Diversifying Greek Tragedy on the Contemporary Us Stage

Melinda Powers is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and in the Ph.D. Program in Theatre and Performance at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. She specializes in historiography, performance theory, ancient Greek, and contemporary theatre. She is the author of Athenian Tragedy in Performance: A Guide to Contemporary Studies and Historical Debates (University of Iowa Press, 2014), as well as several articles on the reception of Greek drama.

In its long history of performance and reception, Greek drama has been interpreted and adapted in ever-changing ways to share in the preoccupations and tensions of particular historical moments. Diversifying Greek Tragedy on the Contemporary US Stage explores this tradition by investigating a cross section of theatrical productions that have reimagined Greek tragedy in order to address social and political concerns in the US. Studying performance and its role in creating social, historical, and cultural identities, this volume draws on cutting-edge research to move discussion away from the interpretation of dramatic texts in isolation from their performance contexts and towards an analysis of the dynamic experience of live theatre. The study focuses particularly on the ability of engaged performances to pose critical challenges to the long-standing stereotypes and political policies that have contributed to the misrepresentation and marginalization of underrepresented communities. However, in the process it also uncovers the ways in which such performances can inadvertently reinforce the very stereotypes they aim to challenge, demonstrating that ancient drama can be a powerful, yet dangerous tool in the search for justice.

This volume investigates a cross-section of performances of Greek tragedy on the contemporary American stage that have been produced by or for minority communities to challenge the long-standing stereotypes and political and social practices that have contributed to the marginalization of these cultures.