Ancient Drama, Adaptation, Performance

Module Organiser: Dr Hugh Denard
Duration: One Term (2013-14: Sept-Dec)
Contact Hours: 22 (1 x 2-hour seminar p.w.)
Weighting: 10 ECTS
Assessment: written or part written assignment

Overview

This module will explore how Greek and Roman Tragedy and Comedy were adapted and performed by later eras. Topics may include: Seneca and the Revenge Tragedy tradition, operatic and musical appropriations, and versions of ancient drama by Jean Anouilh, Bertolt Brecht, John Barton, Marina Carr, Mark Fleischman/Jennie Reznek, Athol Fugard, Tony Harrison, Seamus Heaney, Brendan Kennelly, Charles Mee, Ariane Mnouchkine, Heiner Müller, Yukio Ninagawa, Pier Paolo Pasolini/Maria Callas, Tom Paulin, Peter Sellars, Wole Soyinka, Peter Stein and Tadashi Suzuki.

We will investigate the many different ways in which poets, playwrights, directors and performers have approached ancient drama in relation to a variety of cultural, ideological, historical and theatrical contexts. We will explore topics such as claims that ancient drama is “universal” and “timeless”, and key issues that arise when translating between cultures and genres. We will also consider the growth of Classical Reception Studies in recent years, as well as narratives of the ancient world in a variety of popular media, and their implications for scholarly and creative activities in this area.

As a key part of the seminar series, participants will be encouraged to develop a deeply-researched proposal for a new adaptation or performance, as a means of creatively and critically examining how an ancient drama could be made to speak to contemporary contexts and needs, and in order to sharpen and deepen their critical engagement with the work of others.

This module is open to M.Phil. students in Classics, Drama, Comparative Literature, European Studies and Literary Translation.

Aims

• to introduce participants to a range of adaptations and performances of ancient drama, particularly those of the 20th and 21st centuries
• to enable participants to develop an understanding of key issues that arise when appropriating ancient drama for the needs of later societies
• to support participants in developing robust methodologies for situating adaptations and performances of ancient drama in relation to various cultural, ideological, historical and theatrical contexts
• to encourage participants to locate their own work in relation to recent developments in Classical Reception Studies and to representations of antiquity in the popular media
• to give participants the opportunity to explore, through their own research and experimental work, how the intellectual and creative dimensions of adaptation and performance can support each other

Working Methods

The module will be taught through a combination of student-led and tutor-led seminars.

Assessment

On successful completion of the module, participants should be able to demonstrate:

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

• knowledge of a range of adaptations and performances of ancient drama, and a capacity to consider how they operate within social, historical, cultural and ideological contexts
• understanding of how to interpret plays both as literary texts and as performance scripts
• knowledge and understanding of a range of academic publications relating to the adaptation and performance of ancient drama
• experience of combining research and creative processes to develop a translation/adaptation/performance concept
• ability, either to write a substantial research project (identify a research question, structure an analysis and discussion, respond critically to primary and secondary sources, provide references as appropriate) or to produce a deeply-researched, original adaptation and/or performance concept (identify a core concept, conduct relevant research, design and implement an appropriate means of communicating the concept, provide ancillary references and materials as appropriate).

Syllabus

Topics covered include:

• Appropriations of Greek comic and tragic traditions in the Roman world.
• Ancient drama and opera
• Ancient tragedy and Renaissance Revenge Tragedy
• Ancient drama adapted for contemporary political purposes
• Ancient drama in Ireland
• ‘Intercultural’ and ‘Post-colonial’ Approaches
• Tragic Women, ancient and modern
• Post-tragedy: ancient drama as cultural ‘material’

Introductory Reading

• Arkins, Brian (2009) Irish Appropriation of Greek Tragedy (Carysfort)
• Didaskalia: the journal for ancient performance (1994- ) (external)
• Dillon, John and S.E. Wilmer (Eds.) (2005) Rebel Women: Staging Ancient Greek Drama Today (Methuen)
• Ewans, Michael (2007) Opera from the Greek: Studies in the Poetics of Appropriation (Ashgate)
• Goldhill, Simon (2007) How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today (Chicago)
• Hall, Edith, Fiona Macintosh and Oliver Taplin (Eds.) (2000) Medea in Performance 1500-2000 (Legenda)
• McDonald, Mariane and J. Michael Walton (Eds.) (2002) Amid Our Troubles: Irish Versions of Greek Tragedy (Methuen)
• Wilmer, S. E. and Audronè Žukauskaitè (Eds.) (2010) Interrogating Antigone in Postmodern Philosophy and Criticism (Oxford)