Seneca in Performance

Twelve papers which explore the dramatisation, characterisation and spectacle of Seneca's work from a historical perspective and also from the point of view of a modern producer, faced with the problem of staging the plays. Subjects include whether Seneca ever intended his plays to be performed on the stage and his powerful use of theatrical conventions; the influence of the Roman taste for spectacle and Seneca's use of the grotesque; his influence on Elizabethan drama and new interpretations of Seneca that have arisen from modern performances. The collection conveys almost two thousand years of fascination with Seneca, by both dramatists and audiences. Playing Seneca? / John G. Fitch Production of Seneca's Trojan women, ancient? and modern / Elaine Fantham Location! location! location! choral absence and theatrical space in the Troades / C.W. Marshall Nothing within which passeth show : character and color in Senecan tragedy / Brian S. Hook A new look at Seneca's Phaedra / Hanna M. Roisman The spectacle of death in Seneca's Troades / Jo-Ann Shelton Grotesque vision : Seneca's tragedies and Neronian art / Eric R. Varner Semper ego auditor tantum? : performance and physical setting of Seneca's plays / George W.M. Harrison Seneca and Chaucer : translating both poetry and sense / Frederick Ahl Seneca's Trojan women : identity and survival in the aftermath of war / Gyllian Raby Putting Andromacha on stage : a performer's perspective / Katharina Volk Going for Baroque : Seneca and the English / Sander M. Goldberg. Cover Title page Contents Introduction SENECA ON THE ANCIENT STAGE 1. Playing Seneca? 2. Production of Seneca's Trojan Women, ancient? and modern 3. Location! Location! Location! Choral absence and theatrical space in the Troades 4. Nothing within which passeth show: Character and color in Senecan Tragedy CONTEMPORARY ROMAN SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON SENECA 5. A new look at Seneca's Phaedra 6. The spectacle of death in Seneca's Troades 7. Grotesque vision: Seneca's Tragedies and Neronian art 8. Semper ego auditor tantum?: Performance and physical setting of Seneca's plays MODERN TRANSLATION AND STAGING 9. Seneca and Chaucer: Translating both poetry and sense 10. Seneca's Trojan Women: Identity and survival in the aftermath of war 11. Putting Andromacha on stage: A performer's perspective 12. Going for Baroque: Seneca and the English Bibliography Index The plays of Seneca the Younger, minister and philosopher under Nero, are today increasingly studied, appreciated and performed. Here, in twelve new papers from a distinguished international cast, scholars explore established questions, such as whether the plays were written for the stage, and newer topics such as the playwright's subtleties of characterisation, his relation to contemporary Roman spectacle and art - and the problems arising in translating him to modern text or stage. Seneca the Younger wrote plays in the time of Nero. This book explores, amongst other questions, the playwright's subtleties of characterisation, his relation to contemporary Roman spectacle and art - and the problems arising in translating him to modern text or stage. In this text, scholars explore both established questions, such as the playwright's subtleties of characterisation, his relation to contemporary Roman spectacle and art - and the problems arising in translating him to modern text or stage