The mediation in late twentieth-century English theatres of selected ancient Greek tragedy texts and themes concerned with women and power

Abstract

This thesis posits a dialogue between ancient Greek and modern English theatres and gives evidence of this dialogue by relating Merent aspects of modem theatre to the recent performance reception in England of specific Greek texts or images which are concerned with women possessed of or by some extraordinary power. Chapter I opens with an account of the aims and scope of the thesis, and discusses some of the problems of translating ancient Greek tragedies onto modem English stages. Each of the following chapters examines some aspect of late twentiethcentury English theatre in relation to its reception through performance of a Greek original text or theme. Chapter 2 deals with changes in English theatre over the last three decades, as reflected by versions of the Bacchae. Chapter 3 is about the role of the actress in performing Medea. Chapter 4 discusses how playwrights have translated for theatre some ancient Greek myths concerning women and sex. Chapter 5 considers the use of Antigone in the field of drama in education, and Chapter 6, the part women theatre practitioners have played in translating Greek drama into English theatres, with special reference to two productions of 'anti-war' plays: the Royal National Theatre's Women of Troy and the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Phoenician Women. The final section of the last chapter reflects on the way the anxieties of male creators and consumers of Greek tragedies about women with power have been interpreted in English theatres, and the importance of the study of reception through performance for scholars working on the original texts