Greek Theatre Performance: An Introduction - Softcover

Wiles, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521648572 ISBN 13: 9780521648578

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000

Synopsis

In this book, David Wiles introduces ancient Greek theater to students and enthusiasts interested in knowing how the plays were performed. Theater was a ceremony bound up with fundamental activities in ancient Athenian life and Wiles explores those elements that created the theater of the time. Actors rather than writers are the book's main concern and Wiles examines how the actor used the resources of story-telling, dance, mask, song and visual action to create a large-scale event that would shape the life of the citizen community.

About this title

Book Description

David Wiles introduces ancient Greek theatre to students and enthusiasts interested in knowing how the plays were performed. The book examines how the actor used the resources of story-telling, dance, mask, song and visual action to create large-scale events in Athenian cultural life. The book assumes no prior knowledge of the ancient world, and is written for those who want to know how the plays were performed, what they meant in their original social context, and what can be learned from and achieved by performances of Greek plays today.

Review

"In the last decade David Wiles has published two brilliant studies on ancient drama in performance: The Masks of Menander (Cambridge University Press, 1991) and Tragedy in Athens (Cambridge University Press, 1997). His latest book is an even more significant contribution to this increasingly important field.... His study is informed by traditional scholarship in philology, history, metrics, and music; by a wide range of theoretical approaches including structuralism, psychoanalysis, and feminist theory; and by thoughtful, creative interpretations. Every page sparkles with ideas. The book is rigorously critical.... This is an indispensable book. In addition to its critical and practical insights, clear organization and lucid prose make its stimulating ideas accessible to students as well as scholars." Classical World

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0521648572
• ISBN 13: 9780521648578
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256