The presentation of emotions in Euripidean tragedy (original) (raw)
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My work approaches fifth century Athenian drama as a live, affective experience via the application of cognitive and neuroscience research to ancient evidence. I believe these methods can provide a means by which to show that Greek theatre was a physically embodied, highly absorbing and profoundly emotional experience for its audience. The sources that we have from this period referring to the reception of drama indicate that it elicited marked affective responses and that these emotional states were embodied by the physical reactions of the audience.
Theatre Journal, 1980
When this book was first published, its burden-that Greek tragedies make more sense when they are treated as plays for performance-was fairly novel, or at least it was preached more than it was practised. In the few years since then, it has become an orthodoxy, and stagecraft is now given due attention in nearly all new books. While happy about that, I am not happy that my name is cited as a 'ringleader' of those who maintain that we should concentrate on performance rather than words. I do not endorse that: the power of the Greek theatre rests on its extraordinary combination of word and embodiment. To neglect one is to impoverish the other. I trust that this book does not encourage anyone to set the performative dimension in competition with the verbal. I hope it does not seem fickle to say that there are things here which I would not write in the same way today. The revised bibliography gives some idea of how fast the water is flowing under the bridges of scholarship. I would also acknowledge more openly in chapter 1 the selectivity of any account of the 'author's meaning'. And in the last chapter I would stress more that it is the place of books like this to suggest and to prompt rather than to dictate to the professional theatre. The use made of my work by the National Theatre Oresteia in London in 1981-2 shows that such a relationship can work. This book is, in fact, about ancient Greek culture and about the theatre, and it is meant for the 'general reader' who is interested in either or both. I hope professional Hellenists will read it, but it was not written primarily for them. While I have had students in mind above all, students of drama or English literature or Classical civilization, any student who encounters Greek tragedy, anyone who is fascinated by the Greeks, who loves the theatre, anyone who is prepared to be enriched by the great literature of the past may find these pages worth while. But there is a condition. The core of the book (chapters 3-9) demands and assumes that the reader already knows all, or at least some, of the nine tragedies it concentrates on (they are listed on p. 22). Furthermore, it is probably best read with a translation (or text) open to hand, preferably a translation which has the line numbers in the margin (there are recommendations on pp. 197-8). This book is in no way a substitute for reading the plays themselves-and, if possible, seeing them. Indeed, I should like to think that the book has encouraged and will encourage theatres to stage these great dramas, and might help to find them audiences. I quote from the tragedies liberally. All quotations are translated and all the translations are my own. I am only too aware how stilted and imperfect they are; but I thought it essential to translate high poetry into something which suggests its lofty and arresting style. The language of Greek tragedy was not that of everyday speech, and I had rather turn it into bad verse than into pedestrian prose. In the earlier Preface I stressed how much this book owed to the inspiration and to the help of Colin Macleod. Since his death in December 1981, at the age of 38, everything that preserves his insight, however diluted, has become that much more concentrated. If this study succeeds at all in getting beneath the surface, that is owed to him. Magdalen College, Oxford March 1985 Oliver Taplin viii 1 The visual dimension of tragedy Behind the dialogue of Greek drama we are always conscious of a concrete visual actuality, and behind that of a specific emotional actuality. Behind the drama of words is the drama of action, the timbre of voice and voice, the uplifted hand or tense muscle, and the particular emotion. The spoken play, the words which we read, are symbols, a shorthand, and often, as in the best of Shakespeare, a very abbreviated shorthand indeed, for the actual and felt play, which is always the real thing. The phrase, beautiful as it may be, stands for a greater beauty still. This is merely a particular case of the amazing unity of Greek, the unity of concrete and abstract in philosophy, the unity of thought and feeling, action and speculation in life.
The Affective Sciences and Greek Drama
My work approaches fifth century Athenian drama as a live, affective experience via the application of cognitive and neuroscience research to ancient evidence. I believe these methods can provide a means by which to show that Greek theatre was a physically embodied, highly absorbing and profoundly emotional experience for its audience. The sources that we have from this period referring to the reception of drama indicate that it elicited marked affective responses and that these emotional states were embodied by the physical reactions of the audience.
Acting Tragedy in Twentieth-Century Greece: The Case of Electra by Sophocles
2011
This thesis discusses the acting techniques employed by actors for tragedy on the Greek stage during the twentieth century. It argues that there were two main acting schools-'school' here meaning an established unified style of acting shared by a group of actors and directors. The first, starting with the 1936 production of Electra by Sophocles directed by Dimitris Rontiris's at the National Theatre of Greece and running through roughly to the late 1970s, developed from a vocal/rhetorical/text-based approach. The second, established by Karolos Koun's Theatro Technis in 1942 and which can be said to have ended with his death in 1987, was based on a bodily/physical one. The thesis examines the ways in which these two schools combined and influenced acting, creating new tendencies in the last three decades of the twentieth century. The focus here is on tragedy because this genre is presented on the Greek stage regularly, and, therefore, it is an eloquent example of the evolution of acting in Greece. Sophocles's Electra has been chosen as a case study not only because the play was frequently staged throughout the twentieth century, but primarily because it was acted and directed by important actors and directors who occupied quite different positions within the Greek theatre field. Thus it is a play that provides the most potent example of the development of the acting schools in question. This thesis is an empirical study using Greek actors and directors as its primary source. In giving them a strong voice, it follows their creative process and their perception of their roles and productions. At the same time, it provides a historical context for understanding the conditions of Greek theatre life and their impact on Greek actors and their work.
