I will be delivering a lecture on the Hopkins campus on Tuesday. Here’s the information:

Spring 2011 Lattman Lecture Seminar
Tuesday, April 5
5:30 PM
Maryland 110, Johns Hopkins University

Dara Weinberg, Writing Seminars Department
Performing the Greek Chorus: A Focus on Polish Theater Practices

The choruses in the ancient Greek plays are notoriously problematic to stage. Directors, pressed for time, are often forced to shorten or cut these texts. A Polish theater company, Teatr Pieśń Kozła (Song of the Goat), has developed new, more effective techniques for approaching Greek choruses in rehearsal—physical and vocal exercises to increase the actor’s awareness of the ensemble. This presentation will address how Pieśń Kozła’s innovations can be applied to the problems faced in performing the Greek chorus, discuss the results of two case studies conducted with actors from the Single Carrot Theatre in Baltimore, and examine to what extent Polish rehearsal methods are practical for theaters in the United States.