Our story, based on the greek tragedy Antigone, starts out with two sisters reuniting ten years after their father committed suicide. Their uncle Chris plans to scatter his brother's ashes in order to move on, but Annie, the oldest of the sisters, insists that the ashes stay in the house as she is not ready let go just yet. As arguments ensue, it becomes clear that Annie has long struggled with severe mental health issues, with accusations being thrown around that she must be off her meds to be thinking this way. However, when the uncle leaves to go talk to his new wife about all of this, Annie sneaks over to the urn holding her father's ashes and proceeds to empty them into a plastic bag and hide the bag in her pants. After her uncle leaves to scatter the ashes, as he is unaware they are missing, Annie proceeds to go through her father's old things that Chris was just planning on throwing away, going upstairs to sleep with them so as to rest from her long journey.
When the uncle comes home, furious because he knows that Annie has taken the ashes, he insists she come downstairs at once. When she comes downstairs in her father's clothes and calmly sits down at the table, asking how the scattering went, Chris proceeds to physically attack Annie, even reaching into her trousers looking for the ashes. Leni, his stepchild, puts an end to it when they admit they saw the ashes sitting upstairs when they went to wake Annie up. For what she did, Chris bans her from the house. While everyone protests, Annie proceeds to set up an old tent of her father's outside so she will have somewhere to sleep. After more arguments over how unreasonable Chris is being and to show a little empathy to someone who is so clearly grieving the loss of their father, he decides to take the ashes and go for a ride. By the time Annie makes it back inside he is gone and she is distraught at losing her father all over again. It is also revealed earlier on that she was the one that found him hanging from a tree in their backyard. That even when he was alive, she helped him with his extensive mental health problems as well.
Worrying for her sister, Issy, the younger of the two, goes outside to check on Annie. But when she can't find her, she calls the emergency services, fearing the worst. When Annie appears behind her she screams, startled, and hangs up the phone with a sigh of relief. They sit down and talk, mostly making sure Annie is okay. Though it is rather clear that she is not, the subject curtailed as Annie hands Issy a notebook listing little memories of their father from when they were young. Issy thanks her for the gift and they hug. Just as they pull apart, Chris returns home, ashes in hand. He orders Issy to go upstairs and she does.
The ensuing conversation between Annie and Chris reveals a dark truth that both of them have been trying to hide for many years. They have an incestuous relationship with one another, which is revealed to Chris' wife when she catches them kissing. When Leni comes down to see what all the yelling is about, Erica attempts to hide the truth from her child, insisting that everything is fine. But after Annie tells Issy that she's okay with them scattering the ashes, Erica implores Issy to see the truth that has been sitting in front their eyes the entire time. Issy grows angry and calls Annie selfish for always making everything about her and never considering how anyone else must be feeling. Issy leaves to scatter the ashes. Annie runs after her with tears in her eyes telling Issy she loves her. But once she is gone, she leaves to go outside to her tent stating "I can't feel him anymore" in reference to her father's presence finally being gone from this house. Leni goes to check on Annie only to come back with blood on his hands. Issy returns and everyone but Chris runs to the tent. Chris, instead, turns to the audience yelling "Don't look at me" over and over until the music makes it impossible to hear him.
What forced me to think about such things wasn't just the sad, emotional acting. It was also the humor scattered throughout the play, the overwhelmingly loud and jarring sounds, the spirituality of feeling someone's presence even after they are gone, the symbolism of the ashes being passed back and forth between Annie and Chris like an object when they both view them as a person. All of these things and more is exactly what I love about this story. Everything feels real. It gives me hope for the future of theatre and storytelling in general. We must continue to tell stories like these to remind people they are not alone.