Physical theatre as an approach to contemporary stagings of classical Greek tragedy
School of Arts, 2009
This PhD focuses on physical theatre techniques and practices in order to provide acting keys for directing ancient drama. More specifically, the work for stage put effort in the acting method, with which the chorus and the main characters can be approached. For that reason, the basic method adopted was that of J. Lecoq, and especially the 'transference' practice. Moreover, specific elements were selected from the methods of: the Laboratory theatre of J. Grotowski, the Odin Teatret of E. Barba, and from K. Stanislavski's practice of physical actions. Elements were also incorporated from modern dance techniques (M.Graham, P. Bausch and R. Laban), as well as from Dramatic play. The first part of the PhD summarizes theoretical aspects on the tragedy's structure through the written material that has survived from antiquity. The ancient drama history, the history of acting and directing tragedy, as well as other interpreting matters are analyzed. Moreover emphasis has been placed on Euripides' whole work, on the historical and cultural frame of writing the Bacchae, as well as on ideological aspects and comments on the roles. Finally, material for the most important performances, which took place in Greece, is given. In the second part of the thesis an experiment has been performed between the classic speech of tragedy and contemporary methods of movement and speech. The aim was to investigate how these function together, by applying them on the text of Bacchae. Although the stress on the body pre-existed in acting methods of several directors, the specific method of Physical theatre was applied around 1955 from J. Lecoq. Since in Physical theatre the physical expression is symbolic, non-realistic, with a heightened sense of theatricality, this method can provide to tragedy the suitable acting tools for the big statures of the roles-symbols and for the meaningful movement of the chorus. Physical theatre does not emphasize on the character and his behavioural gestures but on the situations themselves and how the actor undertakes them. Therefore it can complement word-based theatre, which focuses on the acts emerged from the myth and on the creation of mimetic archetypes. In that way, the demonstrated actions and the messages conveyed through them, become essential and represent the collective unconscious. Consequently, if tragedy expresses symbols, emphasizes on the myths' acts and detaches from realism then it is proved that the method of Physical theatre can be an appropriate method. Contents Pages Introduction 3 1. Physical theatre-the term, its genesis and its components 9 2. Ancient Greek Tragedy 17 Euripides, "a stage philosopher" 19 I. Biography 19 II. A profile of his work 20 Prologue. Deus ex machina 20 Contest of speeches 21 Messenger's speech 21 Choral passages 22 The divine element 24 The element of passion 26 3. The sociopolitical context of the writing of The Bacchae 29 The Bacchae in Euripides' dramatic work 34 4. History of Ancient Greek Tragedy 39 Evaluation of Greek directors 60 5. Key influences on the practical research 67 Some crucial stagings in Greece 67 Indicative record and drama criticism of The Bacchae in Greece (1962-2007) 73 Three important performances in the context of my research 79 6. The Bacchae: the text 83 I. Outline of the play 83 II. Important themes dealt with in The Bacchae 84 III. Comments on the roles 87 7. The realization of The Bacchae as an original theatre performance 97 2 I. Issues of interpretation in relation to Ancient Tragedy 97 II. Basic directorial concept 8. The Bacchae: the creative process 103 I. Preparatory phase II. Improvisation phase 9. Mise-en-scene 110 Scenography Costume design 113 Original music 113 Choreography-movement 114 Lighting Chorus Miracle Play Epiphany of God 120 Mask 121 Roles 124 10. The fundamental acting choices-physical theatre methods 128 Dionysus and 'his many forms' 132 Pentheus: 'the ambiguous' Teiresias, servant: 'the need for form' Cadmus, Agave: 'in the labyrinth of emotions' 137 Messenger: 'the mediator' 140 The chorus: 'autonomus histories' 11. Conclusion 147 12. Critical evaluation and findings Bibliography 156 Appendix: The collaborators Comments from by members of the audience Translations of "The Bacchae" Euripides, (1979) The Bacchae [Βάκχες] (translation in demotic dialect Karagiorga Ol.). Evdomo theatre Euripides, (1985) The Bacchae [Βάκχες] (translation in demotic dialect Heimonas G.). National Theatre Euripides, (1962) The Bacchae [Βάκχες] (translation in demotic dialect Prevelakis P.). National Theatre Euripides, (1993) The Bacchae [Βάκχες] (translation in demotic dialect Giannaris, G.). Athens, Kaktos Euripides, (1996) The Bacchae [Βάκχες] (translation in demotic dialect Georgousopoulos, K.
Markantonatos, A. (ed.) Brill's Companion to Euripides, 2020
In Part 3: Euripides the Innovator: Language, Rhetoric, Realism, and Emotion https://brill.com/view/title/25238?contents=toc-33799