“War” Over The Persians

from Reviews/Theatre in Review 2009/11/01 19:23

“War” Over The Persians

Author: Aeschylus. Direction: Dimiter Gotcheff. Stage Design and Costumes: Mark Lummert. Production: The National Theatre of Greece. Theatre Venue: Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. Framework: The Hellenic Festival 2009.

Ever since its official opening some 56 years ago, the Festival held at the ancient theatre of Epidaurus has been the cause of numerous and quite often loud debates about its “proper” role: to whom should it cater and to what extent should the audience’s horizon of expectations be allowed to determine the kind of plays approved for production there? Should Epidaurus be open to all artistic trends and traditions (anything goes?) or should it be limited only to the revival of Greco-Roman theatre?

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Who's There? Theatre Festivals in Search of a Postmodern Audience

Among theatre people in general and festival administrators in particular, most of the discussion is about the audience: Where is the audience? What is wrong with the audience? Etc. To have an audience, of course, it presupposes a (given) world out there to address. To reach out to a bigger audience means to embrace bigger chunks of the real. And the question is: how does one go about locating the real? What is really real and what is really an othere? Who is an othere? We look around and the only thing we see is uncertainties and shifting performative subjectivities.

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