Greek Theatre Performance: An Introduction (review)

David Wiles opens his refreshing book with the question, "Does the new century need a new introduction to Greek theatre?" (1). Wiles acknowledges that classical Greece has not changed, but he argues that we have changed and that our assumptions and questions are no longer those that previous introductory texts explored. He attributes these differences in part to the rise of Performance Studies as an academic discipline and also to an increasingly globalized society in which ancient Greek theatre appears to have more in common with non-Western cultures than it has with Western theatre today.

Wiles's revitalizing approach is not only to examine the social and political context of theatrical performance in ancient Greek society but also to consider ways in which more contemporary performances of classical Greek plays can illuminate our understanding of performances in the past. Rather than focusing on the study of the extant plays or the writers whose works have survived, Wiles devotes only a short chapter, late in the book, to the role of the playwright. Instead, he begins with an intriguing analysis of the rise of tragedy and comedy within ancient Greek culture in the context of myth, ritual, politics, gender, and space.

In the chapters on myth and ritual, Wiles immediately focuses his study on performance rather than literature. He astutely points out that the ancient Greeks had no sacred texts and that myths were transmitted orally; thus, the function of playwright derived from that of storyteller. In ancient Greece, religion was about performing acts to please the gods, which included rituals of supplication, purification, funeral practice, and prayer; by offering pertinent examples from the plays, Wiles illustrates how these ritual acts are embedded within the tragedies and form the central elements of the plots.

The chapters on politics, gender, and space examine theatrical performance in relation to the structure of Greek society. As Wiles mentions, it is no coincidence that tragedy and democracy arose simultaneously, as both insist on the responsibility of the individual within society. Performance in the chorus of a tragedy was both an honor and a duty for young men, and Wiles theorizes that choral performance may have been a rite of passage for young Greek males. In addition, he relates the historical background of Athenian democracy and discusses the importance of rhetoric in Greek politics, using examples from the tragedies to highlight the political content of the plays. The chapter on gender explores the roles of women as worshippers in rituals and as public mourners in funeral ceremonies, and Wiles includes a brief introduction to feminist critical approaches to the study of classical theatre. The chapter on space incorporates ideas from an earlier book (Tragedy in Athens, 1997) on the relationship of performance space to Athenian tragedy and includes an informative discussion of the Greek world and the cities that provide the settings for the tragedies. Wiles's thought-provoking examination of performance space illustrates how Greek theatrical spaces enabled audience interaction in ways that more modern proscenium spaces are unable to facilitate.

The first half of the book serves as background for what Wiles cannily claims is the core of his study, the chapter that concerns the performer. Here the book comes alive with Wiles's use of the Pronomos vase to enlighten our understanding of the performers in classical theatre. As he points out, recognizing the primary role of the chorus as dancers helps in clarifying the structure of the plays and the structure of the performance space. His diagrams of dance formations and rhythmical patterns in conjunction with a brief account of the work of Jacques Lecoq shed light on this aspect of classical performance. His discussion of the functions of the chorus points to probable expectations and responses of Greek audiences. The inclusion of a section on the aulos-player is brief but remarkable and focuses on the use of the instrument to highlight emotion...