On February 26, The Public Theater will premiere Antigone (This Play I Read in High School), directed by Theatre alum Tyne Rafaeli '14. In this reimagining of the classical Sophocles play, written by playwright Anna Ziegler, Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, is portrayed as an independent woman living in a kingdom ruled by archaic laws that seek to limit women's autonomy. Antigone challenges those laws, determined to control her own body.
The recently announced cast includes Susannah Perkins (Antigone), Dave Quay (Palace Guard), Haley Wong (Ismene), and Calvin Leon Smith (Haemon) among other Emmy award-winning actors.
Rafaeli directs for stage, screen, and audio. Her recent stage productions include Brian Watkins' Weather Girl (St Ann's Warehouse, Soho Theatre London, and The Edinburgh Festival), Em Weinstein’s Becoming Eve (New York Theatre Workshop); Brian Watkins' Epiphany (Lincoln Center Theater); Jen Silverman’s Spain (Second Stage); Keith Bunin's The Coast Starlight (Lincoln Center Theater); Sylvia Khoury’s Selling Kabul (Playwrights Horizons); Ming Peiffer's Usual Girls (Roundabout). Recent TV directing includes The Beast in Me starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys for Netflix and Tell Me Lies for Hulu. Her recent audio directing includes Madam Ram starring Toni Collette. She has received multiple Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel nominations.
Antigone (This Play I Read in High School) will be on stage from February 26, 2026 through March 22, 2026.
