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The Florida State University (FSU)/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training is present ing Antigone, Jean Anouilh's retelling of Sophocles' classic tale, through April 27 in the Cook Theatre in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts located at 5555 N. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Tickets are $29 for evening shows and $28 for matinees, a news release says. Students receive 50 percent off the price with advance ticket purchase. Tickets are available at the Asolo Repertory Theatre's box office at the FSU Center for Performing Arts or by phone at 3518000. This FSU/Asolo Conservatory production will be directed by Andrei MalaevBabel, head of acting at the Conservatory, the release notes. "He sees Anouilh's play as a cry for freedom," it adds. "Antigone refuses to compromise for political reasons," he says in the release. "She refuses to abandon her youthful ideals. She must remain true to herself, even at the expense of her own life." "In 1944, when Jean Anouilh wrote Antigone, and Nazi occupiers had consolidated their grip on France, this was dangerous thinking," the release explains. "Anouilh's reinvention of Sophocles' tragic heroine quickly took on a life of its own. The French Resistance saw a kindred soul in Antigone," the release con tinues. "She became a compelling symbol of the defiant human spirit — willing to stand up to unjust power, no matter what the per sonal cost." MalaevBabel knows what that's like on a per sonal level. "I grew up in the former Soviet Union," he says in the release. "In that society, the question of compromising one's ideals for the sake of sur vival was very real. For artists, scientists, and ordinary people across society, that question was inescapable." MalaevBabel notes in the release that set designer Rick Cannon and costume designer David Covach have been working "to create the fantastical world of Anouilh's Antigone, one in which ancient Greece fuses with Nazi occupied Europe." ACTING CONSERVATORY PRESENTING ANTIGONE THROUGH APRIL 27 The Jazz at First Church program on Sunday, April 13, will feature traditional jazz with the Jazz Trio of Johnny Moore on drums, Dominic Mancini on bass and Tommy Goodman on piano, the First United Methodist Church has announced. The group will join special guest Jeff Lego on trombone, a news release says. Two identical concerts will be presented: from 4 to 5 p.m. and from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. A freewill offering will be taken. The church is located at 104 S. Pineapple Ave. in downtown Sarasota. For more information, call the church office at 9550935 or visit the website. JAZZ AT FIRST CHURCH TO PRESENT JAZZ TRIO ON APRIL 13 facebook.com/SarasotaNewsLeader Sarasota News Leader April 11, 2014 Page 113