‘The Origins of Drama’ – 2500 years ago theatre left behind its religious roots and took its first steps to create the dramatic forms we have today, in the process producing some of the most dramatic stories the world has ever seen. Come and join Burjesta Theatre on a journey of exploration into the very beginnings of theatre…
The environment for theatre to prosper in was the nascent democratic state of Athens which was witness to a scientific, political, philosophical and cultural revolution the likes of which had never been seen before. From such fertile soil sprang the four giants of theatre – Aeschylus, ‘the Father of Tragedy’; Sophocles, ‘the most perfect of dramatists’; Euripides ‘the most tragic of tragedians’ and the comic writer Aristophanes.
Burjesta Theatre will be offering a 12-week course of workshops dedicated to exploring Classical Greek Theatre. Please note that these are acting workshops and not academic studies. All attendees will be expected to take part in the acting.
Burjesta Theatre will be looking at the major works of these dramatists – Oedipus Rex, ‘the greatest detective story ever told’ of a man fated to kill his father and sleep with his mother; Medea, who takes the ultimate revenge on her lover, slaying their two young children; Lysistrata, with the women of Sparta and Athens undertaking a ‘sex strike’ to bring about peace between the men of their warring nations. They will also be looking in depth at the myth of the ‘House of Atreus’ in The Orestia which shows a civilization unburdening itself from its barbaric past.
Throughout the course, and using examples from the drama, they will turn their attention to some of the themes surrounding the dramatic output. Attendees of the course will look at the social and political environment with pro- and anti-democratic factions within Athenian society.
The company will see how the two great wars which framed Athenian Theatre both influenced that theatre and were also reflected in the subject matter of the playwrights – running roughly from 500 BC to 480 BC Athens in alliance with other Greek city states fought and successfully defeated the Persian Empire, whereas from roughly 430 BC to 400 BC Athens was engaged in a grueling war with Sparta, to which she eventually succumbed.
A further theme will be the position of women in Athenian society, how they were represented in drama with both misogynistic and more progressive ‘feminist’ portrayals shown on stage.
The course will lead into auditions for a production of Medea in 2015. Auditions will be closed and available only to actors who have attended at least some of the workshops.
And finally they will be taking an in depth look at that most dynamic of factors within Greek Theatre, the Chorus, which started off with 50 or so members but gradually over time lost its supremacy at the core of the drama. They will be exploring what created this ‘dynamism’, what led to its decline and ways to rejuvenate theatre with a modern use of the Chorus.
Times and Location: Begins Wednesday 20th August, 7pm at The Casa on Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BQ and each Wednesday thereafter until 5th November. Each workshops costs £3/£2 and is a stand-alone session. No requirement to attend each workshop. No prior acting experience or knowledge of Greek Theatre is required to attend.
For more information contact – info@burjesta-theatre.co.uk