Ancient Greece: the greatest show on earth
One of the masks used for the Frog chorus in the King's production of Aristophanes Frogs in the 1980s has taken the leap from a dusty cabinet in the Classics department to star in a BBC documentary about ancient theatre.
Ancient Greece: the greatest show on earth is a three-part BBC 4 documentary presented by Dr Michael Scott (michaelscottweb.com). The first episode aired at 9pm on Tuesday 27th August and featured interviews with King’s Professor Edith Hall and Dr Rosie Wyles. To view the episode, click here.
The Frog mask offered a focal point in the discussion of ancient comedy on the documentary, bringing to life the suggestion that comedies were visually impressive and fantastical in content. This Frog is, in fact, already of international renown following the American tour of the King's Greek play in 1988; for more information about the production, check out the archive. This recent media appearance, however, has won the Frog further fame and twitter admiration as tweets have hailed him 'Splendid' and 'Great'.
The King’s annual Greek play has seen students performing ancient drama and learning their lines in the original Greek (!) for over sixty years. The next Greek play will be directed by second-year Classics student Rosa Wicks who has chosen to produce a comedy, Aristophanes Wasps. She says, ‘This satirical comedy which mocks the institution of the law-courts in ancient Athens all sounds a rather serious affair, but, despite the political backdrop, the play is jam-packed with crude and hilarious humour, and a witty critique of contemporary Athenian morals.’ Aristophanes Wasps will be showing (in the original Greek with English surtitles) from 12-14 February 2014.
Meanwhile Professor Hall and Dr Wyles will also be launching the initiative Ancient Theatre at King's (ATAK) this year. The initiative will include workshops and talks open to the public. Already scheduled for 2014: 28th February ‘Greek Theatre, Landscape and Environment’ workshop (organized by Dr Emmanuela Bakola) and 22nd May Centre for Hellenic Studies 25th anniversary lecture ‘Why Greek tragedy still matters’ given by the acclaimed Irish playwright Frank McGuinness.