Classics scholar praises Randolph’s Greek Play, director in Didaskalia

A scene from the 2018 Greek Play, Medea

A scholarly review of Randolph College’s 2018 Greek Play, Medea, was recently published in Didaskalia, a peer-reviewed, electronic journal dedicated to the study of all aspects of ancient Greek and Roman performance.

Written by A.C. Duncan, a classics professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the article thoroughly reviews the performance by Randolph students as well as the play’s timeliness and context in addressing social and political issues. It also praises the work of Amy R. Cohen, a classics professor and the Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William E. Thoresen Chair of Speech and Theatre, who directs and organizes the Greek Play and Center for Ancient Drama at Randolph.

Read the article in its entirety here.

Randolph’s Greek Play is one of the College’s longest-standing traditions. Greek professor Mabel K. Whiteside started it all in 1909 by producing Euripides’ Alcestis in Greek. She led her students in an annual production of a Greek Play from then until her retirement in 1954.

Beginning with the production of Sophocles’ Antigone in 2000, Cohen and her students have revived the tradition. The renewed series produces the plays mostly in English. In reviving the College tradition, the Randolph College Greek Play adheres to most of the original conventions that governed theatre in the time of the great tragedians, believing that the best plays will emerge from the conditions for which they were written.

Set in The Dell, the Randolph College Greek Play adheres to ancient conventions: three actors play all the roles; the Chorus—which sings and dances—remains on stage for most of the play; and the performers all wear masks.