Greek Theatre Performance: An Introduction

by David Wiles

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521640275
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/25/2000
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.22(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

1. Myth; 2. Ritual; 3. Politics; 4. Gender; 5. Space; 6. The performer; 7. The writer; 8. Reception; Notes; Further reading; Chronology.

Editorial Reviews

"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

From the Publisher