Tragic Space in Site-Specific Productions of Aeschylean Tragedies: Prometheus Bound (2010) by Terzopoulos and The Persians (2010) by Pearson

Περίληψη

Our aim is to analyze the notion of tragic space, using as examples two site-specific performances based on Aeschylean tragedies, both staged in 2010: Mike Pearson’s The Persians, and Theodoros Terzopoulos’ Prometheus Bound. In both cases, the tragedy was chosen in the context of highlighting specific historical sites. We will examine these performing spaces and the extent to which they are used to highlight, in turn, the textual tragic spaces. To better understand how the notion of a tragic space can intermingle with the dramatic and theatrical space, we look into the groundbreaking works of Foucault, Wiles, etc. Moreover, our method’s tools are the recent studies on the branches of the theatre space and theatre topology, as well as site-specific theory. One of the most important site-specific principles, also used for our selection of the Aeschylean productions, is the differentiation of Transforming and Augmenting Found Space (Bowditch, 2018). More specifically, we have two main types of space: those that are transformed for the sake of the staging idea and those spaces that are utilised in order to preserve their image as it is, which include spaces that are similar to the one in which the action of the play is set, e.g. an Elizabethan palace for a presentation of a Shakespearean play. In our chosen productions, even these barriers are turned down, showing the spiral of tragic space.