We are delighted to announce the Annual Joint Postgraduate Symposium on the Performance of Greek and Roman Drama, organised by the APGRD, University of Oxford, and the University of London. This two-day event will take place on Monday 30th June at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama (University of London) and Tuesday 1st July at the Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies (Oxford University). This year’s guest respondents will be: Prof. David Wiles (Exeter) and Dr. Eleftheria Ioannidou (Birmingham).
Programme
Day one: Monday 30 June
Rehearsal Room 1 & 2 (West Block), Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
10.45-11.00 Registration
11.00-12.15 Imagined Spaces
Lucy Jackson (Oxford) Politics Off: the play of dramatic and political space in Aristophanes Assemblywomen
Olga Śmiechowicz (Paris-Sorbonne / Jagellonian) Ancient destinations in the Polish Theatre
Efstathia Athanasopoulou (UCL / Patras) Theorizing the horizontal transnational axis of classical reception: What has Antigone to do with area studies?
12.15-1.10 Dislocations
Alessandra Abbattista (Roehampton) Snake, Myth and Territory: A Mexican Medea.
Charitini Tsikoura (Nanterre) Trajal Harrell’s “Antigone Sr. / Twenty looks or Paris is burning at the Judson Church (L)”: Antigone vogueing on a catwalk?
1.10-2.15 Lunch
2.15-3.30 Relocations
Elizabeth Fitzgerald (Cardiff) Bringing Barbarians to Athens: Aeschylus and the Persians
Claire Kenward (Warwick) The Hecuba Gap: Locating the Queen of Troy in Nineteenth Century England
Tori McKee (Open) Fragmentation and Unity: Feminine space in psychoanalytical adaptations of the Hippolytus
3.30-3.45 Tea
3.45-5.15 Performing spaces / places
Christina Michael (City) A Musical Approach of Ancient Greek Comedy on the Modern Greek Stage: The Composition for Plato, Lysistrata and Birds by Manos Hadjidakis
Styliani Keramida (RHUL) Philosophies of Directing: The Medialities of the Set Design and the Use of Multimedia in The Oresteia by Katie Mitchell
Evi Stamatiou (Central) Contemporary Adaptation of Aristophanes’ Old Comedy: The Ugliness of the Chorus
5.15-6.00 Response and drinks reception
Day two: Tuesday 1 July
Ioannou Centre Lecture Theatre, 66 St. Giles, Oxford
11.00-12.15 Marginal Places
Daniel Anderson (Cambridge) – Unlocated Space in Old Comedy
Leanne Glass (Newcastle, Australia) – The Artistic Space in Lars von Trier’s Medea (1988)
Kay Gabriel (Cambridge) – We Seek Our Home: Greek Tragedy in Queer American theatre, 1981- 2010
12.15-1.10 Experimental Spaces
Emma Cole (UCL) – Physical and Relational Space in Site-Specific and Immersive Classical Performance Receptions
Maria Konomis (Patras) – Expanding the contemporary Greek spatial paradigm: From performing in the outdoors to performing the outdoors: empty space – landscape – site specific
1.10-2.30 Lunch
2.30-4.00 Crossing Places
Raphael Cormack (Edinburgh) – Interpreting ‘The Stage’ in 20th Century Egyptian versions of Tragedy
Sarah Lagrou (Lille) – Where to kill one’s father? The crossroad in the Oedipus plays
4.00-4.15 Tea
4.15-4.45 Staging Places
Anne-Sophie Meyer (Neuchatel) – Staging the Sea in Plautus’ Rudens: Philological and experimental approaches
4.45 Plenary, Response, Drinks.
Supper
About the Symposium
This annual Symposium focuses on the reception of Greek and Roman tragedy and comedy, exploring the afterlife of these ancient dramatic texts through re-workings by both writers and practitioners across all genres and periods. Speakers from a number of countries will give papers on the reception of Greek and Roman drama. Among those present at this year’s symposium will be: Dr. Fiona Macintosh, Prof. Oliver Taplin and Dr. Zachary Dunbar.
Participants
Postgraduates from around the world working on the reception of Greek and Roman drama in theory and practice are welcome to participate, as are those who have completed a doctorate but not yet taken up a post. The symposium is open to speakers from different disciplines, including researchers in the fields of Classics, modern languages and literature, and theatre and performance studies.
Practitioners are welcome to contribute their personal experience of working on ancient drama. Papers may also include demonstrations. Undergraduates are very welcome to attend.
Contact for enquiries: postgradsymp@classics.ox.ac.uk