Medea at the New Theatre
November 14, 2017
Lynn Fotheringham previews an on-campus Greek tragedy production The New Theatre production of Medea that I mentioned in my last blog-post opens tomorrow. I’ve been lucky enough to get to attend some of the rehearsals over the last fortnight, and to see the performance start coming together. Jazmine Greenaway probably has the most challenging job …
November is Greek Myth Month
October 25, 2017
Lynn Fotheringham catalogues some upcoming Classics-related drama. There’s a remarkable concentration of Greek-mythology related drama coming up in November, both in Nottingham and elsewhere. I’ll start with the cinema before moving on to various theatrical productions. Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, is a modern take on the story of Agamemnon’s family …
Contemporary Productions of Greek plays
September 20, 2016
Text by Lynn Fotheringham For the last two years, almost all my leisure-time has been taken up with running around the country trying to see as many as possible of the productions of Greek tragedy that were being put on. I fitted in three Medeas, three Oresteias, two Antigones, one Bakkhai, one Women of Troy, one …
Oedipus showing at the Lakeside
April 20, 2016
Lynn Fotheringham attends a rehearsal of the Lakeside production of Oedipus and considers the process of fragmentation in modern approaches to tragedy. After the Greek tragedy film season, Lakeside Arts is putting on another Greek tragedy this week: this year’s annual collaboration with the Nottingham New Theatre is Sophocles’ Oedipus (Steven Berkoff’s version) http://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/theatre/event/3172/oedipus.html. The project, which gives New Theatre students the opportunity to …
Chorus girls – and boys
November 18, 2015
Lynn Fotheringham tells us about the creative challenges and opportunities of the Chorus. In the Horrible Histories Groovy Greeks[1] theatre-show, a family of supposedly late-arriving theatre-goers are sucked into the action to learn about ancient Greek culture. They are informed that the Greeks had democracy, the Olympics and theatre: that the actors (all male) wore masks, …
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk — or should that be Medea?
October 19, 2015
Helen Lovatt reflects on intertextuality and a trip to the opera (and continues to see Argonauts everywhere). Last week I experienced the theatrical pounding of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in a sensational and vivid production by the ENO. Get a flavour of it on youtube here. I do like a text that puts its …
Upcoming Classical drama
September 20, 2015
As a new semester begins, Lynn Fotheringham has been searching out upcoming theatrical productions with a Classical connection. Contemporary theatre is in the midst of a love affair with Greek tragedy, with both the Almeida Theatre in London (lots of great stuff on their website) and the Classic Stage Company in New York holding festivals this summer. …
The Ancient World is Awesome
August 13, 2015
Helen Lovatt explores Classical reception and childhood creativity in the Lego Movie. This post contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the Lego movie, watch it immediately! The Lego Movie (2014) sets creativity in competition with conformity. You can watch the ‘Everything is Awesome’ sequence on Youtube, and it gives a good flavour of the central themes …
Greek Tragedy on the Small Screen
August 12, 2015
Lynn Fotheringham previews a series of rarely-seen TV productions of Greek tragedy, which she has organised to be shown in Nottingham next spring. In January-March 2016, CADRE and Lakeside Arts are bringing the BFI mini-season ‘Classics on TV: Greek Tragedy on the Small Screen’ to Nottingham. These rare productions range in date from 1958 to the last production specially …
Women of Troy part 3
May 13, 2015
Lynn Fotheringham analyses some audience responses from last week’s production of Women of Troy. In my last post about the New Theatre’s Women of Troy, I mentioned that I was conducting some audience-research via an on-line questionnaire. I am interested in the different ideas of ‘authenticity’ that affect our response to representations of the ancient world, …
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