Greek Tragedy in the New York Theatre: a History and Interpretation (Drama, Criticism, Classics).

Abstract

Since 1854 well-known theatre professionals, including Granville-Barker, Maurice Browne, Raymond Jonson, Max Reinhardt, Laurence Olivier, Ben Edwards, Irene Papas and Zoe Caldwell, as well as famous theatrical companies, including the National Theatre of Greece and the New York Shakespeare Festival, have presented ancient Greek plays in New York City with remarkable success. For example, Granville-Barker attracted fifty-thous and people to outdoor performances of the Trojan Women and Iphigenia in Tauris in 1915, and Robert Whitehead's 1982 Medea received five Tony nominations. Yet, these and other important productions are largely overlooked in studies of the American theater. This history of New York professional productions of Greek tragedy from 1845 to 1984 brings together evidence from traditional sources and from playbills, photographs, scrapbooks, renderings as well as models and offers a description and evaluation of how producers, directors, actors and designers struggled to make the ancient dramas significant and entertaining for modern audiences. While theatre professionals agree that there is no definitive way to stage a Greek tragedy, most have come to believe that "authentic" or traditional productions are undesirable. As a result, after 1910, Margaret Anglin, Tyrone Guthrie and and rei Serban, to name a few, mounted Greek tragedy as gr and spectacle, whereas Maurice Browne, the Circle in the Square Company, Robert Whitehead and others staged the tragedies as intimate character studies. Meanwhile, two companies from Greece, who regularly performed in New York, originated a style which brought together several approaches. While these categories facilitate comparison, extensive descriptions also reveal that practitioners staged Greek tragedy with a great deal of individuality, often breaking all the rules. There have been over one-hundred productions of Greek tragedy in New York since 1845, however, this study centers on those stagings which had the greatest impact. It reveals that shortly after the turn of the century the United States enjoyed a "Golden Age of Greek Tragedy," during which literally thous and s of spectators attended productions. It also describes how theatre practitioners, in the forefront of change, used the classic plays to bring innovation to the theatre. Consequently the history of New York productions of Greek tragedy is rich, varied and frequently surprising.