Ancient Greek Drama in Cyprus
 

• Report - Summer course and Workshop on Ancient Greek Theatre, 12 July- 14 August 1999, Droushia, (Cyprus)
• Conclusions of the 4th International Symposium on Ancient Greek Drama 7th - 10th September 1996, Ayia Napa - Cyprus)

12 July –14 August 1999   REPORT 
 DROUSHIA (Cyprus) Summer Course and Workshop on Ancient Greek theatre.   Organized by the Cultural Identity and Development Committee of the Cyprus Centre of the International Theatre Institute as a follow-up to the successful Higher Drama Schools Meeting and Festival of 1998 the Workshop took place within the frame of the biennial International Symposium on Ancient Greek Drama.    workshop. The great success of this course, an exemplary expression of the priority given by ITI to artistic education  has encouraged the organisers to establish it as an annual event. 
The aim of the Course was to give drama students and young actors and directors an opportunity to study in depth performing methods and skills enabling them to explore and promote Ancient Greek Drama in their own cultural context for the benefit of contemporary audiences. 
The mayor of Paphos, Mr. Phedias Sarikas, inaugurated the event on the morning of August 12 at the Droushia Heights Hotel in the presence of the tutors, the students officials of local authorities and representatives of the educational community. 
Daily morning and afternoon sessions of lectures and practical demonstations were given by seven distinguished scholars and practitioners, experts in Ancient Greek Drama : These included : 
Professor Freddy Decreus, classical philologist, specialist in the reception of Classical Antiquity in the 19th and the 20th centuries, responsible for courses in Latin Literature, Literary Theory and Theatre History at the Gent University. His lectures focussed on the idea of Polis, Myth and Ritual, the Oresteia and Postmodernism. 
and were illustrated by slide projections and video tapes. 
Professor Gregory McCart, professor of Theatre at Southern Queensland University, expert on the use of tragic mask in performance. His lectures were illustrated by video projections. He also conducted workshops with the participants on scenes from « Oedipus the king », « Antigone » and « Iphigenia in Aulis, » the results of which were shown at the Droushia open air theatre. 
Dr.Elladios Handriodis, classical philologist on Ancient Greek Drama, who lectured on the differences between the three tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides with examples from Choephorae and the two Electras. 
George Mikellis (a theatrologist) from Greece, who lectured on the political aspect of ancient Greek Drama with examples from performances of « Electra »in Greece. 
Lennart Kollberg, director from Sweden, who lectured generally on the values of ancient Greek Drama, the importance of the body language, the function of the chorus and the rhetorical speeches of the heralds, focussing on Hecuba by Euripides. 
Dr Faidros Kavallaris, composer and scholar on traditional music who lectured on the ethos of music in Ancient Greek Drama. He focussed on the ethos and its importance in the structure of ancient Greek tragedy.and gave practical examples from tapes of the rhythm and the metres of the ancient texts which dictated the music. 
.Nicos Shiafkalis, director lectured on the acting dimensions demanded by the ancient texts and gave practical examples, supported by video tapes of various international performances which incorporated different cultural traditions and identities in presenting Ancient Greek Drama for contemporary audiences. 
The Course was attended by students from Cyprus, Greece,U.S.A and France and also by philologists from Cyprus and Greece.Parallel to the Course was the workshop on Prometheus which resulted in a performance presented at the Droushia open air theatre, the Paphos Odeon and Polis Chrysochous. 
The workshop leaders were Nicos Shiafkalis (Cyprus),George Mikellis (Greece)and Lennart Kollberg (Sweden). 
Within the same framework the Cyprus Centre of I.T.I organised a three day Festival (11,12, and 13 August) at the Paphos Odeon consisting of the workshop production of PROMETHEUS and a guest performance of MEDEA by the Triad theatre company from Moscow with the renowned Russian actress Elena Ojertsova. Performances of Prometheus were also presented  in Droushia (Aug.10) and Polis. Details: Nicos Shiafkalis, Cyprus Centre of ITI, 38 Regaena St 1010 Nicosia, Cyprus TEL : 357/2/674920  FAX : 357/2/680 822 
 
  

Conclusions of the 4th International Symposium on Ancient Greek Drama 7th - 10th September 1996, Ayia Napa - Cyprus) 
The 4th International Symposium on Ancient Greek Drama the topic of which was "The Philologist and the Director - decoding the directions in the texts" took place in Ayia Napa between 7 and 9 September. The Symposium was organised by the Cyprus Centre of I.T.I. and the Municipality of Ayia Napa. 

Within the framework of the Symposium there were two performances of Aeschylus' tragedy " Seven Against Thebes ", one in Greek and one in English. The performances were the result of a theatre workshop with the participation of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki and a Group of Cypriot amateur actors. The workshop was under the leadership of Dan Henriksson and Nicolas Shiafkalis. 

The basic conclusions drawn from the work of the Symposium are the following: 

1. The texts contain key phrases which must be decoded in order to avoid deviating from the spirit of the text. In this the cooperation of the scholar and the director (at the initial stages) is useful and necessary. 

 
2. The ancient texts do not contain conventional directions of modern drama. These are implied by the lines of the text. So that they may come to the surface for the use of the director, they must be uncovered and studied. 

 
3. The texts are not simply phrases. They are poetry which is constituted by images, colour, rhythm. Their translation, however good, cannot express these elements in their entirety. In order to decode the meaning of a text in all its nuances one must read it in the original. The modern director cannot do the work of the writer director, the musician, the set designer and the choreographer. He, therefore, needs the help of all these experts in the stage presentation of a play and inevitably also that of a scholar (in the first stage at least). 

 
4. The Ancient Greek Drama is a reflection of a world that belongs to history. However, the questions and problems posed by it have a relevance in the modern world. The reading of the text as well as its translation into stage performance must be such that will move the modern audience. It must provoke participation that will eventually lead to catharsis. 

 
5. Simple readings and close stage presentations of the text lead to lifeless performances which do not communicate with modern audiences. The director must be in a position to recreate all the constituent elements of the text using his imagination and stage inventiveness if he is to make his performance exciting for a modern audience. These interventions are not only legitimate but self-evident, if, of course, they serve the specific purpose of provoking the participation of the audience that leads to catharsis, and is aesthetically acceptable. 

 
6. The texts of Ancient Greek Drama were intended for presentation on the stage in front of an audience. They were a set of stage acts that has form and structure and they were not meant for reading as literary texts. Their approach, therefore, by the scholar must take this reality into consideration. 

 
7. In addition to key phrases that relate to the psychology of the characters, the ancient texts contain various other phrases that relate to other elements such as sounds, songs, landscapes, dance movement, costume, and the role of secondary characters such as servants. These phrases need to be decoded as they too play an important role in the stage presentation of the Ancient Greek Drama. 

 
8. The use of the mask in the sense of a persona in the performance of Ancient Greek Drama was discussed. It was felt that it needs further research and study. 

 
9. With regard to the issue of whether performances should take place indoors or out-of-doors it was felt that out-of-doors was preferable precisely because Ancient Greek Drama was conceived to be performed to the community as an expression of democracy.