Xtigone
By Nambi E. Kelley
Directed by Ensemble Member Alexander St. John
Chicago. Present Day. Xtigone's brothers have both been killed in drive-by shootings by each other's rival gangs. Xtigone's uncle, Marcellus da Man (mayor), calls a press conference on CNN to announce that the bodies should be buried instead of uncovering the truth of violence in the streets of the City. Will Xtigone go against her powerful uncle and risk death by uncovering her brother's bodies? Using hip hop poetry, dance, and slick language, this re-imagining of Sophocles' Antigone tells the story of the ill-fated Xtigone and her quest for her community's truth. Xtigone was developed at LaMaMa's International Symposium for Playwrights under the auspices of Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage, and was a finalist for the Kennedy Center College theatre Festival.