Radaptation : adapting ancient Greek tragedy in the twenty-first century

Abstract

This practice-led PhD examines the relationship between ancient tragedy and the contemporary moment from the dual perspective of playwright and critical commentator. The creative submission comprises three new plays, My Boy, Electricity and Fed, ‘radaptations’ of Euripides’ tragedies Medea, Electra and Hippolytus respectively. These are accompanied by a critical analysis of how new theatre writing employs and reconfigures theatrical conventions usually associated with ancient Greek tragedy. This analysis focuses upon adaptations of Medea produced between 1996 and 2015 in the UK and Ireland, and includes discussion of plays written by Mike Bartlett, Marina Carr, Rachel Cusk, Liz Lochhead and Simon Stephens. It examines how these contemporary plays rework ancient form to revision the tragedy of Medea, with particular focus on the issues raised by the conventions of chorus, mask and messenger speech. This analysis considers what these conventions signify in the twenty-first century and how playwrights have responded to the creative opportunities they offer. The thesis reflects upon my own critical and creative findings, drawing on research by James Barrett, Helen Eastman, Simon Goldhill, Edith Hall, Fiona Macintosh and David Wiles, among others, in order to present a consideration of the relationship between the classical world in which Greek tragedies were originally created, and the context in which contemporary playwrights are now working