Well for Homers Odyssey there are translations existent, but maybe not in
any language, so this should not be our "main" problem at the moment. What
we also have to think of is
play is scheduled to last 1 hour (!)
transport of audio data is still problematic via the Internetlines
so I would suggest to have as less dialogs as possible (what a silly
sentence but I am sure that you understand me)
You have to know that I am a purist :-) which means that I always vote for
clear, simple, plain ....whatever way to express and show things.
I do not know yet how we can tell a story by our reduced means of directing
AND by reduced use of dialogs. Part of our process will be I fear that we
have to think of an preinformed audience (like greek audience was !) ->
people that have and idea of what happened at island of polyphem, they
already heard or read about it ....
I just wanted to bring this problematic in here because I know that you,
Lee are working a lot with developing the stories through dialogs. - Lee
has a great way of drawing a picture of relationship between the
protagonists, through their way of communicating (I only read some of his
works, unfortunately never saw it staged yet) -
so what to do here?
How many "words" can cyberaudience and audience watching the virtual actor
stand? I have no idea at the moment.
Oh, second thing is the use of the mother tongue. So do we expect the
audience to read the dialogs? I know that we will probably not make it
without the use of subtitles - the screens - but I am not very fond of this
idea, because it can easily look like a helpless try to tell our story.
Sorry I am drifting away with my thoughts, mixing text questions and
directing questions. I am just curious of the ideas Lee will bring up !
(btw. like the next paragraph here:
>To make it as easy on our translators as possible I am trying to retain the
>poetic quality of The Odyssey while keeping the structure relatively
>simple. Also, this is the epitome of a multi-media, multi-discipline event
>so the text will be used as not only a way of telling the story but as a
>way to tie all of the disparate elements together into a grand entity.
>
Last time in MOO we already talked about Derek Walcott 's Odyssey play. I
am not through it yet, it is not easy to read for me. Part of it is that he
uses the modern language with the elements of Homers language
f.e.he uses Epithets (these are necessary for the hexameters, extra words
like rosy-fingered dawn and bright-eyed Athena
or what really made me laugh was the first entrance of Odysseus
(Odysseus steps forward, eating)
So the use of Similes or Repetitions are interesting as well, seen in the
context of modern language.
>>In Greek Tragedy there is the prolog of an actor (I think we don't have
that)
>
>Mon...great minds...I have already written a short prologue that serves to
>establish the story and introduce some of the techniques we are using.
>
:-)
ah, have you found out yet what to do with the gods? or are they not a part
of the text, are they only to include into direction thoughts?
>>than the choros comes in (Parodos - entrance song)
>
>Yes.
>
>>than comes what can be the Embolimon - song that can have no dramatic or
>>thematic relation to the play, if you can grab the poetik: its in 1456a
>>27-30 where he says that one should and sophokles had included the choros
>>into the plot, and Euripides in is late works didnt any more
>
>Since the choros will be in Greek and chosen in a random order I think
>their contributions to the play will be more dramatic and less thematic.
>Although there will be the conceptual contribution of having the
>cyberaudience participate.
>
>>well about the ending chorossong I am not sure.
>
>Not sure yet either but, as I said, I do think there should be some
>composition that comes at the end of the performance for credits and/or the
>audiences' exit.
I agree
>>in our case it may have a _happy end_ by the reunion of odysseus and
penelope.
>
>:nods
>
>Well, I better stop talking and start writing.
>
:-)
Mon
---------------------------------------------------- alles Theater
--------------
Monika Wunderer wunderer@st1hobel.phl.univie.ac.at
++ 43 (1) 892 35 20
http://st1hobel.phl.univie.ac.at/~wunderer/
http://iguwnext.tuwien.ac.at/~oudeis/
"Wenn das was ich liebe bloss in Australien waere. ...
Waehrend das, was ich suche", sagte Belacqua
und verfolgte, so moechte es beinah scheinen, seine eigenen Gedanken,
"nirgendwo ist, so weit ich sehen kann."
"Vobiscum", fluesterte Cappa, "hab' ich recht?"
(S. Beckett)