Welcome to the theatre! Since we're getting our Greek Theatre History on, welcome to "the seeing place!" That's the translation of theatron, the place to see and be seen in Ancient Greece. Imagine an enormous theatre, custom-built on a grassy hillside, holding some 15,000 playgoers. Performances lasted all day (think of it as a binge of Game of Greek Thrones). Plays were about identity--the human condition--and tragedies were like therapy for Athenians. They saw heroic characters struggle through epic situations and meet untimely ends, so that, by the curtain call, audiences were thinking, "Whew, there but for the grace of Dioynysus go I."
By contrast, our stage was originally built as an athletics training room, and we can squeeze in some 100 playgoers. Tonight's performance will last about 90 minutes. Next week, we take a trimmed-down version to our GHSA One-Act Play Competition where, like the Ancient Greeks, we will tell the tragedy of Eurydice & Orpheus in the hopes of achieving honor and glory.
Four years ago this week, we mounted our first production in this seeing place and the magic of storytelling hasn't stopped. We are delighted to welcome you into our modern-yet-ancient place to share this story. Thanks for seeing live theatre and seeing theatre live.
Take Wing,
Clark Taylor
Director of Theatre Arts
Performance Arts Instructor
