Antigone is the third of Sophocles' trilogy of plays about the family of Oedipus - the unlucky fellow with the complex relationship with his mother. In Oedipus Rex, the King of Thebes discovers the horrific truth of his parentage. In Oedipus at Colonus, he wanders in exile while, back in Thebes, his sons Eteocles and Polynices are warring over the throne. The final play, Antigone, picks up the story following this bloody conflict in which the two brothers have killed one another, leaving Oedipus's brother-in-law (and Uncle) Creon as King.

Creon, who fought on the side of Eteocles, has decreed that anyone who buries Polynices with the rites that Greek religious customs demanded will be put to death. The corpse is left outside the city to rot. Yet Antigone, Oedipus's daughter, cannot accept the sacrilege and betrayal of denying her beloved brother a proper burial. She defies Creon's authority - and Creon must decide whether to uphold the iron laws of the state, or to spare his niece (who, to complicate matters, is also his son's fiancée).

Antigone is the ultimate tale of idealistic youth clashing with pragmatic experience; of the voice of rebellion confronting the harsh but realistic forces of authority. The French dramatist, Jean Anouilh, adapted the play in 1944 to emphasise the parallels between the French Resistance (Antigone) and the occupation government (Creon). For a 2004 British audience, this story of war, opposition, and a determined, inflexible leader making unpopular decisions will inevitably bring to mind recent political controversies. The themes of this perennial drama will surely never cease to be pertinent.

This is a fine production, inventively staged and well acted. Director Zeynep Kayachan employs video, shadow, sound and a well-chosen handful of props to effectively create mood and eloquent visual images. Caroline Brown was a suitably stubborn and spirited Antigone, and Benjamin Brownson grew in stature as the tyrannical Creon, portrayed as an insecure bureaucrat, swigging whisky as he rubber-stamps death sentences, shabby and pitiable as a Graham Greene anti-hero. His anguish in the final scene is believable and moving.

The script is a prize-winning new translation by Oxford Classics student Lauren Curtis. I won't pretend to be familiar with the original Greek, or with other translations, so it's hard to pass judgement beyond observing that the script always seemed entirely professional. Using language that was vigorous, clear and at times touchingly lyrical, it successfully blended images and metaphors drawn from the natural world - trees, birds, the earth - with more modern phrases and idioms, linking the play's roots in an older civilization with its continuing relevance to the present day.

Antigone is one of the great landmarks of Western drama - and a very gripping, moving and enjoyable play to boot. Don't miss this excellent production of a timeless classic.

George Tew, 02.11.04