Sophocles’ Antigone starts at the end of a civil war. Two brothers, on different sides, have killed each other in battle. The new ruler, King Creon, allows one of the brothers, Eteocles, to be buried with honors as a hero. The other brother, Polyneices, has been denied burial with anyone daring to cross the decree facing the penalty of death. However, their sister, Antigone, resists both the state elders and King Creon, demanding that Polyneices, like Eteocles, be given a proper burial with funeral rites. Her resistance is naturally followed by tragedy.

Although Sophocles’ work has been adapted globally, Latin America’s history of civil wars and tumultuous politics set a particular stage for this drama of female resistance and tragedy; as such, Antigone is a popular source of inspiration in Latin American literature and theatre. The onerous, collective trauma from the “practice of disappearance, when the military apparatus erased every trace of the dissidents whom they abducted and, in most cases, murdered. Their relatives and friends,”--especially women-- “unable to complete the proper ritual of burial, were destined to live with the lasting pain of not knowing." (Brunn, 2009, p. 12) In Spanish, this humanitarian crisis is known as la época de los desaparecidos. Pianacci, the author of the comprehensive Antigona: Una tragedia latinamericana, connects these gendered histories and crises in his analysis of Antigone. He argues that the play is:

Although many Latin American adaptations were written in the 20th century (see further reading), we will focus on two compelling 21st century adaptations.

Sophocles’s Antigone includes the classic greek Chorus, a collective that comments on characters or situations within the play. Likewise, in Uribe’s adaptation, the community Antígona reaches out to for help acts as the traditional Chorus. However, this community fears repercussions from the state by helping Antígona and abandon her, adding to her feelings of isolation and grief, not knowing the fate of her brother.

Sophocles’s Antigone and Uribe’s Antígona share one line but with different significance: “Will you help me carry the body?” In the beginning of Sophocles’ play, Antigone asks her sister Ismene to help carry Polyneices’ body back for burial. In Uribe’s work, Antígona also asks the question "¿Me ayudarás a levantar el cadáver?" (Uribe, 2016, p. 101), but the question is not directed to her sister, but to the reader. Uribe’s Antígona cleverly engages with the classical work by using the same line, but with the intention to move the reader through tragedy onto to advocate for los desaparecidos. Uribe further calls her readers to action:

In Sophocles’ original, Antigone tries to recruit her sister Ismene to help her bury their brother’s body in defiance of Creon’s edict. Ismene responds with hesitancy and anxiety, acting as a good-girl foil to Antigone and her audacious, resolute nature.

As Ismene’s passivity affected her family and the community of Thebes in Sophocles’ play, Watanabe and Yuyachkani’s Ismene is given the opportunity to take ownership and express regret for her meek reaction and inability to do the right thing.

This collective grief and guilt the play evokes through Ismene’s monologue was purposeful. Yuyachkani’s performance was a collaboration with Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, intending to prepare the people for the upcoming public testimony from the citizens affected by Peru’s collective tragedy. In this way, Watanabe’s Antígona engages with the original classical text by drawing meaningful parallels to the contemporary issues of collective trauma of diverse peoples.