Athenian Drama

Year: 2

Module description:

This module focuses on fifth-century Athenian drama: tragedy, comedy and satyr-plays. Plays are investigated not as closed texts but as what they are: scripts for performance.

Lectures situate plays in the context of the development of their genres; explore evidence for Athenian theatrical practice and introduce key critical approaches, as well as some modern performances of Greek plays.

Workshops allow in-depth discussion of the verbal and visual meanings of individual plays or scenes; some will include discussion of performances seen on video.

Students will usually make a trip to see at least one new performance of a Greek play, and will travel to the Oxford Archive for the Performance of Greek and Roman Drama.

The core of the module consists of practical design and enactment of scenes by groups of students, with the aim of understanding the processes whereby the significance of the verbal text is realised, augmented or varied in performance.