Thursday, September 6, 2012

General Information

This page gives a little information, plus links to more information, about the NEH Summer Institute, "Roman Comedy in Performance," which ran from June 24th to July 20th, 2012, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

This Institute experimented with different types and choices in performance of selected scenes from Roman Comedy, and it produced twenty scenes, which can be found here on YouTube.  Specific posts for viewing individual scenes, and leaving comments or questions, conducting discussion, providing information about resources, teaching, staging productions, etc., are all listed in the menu on the right, as are other relevant post topics.

The co-directors were Sharon L. James and Timothy J. Moore.

Our page on the Institute's official website is here.

Sharon L. James is Associate Professor of Classics at UNC Chapel Hill.  She earned her doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, with a dissertation on parents and children in the Iliad, the Aeneid, and the Divine Comedy.  Since then her specialties have been in women and gender in antiquity, particularly in Roman love elegy and New Comedy.  She has published numerous articles in these fields.  Her book, Learned Girls and Male Persuasion: Gender and Reading in Roman Love Elegy was published by the University of California Press in 2003.  She has recently co-edited, with Professor Sheila Dillon, the Blackwell Companion to Women in the Ancient World (2012).  She regularly teaches courses in Roman Comedy, Latin poetry, and women in ancient Greece and Rome.  She is currently completing a large-scale study of women in Greek and Roman New Comedy.

Timothy J. Moore is John and Penelope Biggs Distinguished Professor of Classics and Department Chair of Classics at Washington University in St. Louis.  He has written many articles on a range of subjects, and is an expert on music in Roman Comedy.  His books include Music in Roman Comedy (Cambridge 2012),  Roman Theatre  (Cambridge 2012), The Theater of Plautus: Playing to the Audience (Austin 1998), and Artistry and Ideology: Livy's Vocabulary of Virtue (Frankfurt 1989).

Information about the Visiting Faculty Experts can be found here.

A general open thread can be found here.

News and publicity

This is the page for news, publicity, notices and information about staged performances.  Please let us know of any programs you're running!

Sharon is putting on a show-and-tell on Friday the 14th of September, in the Murphey Hall Auditorium on the UNC Chapel Hill campus.  Jeanne Neumann, Elizabeth Patterson, and Chris Woodworth will be there, to talk about their experiences in the Institute, their creative processes, and any classes or productions they're thinking about.

So what are you up to?  Post a comment and let us know!

Visiting faculty experts page

This is the page for the Visiting Faculty Experts to make comments.

Our cast of distinguished experts: Fred Franko, Mary-Kay Gamel, Sander Goldberg, Anne Groton, Toph Marshall, Amy Richlin, Niall Slater, and John Starks Jr.


Slapstick Pseudolus

This is the page for the slapstick Pseudolus, with an actual SlapStick!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

The slapstick Pseudolus stars Gian Giacomo Colli, Seth Jeppesen, Kenneth Molloy, Ada Palmer, and Dan Smith Jr.  The commedia dell'arte masks are Gian Giacomo's.

The video is embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video text also has the link to this page.




 Check out the changing scarves and masks, and the quick-change moves of the cast!



YouTube video here.





Pseudolus, the Hip-Hopera

This is the page for Hip-Hop version of Pseudolus!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

This hip-hopera stars Steve Earnest, Patrick Gray, Jim Hanson, Sophie Klein, and Nancy Sultan.  Extras: Christopher Bungard, Mike Lippman, Dan Smith Jr.  Percussion: Chris Bungard, Tim Moore.  Recorder: Ada Palmer.

The video is embedded here, and the link will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video text also has the link to this page.



 Check out how hard poor Ballio has to work to control and terrorize his crew!


YouTube video here.

All-Female Pseudolus

This is the page for the all-female "Drag Kings" Pseudolus group!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

The Drag Kings performance stars Mimi Kammer, Jeanne Neumann, Elizabeth Patterson, Meredith Safran, and Christine Woodworth.  Extras: Amy Cohen, Angela Horchem, Sophie Klein, Erin Moodie, Nancy Sultan.

The video is embedded here, and the link will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video text also has the link to this page.



YouTube link here.

Check out Mimi's padding, and how Chris and Jeanne are wearing shorts that almost match the wall.  And how about the problematic nomenclature for baked goods?!

Commedia Pseudolus Performance

This is the page for the commedia dell'arte version of the Ballio canticum in Pseudolus!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.


This performance stars Amy Cohen, Angela Horchem, Laura Lippman, Mike Lippman, and Erin Moodie.

The masks were made by Angela Horchem.

The video is embedded here, and the link will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video text also has the link to this page.

Watch the heavily padded Angela bounce and roll—she makes a pretty scary Ballia, doesn't she?


YouTube link here.

