Past Salons – Drama

Aeschylus’ The Oresteia

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Aeschylus’ The Oresteia

From Beowulf through The Odyssey, our study of the classics informs our understanding of the role of art and literature in forming our sense of ourselves and human history. This will be the first Salon study of the Oresteia so will have the energy of new and unexplored territory. Aeschylus explores the shift from a world ruled by force and feud to a time when human rationale and the early ideas of civilisation start to inform law and behaviour.

From http://www.neebo.com/Textbook/the-oresteiab9780140443332/ISBN-9780140443332:

The only trilogy in Greek drama that survives from antiquity, Aeschylus’ The Oresteia is translated by Robert Fagles with an introduction, notes and glossary written in collaboration with W.B. Stanford in Penguin Classics. In the Oresteia Aeschylus addressed the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. As they move from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration. In Agamemnon, a king’s decision to sacrifice his daughter and turn the tide of war inflicts lasting damage on his family, culminating in a terrible act of retribution; The Libation Bearers deals with the aftermath of Clytemnestra’s regicide, as her son Orestes sets out to avenge his father’s death; and in The Eumenides, Orestes is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased. Forming an elegant and subtle discourse on the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, The Oresteia is a compelling tragedy of the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society. Aeschylus (525-456 BC) was born near Athens. He wrote more than seventy plays, of which seven have survived, all translated for Penguin Classics: The Supplicants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides. If you enjoyed The Oresteia, you might like Euripides’ Medea and Other Plays, also available in Penguin Classics.

‘Conveys more vividly and powerfully than any of the ten competitors I have consulted the eternal power of this masterpiece … a triumph’ –Bernard Levin

‘How satisfying to read at last a modern translation which is rooted in Greek feeling and Greek thought … both the stature and the profound instinctive genius of Aeschylus are recognised’ –Mary Renault, author of The King Must Die

Antigone

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Sophocles’ Antigone

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“A man, though wise, should never be ashamed of learning more, and must unbend his mind.”

― Sophocles, Antigone

 Across time, this play from the height of the culture of Ancient Greece has engaged our questions around the desires of the individual against the coherence of the community. Although modern audiences tend to sympathise fully with Antigone, it is important to remember,as Bernard Knox explains in his introduction to our edition, that “…before (Creon) is driven by the consequences of Antigone’s defiance to reveal his true and deepest motives, he represents a viewpoint few Greeks would have challenged: that in times of crisis, the supreme loyalty of the citizen is to the state…” This essential query of the needs of the individual or the bonds of the family up against the rule of law or state structure is relevant in our contemporary experience as we try to find room for individual conscience in a world increasingly dictated by faceless agency.  As with all Salon studies, our approach is both thematic and language-based as we work to discover meaning and relevance together.

SALON DETAILS

  • One-meeting intensive study
  • Recommended edition:The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles, translated by Robert Fagles,introduction by Bernard Knox; Penguin Books. ISBN-13: 978-0140444254

Here are some further thoughts on the work situated in a modern context:

Like all great Greek tragedies, Antigone presents us with existential questions similar to those addressed by Socrates and Jesus. In the choral ode to man, human existence is characterized as wondrous, riddle-like, uncanny. Human beings are natural and rational at once, bound by necessity yet gifted with freedom, mortal yet capable of transcending the mere necessities of life and survival, the doers of good and evil, makers and breakers of laws and city walls. Although the story of Antigone addresses these universal and timeless contradictions and perplexi- ties of humankind, it simultaneously tells the story of a singular individual: Antigone, a woman who defies King Creon’s edict without any fear, doubts, or regrets. This courageous woman, the fruit of incest, has fascinated philosophers in the nineteenth century, inspired playwrights in the twentieth century, and intrigued feminist thinkers and activists for decades.
— http://www.sunypress.edu/pdf/62070.pdf   from the introduction to Feminist Readings of Antigone (© 2010 State University of New York Press, Albany)

Richard III

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Shakespeare’s Richard III

Richard III is Shakespeare’s probing of unrepentant evil. In this play, the beauty of Shakespeare’s language combines with his psychological probing to develop one of the most complex and riveting portraits of human agony turned into action. As literary critic Marjorie Garber points out: “Shakespeare’s Richard III is arguably the first fully realized and psychologically conceived character in his plays.” As an audience, we are fascinated by how raw power is socially channeled into manipulation and revenge—perhaps we learn more from the study of misbehavior than we do studying those who behave in morally acceptable ways. Richard III is the ancestor to many of our popular villains: his masterful wielding of language offers a thinking villain who will ask us to reflect on our own structures of truth and moral behavior.

