Theorising Performance Greek Drama, Cultural History and Critical Practice

This exciting collection constitutes the first analysis of the modern performance of ancient Greek drama from a theoretical perspective. The last three decades have seen a remarkable revival of the performance of ancient Greek drama; some ancient plays ' Sophocles' Oedipus, Euripides' Medea ' have established a distinguished place in the international performance repertoire, and attracted eminent directors including Peter Stein, Ariane Mnouchkine, Peter Sellars, and Katie Mitchell. Staging texts first written two and a half thousand years ago, for all-male, ritualised, outdoor performance in masks in front of a pagan audience, raises quite different intellectual questions from staging any other canonical drama, including Shakespeare. But the discussion of this development in modern performance has until now received scant theoretical analysis. This book provides the solution in the form of a lively interdisciplinary dialogue, inspired by a conference held at the Archive of Performances of Greek & Roman Drama (APGRD) in Oxford, between nineteen experts in Classics, Drama, Music, Cultural History and the world of professional theatre. The book will be of great interest to scholars and students of Classics and Drama alike. Contributors: Felix Budelmann (University of Oxford); Freddy Decreus (University of Gent); Zachary Dunbar (Central School of Speech and Drama, London); Erika Fischer-Lichte (Freie Universitaet Berlin); Helene Foley (Columbia University); Mary-Kay Gamel (University of California-Santa Cruz); Simon Goldhill (University of Cambridge); Lorna Hardwick (Open University); Eleftheria Ioannidou (European Network of Research and Documentation of Performances of Ancient Greek Drama); Charles Martindale (University of Bristol); Pantelis Michelakis (University of Bristol); Paul Monaghan (University of Melbourne); Jane Montgomery Griffiths (Monash University); Blake Morrison (former literary editor of the Observer and the Independent on Sunday, now a full-time writer ); Simon Perris (Victoria University of Wellington); David Wiles (Royal Holloway, University of London); Rosie Wyles (APGRD).

DAVID CLUNE is the NSW Parliament's Historian and an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. He is a member of the Committee for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in New South Wales. He is the co-editor with Michael Hogan of The People's Choice: electoral politics in twentieth century New South Wales, co-author with Gareth Griffith of Decision and Deliberation: the Parliament of New South Wales, 1856-2003, and the co-editor with ken Turner of the Premiers of New South Wales, 1856-2005.
Ken Turner retired in 1988 from the Department of Government at the University of Sydney, Where he had taught Australian politics for over 20 years. He is currently an Honorary Research Associate. His interests lie in Australian, particularly NSW, politics in the areas of parliament and political parties. He was a member of the Committee for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in New South Wales and was awarded an Honorary DLitt by the University of Sydney in 2008. He is the Author of House of Review?: the New South Wales Legislative Council 1934-1968, co-author with Jim Hagan of A History of the NSW Labor Party, 1891-1991, co-editor with David Clune of the Premiers of New South Wales, 1856-2005, and co-editor with Michael Hogan of The Worldly Art of Politics.