Chapter 8 - Technology, Media, and Intermediality in Contemporary Adaptations of Greek Tragedy

Summary

This chapter addresses the use of technological media in contemporary adaptations of Greek tragedies that have used the form, narratives, and cultural cachet of Greek tragedy to create work that engages spectators in examinations of human culture and behavior which have deep historical and emotional resonance, even when the productions themselves are destabilising and sometimes undermining the cultural position of their ancient Greek referents. The approaches span a large gamut from the use of video as scenography to the immersion of the audience in theatrical landscapes fragmented through media. Central to the discussion are artists such the Wooster Group, Jay Scheib, John Jesurun, and Jan Fabre, who use technology to create intermedial effects that express and interrogate the relationship of media to contemporary culture and representation. These works manage to encapsulate the rapidly changing modes of discourse, both live and mediated, and the ever-increasing problematics of representation in a media-saturated world.