What are the most 'Epic' theatrical works ever? That is a difficult question to answer. When I say theatre what comes to mind? Do you think of Phantom of the Opera? Or do you think of Romeo & Juliet?
At a young age I got involved in drama. The first play I ever did was Tom Sawyer, and I was cast as the lead. I don't remember very much about it anymore, but I do remember a time getting off my school bus realizing that I didn't know my lines. I was so nervous! I wasn't sure if I could pull it off.
Somehow I did though, and it was the first of many productions I would work on in my childhood. My favourite class was always Drama, and when Middle School offered a brand new drama space I ate it up! A mentor came alone in my life, who would teach me so much about what it means to be creative, intellectual, dramatic.
It was the same teacher in fact, who introduced me to Ask Jeeves. So for me, theatre and technology have always gone hand in hand. From basic dimmer switches in a middle school drama room, to an 80,000 fully automatic sound mixer at the College I attended, theatre needs technology.
The purpose of this series is to explore Theatrical works like never before. In High School when I designed Darkflame Studios I knew there would come a time when we could collaborate and sort through the best works of the past, and find the best stories to share for the future!
Now is that time, so here is how we can proceed!
#TheatreEpics Patron Menu
Genres | Plays&Musicals | ListsOfPlays
Help me discover
the best stories ever written! Investigate with me the #TheatreEpics that have almost been forgotten!
At Darkflame Studios I have always aspired to set a new standard for theatre and reinvent the most ancient storytelling form.
Works Lost
Plutarch's Parallel Lives, written at the end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd century AD, describes the Siege of Alexandria in which Caesar was forced to burn his own ships:
"when the enemy endeavored to cut off his communication by sea, he was forced to divert that danger by setting fire to his own ships, which, after burning the docks, thence spread on and destroyed the great library." — Plutarch, Life of Caesar
"The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world and part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion. Despite the widespread modern myth that the library was "burned" once and cataclysmically destroyed, the library actually declined gradually over the course of roughly 800 years, starting with the purging of intellectuals from Alexandria in 145 BC during the reign of Ptolemy VIII Physcon, which resulted in Aristarchus of Samothrace, the last recorded head librarian, resigning from his position and exiling himself to Cyprus. The library was accidentally burned by Julius Caesar during his civil war in 48 BC, but it is unclear how much of the library was actually destroyed and it may have been rebuilt shortly thereafter."
I often worry
That even though we have all this technology, we would once again lost all the knowledge of the past. As we all know, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes if we do not learn. The whole reason for storytelling was that in order to pass knowledge down from generation to generation it had to be spoken word, in mythological form that could be remembered.
Around a fire
The wisdom was shared and at a few select times in our history, we have been able to use theatre and performance to educate many people. Today we use Netflix and YouTube. Old people still watch Television but whatever you choose, its all the same. Storytelling, so let us not forget the best stories.
#TheatreEpics Patron Menu
Genres | Plays&Musicals | ListsOfPlays
Greek Playwrights | Greek Plays | Top 100 Stage Plays
- Browse these links, and discover something new!
- Read the story, learn as much as you can.
- Write a Steem post about it to teach us!
- Tag with #TheatreEpics and conclude by;
- Pasting the link in the comments of any @Darkflame post !
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Anyone can #TheatreEpics posts every day, contribute ideas to the network, upvote great Authors, and Donate daily to help fund Darkflame Studios theatre! Become part of the Production season even if you are not local.
TheatreEpics 001 - Aristophanes
First I want to talk about Aristophanes, the Prince of Comedy in ancient Athens.
Art imitates life, and it says that he was able to "recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author"! Perhaps today he could have been a writer on The Simpsons! He may even have been partially responsible for the death of Socrates by turning public opinion.
He said ""In my opinion, the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all."
Only 11/40 of his plays survive virtually complete.
We only have 27% of Old Comedy. We are missing almost all of the joke!
Aristophanes (c. 446-388 BCE)
The Acharnians (425 BCE)
The Knights (424 BCE)
The Clouds (423 BCE)
The Wasps (422 BCE)
Peace (421 BCE)
The Birds (414 BCE)
Lysistrata (411 BCE)
Thesmophoriazusae (c. 411 BCE)
The Frogs (405 BCE)
Assemblywomen (c. 392 BCE)
Plutus (388 BCE)
In my next #TheatreEpics post
I will begin to explore these comedies! If you would like to help, start at the bottom of the list so I don't read The Acharnians for nothing! Haha. There are so many plays, feel free to start anywhere.
The Acharnians "The protagonist, Dikaiopolis, miraculously obtains a private peace treaty with The Spartans and he enjoys the benefits of peace in spite of opposition from some of his fellow Athenians."
https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/files/The_Acharnians.pdf
