Directing a Greek Tragedy adaptation of "Women of Trachis" ("Trachiniae").

What is it about?

This chapter will discuss how directorial and adaptation techniques, such as improvisation, music, symmetry, transformative mise-en-scene, and references to other texts, were used to create a modern world for today's audience. It will explore: • In what ways the geographical and socio-political setting can affect the creation of narrative in a transadaptation of a Greek Tragedy? • How can we develop secondary characters (for example Hyllus, Iole) in order to enhance the dramatic narrative? • To what extent can the mise-en-scène shape the direction and ‘musicalisation’ of the text? • In what ways is the ‘hero’ presented on stage after being exposed to moments of excess (whether [post-]traumatic, sensuous or sexual)? • How do we empower women in a contemporary adaptation of Greek Tragedy in exploring representations which go beyond the traditional norms?

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Photo by Rosario Esposito La Rossa on Unsplash

Photo by Rosario Esposito La Rossa on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Walton notes that ‘[i]n dealing with the power of love as a destructive force Sophocles is very much in the territory of the Euripides of "Medea" or "Hippolytus", though both plays were written later than "Women of Trachis’. These tragedies possess a strong appeal for directing them within a domestic environment and by updating the geographical and historical location, this new version "The Wife of Heracles" offered a solid connection to contemporary audiences. And the production highlighted the original’s dramatic contrasts, which again according to Walton ‘stem from the temperamental contrasts of the two central characters’. No wonder these plays gave food for thought to Seneca, Marlowe and Shakespeare for their own bloody stage creations.

Perspectives