Pseudolus All-Male, in Latin

This is the page for Pseudolus A, the all-male Latin group!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

Pseudolus A stars Christopher Bungard, Mark Damen, Michael Katchmer, Daniel Walin, and Tarik Wareh.  Extras: Jeanne Neumann, Sophie Klein, Erin Moodie, and Amy Cohen.

The video is embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video text also has the link to this page.
 
 
 
Check out how Mike Katchmer keeps going and going in Latin—what a performance!

And how about those "girls"—aren't they gorgeous?!

Truculentus

This is the page for Truculentus!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

Bacchides stars Jim Hanson, Michael Katchmer, Laura Lippman, and Meredith Safran.  Extras: Mike Lippman, Tim Moore.  For the Latin version, Tony Sprinkle performed clarinet music composed by T. H. M. Gellar-Goad.  For the English version, Angela Horchem performed on piano.

The videos are embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video texts also have the link to this page.  Tutoring in meter by the comedy/music guru Tim Moore!

The videos are embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video texts also have the link to this page.

Latin version—sing along with the cast!




English version—join us for melodrama!



Persa

This is the page for Persa!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

Persa stars Amy Cohen, Angela Horchem, Seth Jeppesen, Mimi Kammer, and Tarik Wareh.  Tony Sprinkle performed clarinet music composed by T. H. M. Gellar-Goad.

The video is embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video text also has the link to this page.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Mercator

This is the page for Mercator!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

Mercator stars Christine Woodworth, Christopher Bungard, Steve Earnest, and Dan Smith Jr.

The videos are embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video texts also have the link to this page.

 Version 1, in Latin



Version 2, in English: Dorippa is angry! (How smug does Lysimachus look?!)



Version 3, in English: Dorippa is distraught



So: aside from the Latin version, what differences are there between these scenes?  Comment!  Ask questions!

Eunuchus

This is the page for Eunuchus!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

Eunuchus stars Sophie Klein, Erin Moodie, Mark Damen, and Kenneth Molloy.  Extras?  You bet: Seth Jeppesen, Amy Cohen, Tarik Wareh, Dan Smith Jr., and Chris Bungard, plus the voice of T. H. M. Gellar-Goad, in the Latin version.

The videos are embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video texts also have the link to this page.

This is the only scene from Terence performed during the Institute.  All three versions were performed in beautiful Gerrard Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  These versions are really different—all the way from ancient Rome to the modern sitcom.  Note that these performers all really traded off roles and parts—nobody plays the same role twice.  And they did it all in a single morning!

Eunuchus in Latin!



19th-century Eunuchus!




21st-century Eunuchus—the famous "Family Thais."



Comments, anybody?  Questions?  Post any time—but first: applause, please!

Casina Page

This is the page for Casina!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

Casina stars Elizabeth Patterson, Mike Lippman, Gian Giacomo Colli, and Nancy Sultan.


The videos are embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video texts also have the link to this page.

Casina version 1: Institute costumes & masks




Casina version 2: Institute costumes; Amy Cohen's tragic full-head masks




Casina version 3: the improv version!



Comments, anybody?  This group put on bravura performances, and literally rolled all over beautiful Gerrard Hall!


Bacchides Group Page

This is the page for Bacchides!  Please post comments, questions, discussion here.

Bacchides stars Jeanne Neumann, Patrick Gray, Daniel Walin, and Ada Palmer.  Tutoring in meter by the comedy/music guru Tim Moore!

The videos are embedded here, and the links will take you to YouTube, for the accompanying text and information.  The YouTube video texts also have the link to this page.

Latin version




English, with masks



English without masks



Sharon and Tim think these performances are fabulous!

Open Thread, 9/5/12

This post is an open thread—please feel free to add comments, questions, anything.  This is the place to start putting in your observations and responses to the videos.  There have been almost 750 views, in 4 days! People in Finland, Norway, Ireland, Iran, South Korea, Vietnam, Greece, Argentina, Spain, and other nations, have been tuning in to check out the scenes. 

What are you doing with your classes this semester?  Is anybody bringing masks into the classroom? Is anybody planning to stage a Roman comedy?  Chris Woodworth mentioned the idea of fringe festivals—any interest?

Comment away—this is the place to start sharing ideas, questions, resources, and to start our conversations.  



Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for the NEH Summer 2012 Institute, "Roman Comedy in Performance" (official website here).  We hope this site will be a place for further discussion of the Institute and its mission, a vehicle for sharing resources and ideas for teaching, performing, and staging Roman Comedy, and a general home for anybody interested in these subjects.  Please feel free to post comments, send queries, join conversations, help us to celebrate Roman Comedy, and spread the word about it.

Note that the NEH's principles of civility govern all conversation here: offensive material will be deleted by the site's administrators.

Click here to see the videotaped performances of the Institute.

The site is still under construction: over the next few days, we will be adding separate pages for each of the performance groups, with links to their posts on the Institute's official website.   These pages will be places to post comments, questions, follow-ups, and more.  Further pages will be added, as we go.