Some words…

I, that am rudely stamp’d and want love’s majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deform’d, unfinish’d, sent before my time
Into this breathing world scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them

As with the other Shakespearian plays, for this one evening intensive study we will read aloud significant passages, working to access the tone of performance that is so vital to understanding the plays. We will also view portions of various filmed productions.

Measure for Measure

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Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” –Matthew 7:1-2

This problem play, this dark comedy draws its title from this biblical quote and suggests the question at the heart of the play: is judging – one or several humans of another – possible at all? From what vantage point can one fallible human being judge another, mete out measure for measure?

Samuel Coleridge speaks to the controversy surrounding this play by saying that, “Measure for Measure is the single exception to the delightfulness of Shakespeare’s plays…although it is Shakespearian throughout. . . .” The play is of particular interest to scholars and critics interested in English history, the life of the court, religion and the presentation of women and sexuality in drama. With its passages of brilliant verse and psychological investigation, this is a play that requires our attention no matter how hard it may be to categorize.

Man, proud man,
Dressed in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assured,
…………
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep. . .

Measure for Measure, 2.2.120-125

Isabella’s accusation—as she is being asked to give her body for her brother’s life—queries the ‘power divine’ that cloaks the figures of authority in our world including the playwright (the author whose creation employs authority). The power to judge brings man close to the gods; the playwright also enacts that power as he or she offers characters of good or evil, actions that evoke our approbation or condemnation.

As with the other Shakespearian plays, for this one-meeting intensive study we will read aloud significant passages, working to access the tone of performance that is so vital to understanding the plays. We will also view portions of filmed productions.

King Lear

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Shakespeare’s King Lear

King Lear. Photograph: Tristram Kenton (Guardian)

“Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our teeples, drowned the cocks!
You sulphurour and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Strike flat the thick rotundity o’ the world!
Crack nature’s molds, all germens spill at once
That make ingrateful man!”

― William Shakespeare, King Lear

King Lear is regarded by many as Shakespeare’s greatest tragic work,looking at the nature of love and loyalty in its rawest manifestations. The goals of the Salon are to acquaint or re-acquaint you with the language of Shakespeare, consider the dynamic between theater and literature, and to develop an appreciation for Shakespeare’s ability to speak of the human condition in ways that ring like a choral bell across four centuries. This Salon will provide the opportunity for performance and presentation. The work is meant to be understood first and foremost as theater, and we will do our best to honour Shakespeare’s intention in the Salon. I will suggest clips from film versions of the work to help bring the words to life, and use Issac Assimov’s meaty background information to help us understand the historical context and allusions of the play.

Part of the beauty of this play is found in the honest exploration of parent-child relationships. This fundamental unit is based on a love so elemental as to be almost inarticulate- at the same time, the parent-child relationship can be fraught with power struggles, issues of entitlement, betrayals that run as deeply as the love, and the disorganizing pressures of the outer world. Shakespeare offers a study of a variety of these relationships, from the absolute filial loyalty of Cordelia (which traps her in its inarticulateness) to the twisted love (which one might read as love’s opposite) of her sisters- and others- Kent’s love of Lear, Edmond and Edgar of their father- that help give the reader a field of inquiry for this most essential human experience.

King Lear brings us to the depths of human suffering- to madness, torture, betrayal and death- but not in a way that distances us from the experience. The language allows us to continue to be within the emotions of the characters, even as the events become almost hyperbolic in their tragedy. Frank Kermode describes the universal nature of the tragedy in Lear:

“In King Lear we are no longer concerned with an ethical problem that, however agonizing, can be reduced to an issue of law or equity and discussed forensically. For King Lear is about suffering represented as a condition of the world as we inherit it or make it for ourselves. Suffering is the consequence of a human tendency to evil, as inflicted on the good by the bad; it can reduce humanity to a bestial condition, under an apparently indifferent heaven. It falls, insistently and without apparent regard for the justice they so often ask for, so often say they believe in, on the innocent; but nobody escapes.”

– Frank Kermode, Shakespeare’s Language, pg. 184

SALON DETAILS

  • Four-week study
  • Recommended edition: King Lear, by W. Shakespeare, Arden Shakespeare edition (1997); ISBN-13: 978-190343659

Hamlet

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Shakespeare’s Hamlet

hamlet

How does one introduce a play that is already dizzy on its own superlatives? For this Salon,  we come to study Hamlet afresh, not worrying about whether we see it as Shakespeare’s greatest play ever or whether we stand breathless at the language – but finding within the play that that has so riveted audiences and readers for centuries. We welcome to this Salon those who have never read or seen the play along with those who have memorized entire soliloquies – we will need both perspectives to carefully negotiate our way through the “constantly shifting register not only of action but of language” (Frank Kermode, Shakespeare’s Language, 2000).

