Table Of ContentFrancisM.Dunn . Sophocles' "Electra"inPerformance
DRAMA
Beitraqe zum antiken Drama
und seiner Rezeption
Herausgegeben von E De Martino
J.
A. Lopez Ferez - G. Mastromarco -
B. Seidensticker - R. Stillers - I? Thiercy
B. Zimmermann
VERLAGFURWISSENSCHAFT
UNOFORSCHUNG
Band 4
Sophocles "Electra
J U
in Performance
Hrsg. von Francis M. Dunn
MP
VERLAGFURWlSSENSCHAFT
UNDFORSCHUNG
Die Deutsche Bibliothek- CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Sophocles' "Electra" in Performance /
hrsg.vonFrancisM.Dunn.
ISBN978-3-476-45146-0
NE:Dunn,FrancisM.[Hrsg.]:GT
ISBN978-3-476-45146-0
ISBN978-3-476-04242-2(eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-476-04242-2
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©1996Springer-VerlagGmbHDeutschland
Ursprunglich erschienen bei J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung
undCarlErnstPoeschelVerlagGmbH1996
CONTENTS
Preface 1
I. Translation and Adaptation
Anne Carson
ScreaminginTranslation:theElektraofSophokles 5
Don Taylor
TheRealSophocles 12
Robert Auletta
WritingAncientTexts 25
II. Staging
J. Michael Walton
Sophocles'Electra:ActorsinSpace 41
Rush Rehm
PublicSpaces,PrivateVoices:
Euripides' SuppliantWomen andSophokles'Elektra 49
III. Interpretation
Jennifer March
TheChorusinSophocles'Electra 65
Karelisa Hartigan
ResolutionwithoutVictory/VictorywithoutResolution:
TheIdentificationSceneinSophocles'Elektra 82
Mark Ringer
ReflectionsonanEmptyUrn 93
IV. Directing
Ann E. Woodworth
AJungianApproachtoIphigeniainAulis:
DevelopingaCreativeVision 103
Dawn Mora
IphigeniainAu/is:TheCreativeProcess 107
David Downs
DirectingSophocles'Electra III
V. Action
Fiona Shaw
ElectraSpeechless 131
Michael Cacoyannis
CreatingtheChorus 139
VI. Response
Karelisa Hartigan andJennifer March
TheWorkshopsontheRecognitionSceneandChorus 147
Francis M. Dunn
TheUrnRevisited 150
Music in Greek Tragedy
ARoundtableDiscussion 154
Marianne McDonald
ElectrainReview 158
Works Cited 165
Contributers 169
Preface
by
Francis Dunn
In recentyears,performancecriticismhas profoundlyaltered the relation
between scholarly criticism of drama on the one hand and theatrical
performance on the other. But performance criticism is not easy to
identify; itis less aparticularapproachthan ageneral headingfor various
ways of bridging the gap between criticism and performance. Oliver
Taplin (1977), for example, reads the texts of Aeschylus in order to
determineentrances,exitsand otherelementsin a"grammar"ofdramatic
technique on the Athenian stage. John Barton (1984) explores with
professional actors the process of interpreting the language, verse and
roles ofShakespeare. And Dennis Kennedy (1993) traces the different
ways in which modem scenography has appropriated Shakespeare. Yet
for alltheir differences,most approachesthatmightbecalledperformance
criticism (Bartonexcepted) simply enlargethe scope ofcriticism, giving
the scholarlicenseto"read"performancesaswell astexts. Taplinapplies
philological method to entrances and exits, and new-critical method to
scenographic imagery; Kennedy turns reception criticism to the visual
interpretationofdrama, and new historicism to the conditions ofmodem
re-staging. Thiscollection takes adifferentapproach: ratherthan efface
the gap between criticism and performance, it seeks to give this gap its
due. There is a real and meaningful distance between performance and
criticism, and between the competence ofan actor and that ofa scholar.
Thiscollectionpromotesadialogueinwhich scholar, translator, actorand
directorcan each speakinher or hisown voice. For eachofthese people,
the "text" of Sophocles may be something different, and the process of
understanding or interpreting it may vary, but they have enough in
commontomake for auseful andinterestingexchange. Both fifth-century
tragedy and the modem performance/criticism of it are complex and
multidimensional--a condition reflected in the different voices and
perspectivesrepresentedhere.
Thiscollection began as a conference organized at Northwestern
Universityin May 1993byFrancisDunn andDavidDowns.' To promote
a usefuldialogue, the organizersinvitedscholarsand theaterpractitioners
involvedin manyaspectsof interpretation: literaryand culturalcriticism,
translation and adaptation, acting, directing, choreography and stage
design. To alloweach participantto speakas much as possiblein his or
her own voice, the presentations included scholarly papers, dramatic
performances, acting workshops and video screenings, with ample
opportunity for discussion and debate. And to prevent these different
voices from becoming a babel or cacophony, presentations were largely
Forareviewoftheconference.seeGrote1993.
-1-
restricted to a single tragedy, Sophocles' Electra, and to various ways of
reading and interpretingthe play today. By all accounts, the conference
was agreatsuccessinfacilitating usefulexchange among theparticipants.
Readers may now judge for themselves to what extent it promotes
intellectualandartisticexchangeamongabroaderaudience. Anddifferent
readers mayfmddifferentaspectsofthisexchange mosthelpful. One that
will immediatelybecome obviousisacommon interestintheurn as both
literary symbol and stagepresence. Anotherthatisequallypervasivebut
less obvious has to do with the place of Electra. As Rush Rehm points
out,Electraoccupiesasettingthatisundefmed: notinthepalacebutnotat
Agamemnon'stomb,notoutinthecountrywithAegisthus andnotamong
the landmarks described by theTutor. As Michael Walton and Karelisa
Hartigan point out, she likewise remains to a large extent outside the
action, outside theplotforrevenge,evenoutsidethefinal actofmatricide.
This rootlessElectra, as Anne Carson shows, inhabits instead a world of
unrelieved hUlTl\, where the pain that gives her life meaning also
immobilizesher. AndasFionaShaw'saccountsuggests,tocreate Electra
onstage is impossiblydifficult because itrequires somehow giving voice
to the void, somehow finding a pulse in this paralysis. Together,
contributions such as these can open up fascinating points of contact
among staging, plot,language andperformance.
Apublishedversioncannotreproducethelivelyexchange that took
place atthe symposium, norwasit possible toinclude contributionsfrom
all the participants. But to help readers gain a sense of the different
approaches employed, and the exchange they generated, we include
photosof several stage performances, transcripts from a workshop and a
panel discussion, reactions ofseveral contributors to theconference as a
whole, and essays by the directors of both featured productions,
Sophocles' Electraand Euripides' Iphigenia atAulis(toorder avideo of
theElectraproduction seep. 172). Thiscollectionalsoincludes twoitems
that were not presented at the conference: a short note on lines 54-55
(Dunn),andadiscussion ofmetatheaterinSophocles(Ringer).
The conference on Sophocles' Electrain Word and Action was
generously supported by Northwestern University and by a Major Grant
from theIllinois Humanities Council. Preparation ofthiscollection owes
much totheencouragementofNiallSlaterandBernhard Zimmermann,to
the word-processing skills ofLizFrech andTyson Blades,to the interest
and enthusiasmof my students, and above all tothe inspiration of David
Downs.
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I. Translation and Adaptation
