Theorising performance : Greek drama, cultural history and critical practice : international conference, 'Theorising Performance', organised by the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama (APGRD) at Magdalen College, Oxford, in September 2007

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", and "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 sixteen 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. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Contributors 10 Acknowledgements 14 1. Introduction 16 I. Paradigms 25 2. Towards a Theory of Performance Reception 25 3. Performance as Event – Reception as Transformation 44 4. Greek and Shakespearean Plays in Performance: Their Different Academic Receptions 58 5. Cultural History and Aesthetics: Why Kant is No Place to Start Reception Studies 71 6. Performance, Reception, Aesthetics: Or Why Reception Studies Need Kant 86 7. From à la carte to Convergence: Symptoms of Interdisciplinarity in Reception Theory 100 8. Archiving Events, Performing Documents: On the Seductions and Challenges of Performance Archives 110 II. Mind, Body and the Tragic 123 9. Bringing Together Nature and Culture: On the Uses and Limits of Cognitive Science for the Study of Performance Reception 123 10. Does a Deleuzean Philosophy of Radical Physicality Lead to the ‘Death of Tragedy’? Some Thoughts on the Dismissal of the Climactic Orientation of Greek Tragedy 138 11. Generic Ambiguity in Modern Productions and New Versions of Greek Tragedy 152 III. Translating Cultures 168 12. Revising ‘Authenticity’ in Staging Ancient Mediterranean Drama 168 13. Towards Theorising the Place of Costume in Performance Reception 186 14. Performance Reception and the ‘Textual Twist’: Towards a Theory of Literary Reception 196 15. Negotiating Translation for the Stage 207 16. From Translation to Performance Reception: The Death of the Author and the Performance Text 223 IV. Practitioners and Theory 234 17. Acting Perspectives: The Phenomenology of Performance as a Route to Reception 234 18. Physical Performance and the Languages of Translation 247 19. ‘Spatial Poetics’ and Greek Drama: Scenography as Reception 256 20. Translating Greek Drama for Performance 267 Bibliography 282 Index 310 A 310 B 310 C 311 D 312 E 312 F 313 G 313 H 313 I 314 J 314 K 314 L 314 M 315 N 316 O 316 P 316 Q 317 R 317 S 317 T 318 U 319 V 319 W 319 Y 320 Z 320 Towards a theory of performance reception -- Edith Hall Performance as event : reception as transformation -- Erika Fischer-Lichte Greek and Shakespearean plays in performance : their different academic receptions -- David Wiles Cultural history and aesthetics : why Kant is no place to start reception studies -- Simon Goldhill Performance, reception, aesthetics : or why reception studies need Kant -- Charles Martindale From à la carte to convergence : symptoms of interdisciplinarity in reception theory -- Zachary Dunbar Archiving events, performing documents : on the seductions and challenges of performance archives -- Pantelis Michelakis Bringing together nature and culture : on the uses and limits of cognitive science for the study of performance reception -- Felix Budelmann Does a Deleuzean philosophy of radical physicality lead to the 'death of tragedy'? : some thoughts on the dismissal of the climactic orientation of Greek tragedy -- Freddy Decreus Generic ambiguity in modern productions and new versions of Greek tragedy -- Helene Foley Revising 'authenticity' in staging ancient Mediterranean drama -- Mary-Kay Gamel Towards theorising the place of costume in performance reception -- Rosie Wyles Performance reception and the 'textual twist' : towards a theory of literary reception -- Simon Perris Negotiating translation for the stage -- Lorna Hardwick From translation to performance reception : the death of the author and the performance text -- Eleftheria Ionnidou Acting perspectives : the phenomenology of performance as a route to reception -- Jane Montgomery Griffiths Physical performance and the languages of translation -- Stephe Harrop 'Spatial poetics' and Greek drama : scenography as reception -- Paul Monaghan Translating Greek drama for performance -- Blake Morrison. This collection provides an analysis of the modern performance of ancient Greek drama from a theoretical perspective.