THEA 309
The Ancient Greeks: Page To Stage Spring 2017
Division I
This is not the current course catalog

Drama from Ancient Greece-written around the 5th century BCE by Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and others-has enthralled and captivated audiences throughout the ages. In our times too, theatre makers around the world continue to return to Ancient Greek drama to reflect the state of our world, the chasm between rich and poor, warfare, migration, refugee crises, the terror of tyranny, clashes between religions, and the walls erected to separate people. In this stage directing course, we will explore the process of taking an ancient play and placing it within a framework, whether on a stage or another site, so that an audience may recognize something about its world. How and why does a director re-imagine the play for contemporary audiences? How does a work like Euripides’ Medea transform from a formalized event with mandatory presentational requirements in the Theatre of Epidaurus in 490 BCE to a contemporary production in which Medea, wearing a 1950’s housedress, having done her dreadful deed, stands exhausted in a plastic kiddie pool covered in the blood of her children, yelling at their father, who has run off with a younger woman? How does a director create a new world of Medea, in which the horror of infanticide remains? Reading several ancient Greek plays, students will each be assigned one, and over the course of the semester, imagine a performance with all of its production elements: setting, acting styles, rehearsal methods, historical period, to name a few. We will watch films of the work of contemporary directors and read accounts of modern versions of those productions. Finally, the choices that a director makes are very personal. Presentations will reflect each student’s personal journey to bring that play to life. Finally, this course asks of students: what is your personal response to this play?