The 18th Annual APGRD / Royal Holloway, University of London Joint Postgraduate Symposium on the Performance of Ancient Drama will take place on Monday 25 June (at the Ioannou Centre, Oxford) and Tuesday 26 June (at Royal Holloway, Egham). This year’s theme will be: ‘Misdirections and Misconceptions in the Theory and Practice of Greek and Roman Drama’.
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 their re-workings by both writers and practitioners across all genres and periods. This year’s theme invites discussions of old and new interpretations of Greek and Roman drama with a particular focus on their (non)conformity to ancient (and modern) models, as well as the way that they are shaped by theatre conventions.Speakers from a number of countries will give papers on the reception of Greek and Roman drama. This year’s guest respondent will be Dr Helen Eastman.
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. Papers may also include demonstrations from practitioners. Undergraduates are very welcome to attend.
All are welcome and no booking or registration is required.
- Contact for enquiries: postgradsymp@classics.ox.ac.uk
- 2018 Programme as PDF
Programme
Day one: Monday 25 June
Ioannou Centre, 66 St. Giles, Oxford
10.30-11 Registration, coffee and welcome from Prof. Fiona Macintosh (Oxford)
11.00- 12.15 Textual Misconceptions
Dimitrios Kanellakis (Oxford): ‘Overthrowing the tyranny of the text: performing Aristophanes’
Robert Emil Berge (NTNU): ‘Conceptions of Greek Dramatic Texts’
Martina Delucchi (Genoa): ‘The Original “Classical Reception”: Rome and Greek Theatre’
12.15-1.05 Moral Misconceptions
Giulia Fiore (Bologna): 'Totus nocens sum. Misconceptions of the tragic fault in early modern Oedipus’
Peter Olive (Royal Holloway): ‘Electra, sibling incest and twentieth-century Hellenism’
1.05-2.00 Lunch
2.30-3.45 Critical Misconceptions
Peter Swallow (KCL): ‘Burlesquing Aristophanes Misdirections in J.R. Planché’s Birds’
David Bullen (Royal Holloway): ‘”What seemed likely did not happen ... That’s how this went today": Missed Expectations in Recent British Productions of Euripides' Bacchae’
Valeria Spacciante (Normale, Pisa): ‘Rightly misinterpreting: Roberta Torre’s staging of Aristophanes’ Birds’
3.45-4.00 Tea/Coffee Break
4.00-5.15 Generic Misconceptions
Alexia Dedieu (Grenoble): ‘Is Euripides’ Electra a tragedy?’
Giovanna Casali (Bologna): ‘Alcestis misunderstood: reading Euripides’ drama and its reworking by Gluck and Calzabigi’
Emily Clifford (Oxford): ‘Drama - comedy (or tragedy?) of errors’
5.30-6.30 Informal Supper
7.00 A performance of Tony Harrison’s The Labourers of Herakles at the JdP, St Hilda's College, Oxford, OX4 1DY
Day two: Tuesday 26 June
Caryl Churchill Theatre, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham
10.45-11.00 Registration, coffee and welcome from Prof. Elizabeth Schafer (RHUL)
11.00-12.15 Misconceptions and ‘Mis’-translations?
Letizia Rivera (Turin): ‘Comic (?) mis-staging: contemporary interpretations of Aristophanes’ Old Comedy’
Eryn Pritchett (Notre Dame): ‘An Unfaithful Mistress: Issues with translating Latin Comedy’
Alison Middleton (Oxford): ‘Homer Meets Aeschylus: Theatrical Adaptation as Process’
12.15-1.30 Lunch
1.30-2.15 Will Shüler (RHUL): ‘Dionysus Superstar: The Bacchae and Christus Patiens’
2.15-3.30 Misconceiving Women I
Kyriaki Athanasiadou (Thessaloniki): ‘“She, a human.” Disarming Euripides’ Medea in a “cosmic tragedy”’
Charitini Tsikoura (Paris Nanterre): ‘Murder on stage: the infanticide in Medea’s contemporary dance-theatre performances’
Grace Zanotti (Michigan): ‘Reading Through the Lacuna: Re-directing the Tragic Subject in Anne Carson’s Pinplay and Euripides’ Bacchae’
3.30-3.45 Tea/Coffee Break
3.45-4.45 Plenary: Response from Dr Helen Eastman
4.45-6.00 Drinks in Rehearsal Room B