What is Hamlet about? Themes include the most precise questions of loyalty, revenge and allegiance, what it means to be human, the role of fate and self-will, the truth of madness- the essences of human experience. The language must stand up to the weight of these themes – we will closely examine the words and structures to decide if it does and if so, how. Hamlet as a character is utterly compelling: the sinuous dance of his mind, his outrage at human frailty, his exquisite language infused by his agony at a world too small and mean for his spirit inspires the reader.

As with any other Salon dealing with a dramatic work, we will read aloud — sections of the text and view various filmed adaptations

SALON DETAILS

  • Two meeting study
  • Any standard edition of Hamlet with line numbers

Greek Tragedies

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Greek Tragedies

“Wisdom comes through suffering.
Trouble, with its memories of pain,
Drips in our hearts as we try to sleep,
So men against their will
Learn to practice moderation.
Favours come to us from gods.”

―Aeschylus, Agamemnon

Twenty-five hundred years after they were written, Classical Greek tragedies such as Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone, and Euripides’ Medea still have the power to transfix us with their keen insight into human emotions and motivations.

Through  compelling language and such enduring characters as Oedipus, Jocasta, Creon, Antigone, Prometheus, Cassandra, Clytemnestra, Orestes and Iphigenia the Greek tragedians explored ideas of friendship, loyalty, love, pride, vengeance, justice, honor, kinship and fate. Along with Shakespeare, they have defined our sense of tragedy and our expectations of tragic theater.

Reading the tragedies is an immensely rewarding experience of refined artistry, rich poetry and penetrating ideas. This seven week study will read six classical Greek tragic dramas:

Aeschylus: Agamemnon
Sophocles: Oedipus Rex
Sophocles: Antigone
Sophocles: Philoctetes
Euripides: Medea
Euripides: Hippolytus

We will also read the Poetics, Aristotle’s still-influential study of the nature of tragic drama and human nature.

This study is part of a sequence looking at ancient Greek and Roman literature. Previous studies have included Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and Virgil’s Aeneid. The sequence will continue in  with Herodotus, Plato, Plutarch, Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics, and Ovid.

SALON DETAILS

  • Seven meeting study
  • Recommended editions:
    • Greek Tragedies 1: Aeschylus: Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound; Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Antigone; Euripides: Hippolytus (Complete Greek Tragedies); University of Chicago Press; 3rd Revised edition edition (19 April 2013); ISBN-13: 978-0226035284
    • Oedipus the King and Other Tragedies, by Sophocles (Author), Oliver Taplin (Translator) (Oxford World’s Classics); Oxford University Press (10 Mar. 2016); ISBN-13: 978-0192806857
    • Medea, by Euripides (Author), Robin Robertson (Translator); Vintage Classics (6 Aug. 2009); ISBN-13: 978-0099511779
    • Poetics, by Aristotle (Author), S.H. Butcher (Translator) (Dover Thrift Editions); Dover Publications Inc.; New edition edition (2 Jan. 2000); ISBN-13: 978-0486295770

Chekhov’s Stories and Plays

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Anton Chekhov’s Stories and Plays

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Konstantin Stanislavski as Astrov in Uncle Vanya, 1899

“As readers of imaginative literature, we are always seeking clues, warnings: where in life to search more assiduously; what not to overlook; what’s the origin of this sort of human calamity, that sort of joy and pleasure. . . . And to such seekers as we are, Chekhov is guide, perhaps the guide. “

 —novelist Richard Ford

In his plays— and especially in his deceptively-simple short stories—Anton Chekhov surveyed the inner workings of the human psyche with an emotional and psychological precision matched by few others. His understated and incredibly economical style revolutionized the short story.  An insightful blog writer hits upon Chekhov’s essence:

“(Chekhov) ingeniously captures the anguish of the human soul, the clash between what the heart wants and what the heart needs, and the controversies that shape our everyday life. . . The magic of Chekhov’s short stories is that seemingly they are mostly about nothing. Trivial situations, ordinary people, banal feelings. But if you let character, observation, and mood into your heart, you will definitely see that almost no other author has captured so deeply the happiness, joy, suffering, and love of the human being with so much detail, sympathy, and pity. Because even though Chekhov laughs at his characters, we can still feel he is not a judge of human imperfections; he understands, accepts, and forgives.”

Our study will read closely six short stories and two plays by this most psychologically astute and humane of writers.

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