Thomas Worthington
DARE Project: Intertextuality in World Theatre: Sophocles Antigone and Contemporary International Re-Visioinings
Program(s) of Study: English
Project Supervisor: Marcia Blumberg
If this project sparks the interest of even just one person in the ancient play of Antigone, I would consider that a success. It highlights the major role art plays in human expression, how it can shape ideas, history, even the narrative of a nation.
Project Description:
This project focuses on Intertextuality in World Theatre using as an exemplar Sophocles' Antigone, a Greek Tragedy (5th century BCE) that resonates with urgent issues in the 21st Century. The ancient text has inspired modern and contemporary international re-visionings, which Adrienne Rich's defines thus: “the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering a text from a new critical direction." The undertaking analyzes intertextuality in specific theatrically re-visioned texts as well as in broad cultural and political contexts, varying specificities of time and place, aspects of race, class, gender, power differentials “percepticide,”(Diana Taylor’s term for willful evasion), as well as in an exploration of trauma in the plays. Wai Chee Dimock employs Einstein's phrase "relativity of simultaneity" and argues: "there cannot be a unified chronology for the entire globe and that space and time are not absolute givens but operational effects." How does this concept function in these intertextual relationships? The project interrogates philosophical, theatrical, formal, thematic, and theoretical issues. These international plays emphasize theatre as a dynamic medium that employs language and bodies in diverse stagings and contexts; they also empower spectators with a heightened awareness to see with fresh eyes.The Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) – Undergraduate enables our students to meaningfully engage in research projects supervised by LA&PS faculty members. Find out more about DARE.