at Thebes introduces Antigone (played by Kyanna Lebron), who learns that her brothers have killed each other in battle. Creon, the new king of Thebes and uncle of Antigone, ensures that a burial will take place for only one of the brothers. Anyone defying his wishes will face death. Antigone wrestles with whether to stand up to her uncle, while Creon grapples with his own position.

Director Elizabeth Mozer, an associate professor of theatre at Binghamton University, called Antigone “a powerful female who stands up for her beliefs courageously because the consequences are so great.”

Leisenheimer agreed: “Reading the Heaney version for the first time made me think of the need to do what’s right. Antigone is (protesting) knowing that’s it’s the right thing to do, without caring about the consequences.”

The Heaney version of the story also takes aim at modern society, as Creon’s burial decree is similar to President George W. Bush’s “you’re either with us, or against us” mantra after the 9/11 attacks.

“We see that philosophy in action in this play,” Mozer said. “That (Bush) statement made people take sides without truly investigating what it was they were picking sides about. Rather than having a true conversation or dialogue, people were forced into positioning themselves to one side or the other.

“A person in power who refuses to listen to wise counsel or refuses to admit wrongs or won’t change when all the signs are saying ‘It’s a good idea to do so’ can cause tragic results. That what happens in this play.”

Despite that inflexibility, Brannigan said Creon is “purely human” and lives inside every aspect of the human experience.

“He has a simple way of looking at the world,” said the English and theatre double major from Kings Park, N.Y., who had a role earlier in the spring in Baltimore. “He’s not dumb. He’s extremely intelligent. He just happens to be stubborn. He has a flaw – like all of us.

“The man’s mind is under immense political pressure. What happens when that pressure is applied? Things begin to break. Perspectives begin to shift. Walls begin to crack.”

Leisenheimer plays one of the four Theban elders who not only consult with Creon, but guide audience members through the show with “choral odes” about what has happened in the past and what is taking place onstage.

“My character starts to realize in the middle of the play: ‘Hey, maybe this isn’t for good,’” she said. “Just because someone holds power doesn’t mean they know everything or have our best interests at heart.”

Leisenheimer, who recently received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, said she has been able to reflect over the last few weeks about her time at Binghamton University. Besides her onstage credits, she has taught theater workshops at local elementary schools.

“It’s something I wanted to do to give back to the University and the area that’s been so supportive and has been home to me for the last four years,” said Leisenheimer, who will spend the summer with Festival 56, a professional theater company in Princeton, Ill. “I’m grateful for the final opportunity to be on the Watters stage and perform here one last time.”

Brannigan, meanwhile, said the most important lesson he’s learned this year from the Theatre Department is to “keep being kind.”

“No matter where you are in the journey, it’s a journey we’re all on together,” he said.

It’s also a journey that Leisenheimer said benefits from faculty members who place students in the position to succeed.

“Binghamton University and the Theatre Department do an amazing job in giving students the opportunities to not only perform, but to get involved in a lot of different facets,” she said. “You just need to find that something that interests you and explore it. The professors will do whatever they can to facilitate it.”