Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Revisiting the classics via Robert Fagles

While this season's off to a tepid start, I have a worthy suggestion for weary theatergoers in search of a reinvigoration of sorts: why not revisit the classics?

In studying Greek drama for a current class I'm taken, I've been struck by how readable and enjoyable Greek plays can be, and I have a few suggestions for interested readers.

My professor, Roger Oliver, recommended to our class that we read Robert Fagles's translations of both Aeschylus's The Oresteia and Sophocles's The Theban Plays (concerning Oedipus), both published by Penguin Classics, and I found his fluid, poetic versions to be quick, satisfying reads.

To see the plays in action in New York is also currently possible! The Pearl Theatre Company is currently featuring The Oedipus Cycle, Sophocles's Theban Plays performed back-to-back (the running time is 3 hours). 

Upcoming at one of my current favorite theatre companies, Classic Stage Company, is An Oresteia, an amalgam of plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides chronicling the fall of the house of Atreus.

Oedipus is also currently receiving a Ralph Fiennes-led production at London's National Theatre that promises to be one of the hottest tickets across the pond as well.

Say what you will about Greek plays being stodgy and irrelevant, plays like Agamemnon, Antigone, and Oedipus the King hold underestimated riches for modern readers. Sometimes, as in the case of Oedipus, they even continue to pack 'em in thousands of years on.

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