Seneca in Performance [Paperback]

The plays of Seneca the Younger, minister and philosopher under Nero, are today increasingly studied, appreciated and performed. Here, in twelve new papers from a distinguished international cast, scholars explore established questions, such as whether the plays were written for the stage, and newer topics such as the playwright's subtleties of characterisation, his relation to contemporary Roman spectacle and art - and the problems arising in translating him to modern text or stage.Introduction SENECA ON THE ANCIENT STAGE 1. Playing Seneca? - John G. Fitch2. Production of Seneca's Trojan Women, ancient? and modern - Elaine Fantham3. Location! Location! Location! Choral absence and theatrical space in the Troades - C.W. Marshall4. Nothing within which passeth show: Character and color in Senecan Tragedy - Brian S. HookCONTEMPORARY ROMAN SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON SENECA 5. A new look at Seneca's Phaedra - Hanna M. Roisman6. The spectacle of death in Seneca's Troades - Jo-Ann Shelton7. Grotesque vision: Seneca's Tragedies and Neronian art - Eric R. Varner8. Semper ego auditor tantum?: Performance and physical setting of Seneca's plays - George W.M. HarrisonMODERN TRANSLATION AND STAGING 9. Seneca and Chaucer: Translating both poetry and sense - Frederick Ahl10. Seneca's Trojan Women: Identity and survival in the aftermath of war - Gyllian Raby11. Putting Andromacha on stage: A performer's perspective - Katharina Volk12. Going for Baroque: Seneca and the English - Sander M. GoldbergBibliography IndexGeorge W.M. Harrison is the author of numerous papers on Roman literature, and was organiser of the 1998 conference on Senecan drama held in Cincinnati, Ohio.