A story of conscience and courage explodes onto the stage when Antigone opens La Boite Theatre’s 2026 season, setting the pace for a year of bold, fiercely relevant storytelling.
Running 5 to 21 March 2026, this dynamic interpretation of Sophocles’ timeless tragedy launches the season with raw energy and unflinching urgency, inviting audiences into a world where personal conviction collides with authoritarian power.
After Antigone’s brothers Eteocles and Polynices kill each other while on opposing sides of a civil war, King Creon honours Eteocles but leaves Polynices’ body unburied as punishment for attacking Thebes. When Antigone defies the king’s command and buries Polynices herself, she ignites a brutal clash between personal conviction and authoritarian power.
Antigone’s act of resistance sparks questions that burn with urgency today: Who gets to decide what is just? Where should our loyalty lie? What price are we prepared to pay to honour the truth? Antigone places a fearless young woman at its centre – one who refuses to be side-lined, silenced or intimidated by the structures built to control her – who speaks directly to the fractured realities of the present day.
Opening on the eve of International Women’s Day, the production reverberates with questions of voice and agency while remaining grounded in a profoundly human story. La Boite Theatre Artistic Director Courtney Stewart co-directs the work with Nigel Poulton and says Antigone is a deliberate and powerful way to begin La Boite’s 2026 season.
“We’re determined to bring audiences bold, urgent theatre that is deeply engaged with the world we’re living in; Antigone sets the tone for exactly that,” says Stewart. “There’s something both ancient and shockingly current about Antigone.”
“It’s a story that feels alive, following a young woman who chooses to act according to her conscience, even when that choice costs her everything. That act of courage continues to resonate, particularly when we’re thinking about whose voices are heard, and whose are expected to stay quiet,” says Stewart.
Antigone marks Poulton’s La Boite directorial debut, following an extensive career shaping some of Australia’s most ambitious productions as a movement and fight director and intimacy co-ordinator. “After years of working inside other people’s visions, it’s a privilege to bring Antigone to the stage this March, particularly as its story is one that truly matters to me,” says Poulton.
“This reimagining of Antigone is as energetic as it is thought provoking. It doesn’t rush to judgment but instead invites you to wrestle with it alongside the characters. Coming from a background in movement and fight direction, I’m especially interested in how meaning is carried not just in language, but in action.”
“It’s been fascinating to work with Courtney to strip back the text and provide space for action; so much meaning lies in movement, stillness and presence. When you trust the body and the atmosphere to do that work, the audience feels the weight of each choice. You’re not told what to think, you’re discovering it for yourself in real time,” says Poulton.
“We’re excited for audiences to meet our Antigone – a scrappy, tough, bolshy, young, femme-presenting person,” says Stewart. “This is a story that asks you to feel, to sit with tension, to lean into uncertainty and to experience what it means to stand your ground when everything around you says don’t.”
Co-Directors: Courtney Stewart & Nigel Poulton | Featuring: Maddison Burridge, Billy Fogarty, Hayden Spencer | Dramaturgy: Courtney Stewart & Brady Watkins | Set & Costume Designer: Josh McIntosh | Composer & Sound Designer: Brady Watkins | Lighting Designer: Teegan Kranenburg | Vocal Coach: Marcus Oborn | Stage Manager: Petria Leong | Assistant Stage Manager: Kelsey Booth | Playwright: Sophocles
Antigone
Roundhouse Theatre, 6 – 8 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove
Season: 7 – 21 March 2026 (previews: 5 & 6 March)
Information and Bookings: www.laboite.com.au
Image: Maddison Burridge stars as Antigone – photo by David Kelly