Participating in the youth exchange “ANTYGONE on Tour Again”, which took place in Athens (Greece), has been an experience that we will hardly ever forget. As its name says, the project revolved around Antigone’s work of Sophocles, a Greek tragedy that deals with universal arguments that are easily extrapolated to the problems of contemporary Europe.
The group of Catalans has probably been the most heterogeneous and perhaps extravagant of all. We were two girls (Júlia and Rebeca) and three boys (Pol, Eric and David). We could surely be the protagonists of a crazy reality-show.
The first five days of the exchange we stayed at a camp in the middle of nowhere. This facilitated us to focus on getting to know the rest of the participants, who surpassed the quarantine and came from nine different countries: Italy, Portugal, France, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Norway, Hungary and the host Greece. The proximity of the beach and the high temperatures during the day allowed us to dive into the sea, which was just a ten minutes walk away. In this environment, we became familiar with Antigone and its antagonist, Creon, while practicing theatrical techniques and body expression. Each country had to represent a part of the dialogue of the work in its language, while the rest of the participants were the choir. In our case, Rebeca made Creon and Julia was Antigone.
One of the funniest experiences of these days was the intercultural afternoon, which was so intense that it lasted until dawn.
On the fifth day, we moved to the centre of Athens, not without first visiting the spectacular theatre of Epidaurus and the beautiful city of Nafplio. The sixth and most of the seventh day we devoted ourselves to rehearse the final play of Antygone, which we had to represent it in public in a park of the city.
They were hard days. The rehearsals lasted from morning to night and the temperatures were very high. But it was worth it, since we received many congratulations after the performance.
The Catalans, and some of the other participants, stayed an extra day in the city, which served to finish enjoying the beauty of Athens.
The tenth day was the return. Exhausted but satisfied and with a mixture of emotions in the heart we said goodbye at the airport to return to our daily lives without forgetting the knowledge gained thanks to the duel between Creon and Antigone.