Greek Tragic Theatre (theatre Production Studies)

GREEK TRAGIC THEATRE Greek Tragic Theatre is intended for those interested in theatre who want to know how Greek tragedy worked. By analysing how the plays were realized in performance, Rush Rehm sheds new light on these old texts and encourages actors and directors to examine Greek tragedy anew by examining the context in which it was once performed. Emphasizing the political nature of Greek tragedy, as theatre of, by and for the polis, Rush Rehm characterizes Athens as a performance culture, one in which the theatre stood alongside other public forums as a place to confront matters of import and moment. In treating the various social, religious and practical aspects of tragic production, he shows how these elements promoted a vision of the theatre as integral to the life of the city—a theatre, whose focus was on the audience. The second half of the book examines four exemplary plays, Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy, Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, and Euripides’ Suppliant Women and Ion. Avoiding the critical tradition, Rehm focuses on how each tragedy unfolds in performance, generating different relationships between the characters (and chorus) on stage and the audience in the theatre. Rush Rehm is Head of the Acting Program and Assistant Professor of Drama at Stanford University. THEATRE PRODUCTION STUDIES General Editor: John Russell Brown University of Michigan There has long been a need for books which give a clear idea of how the great theatre of the past worked and of the particular experiences they offered. Students of dramatic literature and theatre history are increasingly concerned with plays in performance, especially the performances expected by their authors and their audiences. Directors, designers, actors and other theatre practitioners need imaginative, practical suggestions on how to revive plays and experiment with rehearsal and production techniques. Theatre Production Studies fills this need. Designed to span Western theatre from the Greeks to the present day, each book explores a period, or genre, drawing together aspects of production from staging, wardrobe and acting styles, to the management of a theatre, its artistic team, and technical crew. Each volume focuses on several texts of exceptional achievement, and is well illustrated with contemporary material. Already published: SHAKESPEARE’S THEATRE (second edition) JACOBEAN PUBLIC THEATRE BROADWAY THEATRE Peter Thomson Alexander Leggatt Andrew Harris GREEK TRAGIC THEATRE Rush Rehm London and New York First published 1992 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 First published in paperback 1994 © 1992, 1994 Rush Rehm All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this b