This is an adaptation of Sophocles' "Antigone" that's given a West Virginia/Kentucky twist by Stella and Arnold Moss. Instead of Creon and Antigone, think "Hatfields and McCoys".

Arnold Moss plays Crane Webb, a former captain in the civil war who's a crack rifle shot and landowner in that neck of the woods. He fancies himself the law over all that's his domain, and opens the play by shooting Paul Carpenter, who with his sister (played by Evie Juster) just crossed the brook which separates the two families land. They were trying to retrieve a colt which they believe the Webb family kept after it wandered onto the captain's property. (Capt. Webb had already shot their father some time back.)

When Webb and his son (played by Don Scardino, who also played the ill-fated brother) discover Carpenter's body, Scardino masks his sadness. That's because he and Carpenter's other sister (played by Marian Seldes) are in love with each other. They really want to marry and end all the hostilities between the families. In the meantime, Crane Webb insists that the body remain where it fell, unburied. Of course, the Carpenter sisters (and eventually the younger Webb) must insist on giving it a decent burial.

If you've read Antigone you can guess how well this will turn out. I did enjoy this one, though, mainly for Moss' always dependably Shakespearean performance. Like Sophocles' play, a sobering lesson on the effects of pride. 