Divine Fire: Eight Contemporary Plays Inspired by the Greeks by Caridad Svich
This anthology of eight plays brings together contemporary, radical-reinventions of various classic ancient Greek dramatic texts written by some of the most daring theatre artists of today. Included in this volume are revisionist retellings of Troy Women, Phaedra, Elektra and more. Each retelling is given a fresh, modern spin, yet each manages to remain true to the original plays themes and essence. All of these plays have been performed in theatres around the US and UK. LIST OF PLAYS Phaedra by Matthew Maguire - an intense and erotic present-day story inspired by an Ancient Greek myth and "a response" to the classic French drama by Jean Baptiste Racine. Troy Women by Karen Hartman - an adaptation of Euripides' verse play, "The Trojan Women," in a contemporary poetic style Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl - a of the ancient Greek myth, told from the point of view of Eurydice. At the Chicago premier, the Chicago Tribune said the following, "Full of twists...Sarah Ruhl is a big talent." True Love by Charles Mee - based on The Suppliant Women by Aeschylus, playwright Mee creates an explosively theatrical hybrid, the vaudevillian tragicomedy. True Love is inspired by an improbable combination of three works: Plato's Symposium, Euripides' Hippolytus and Racine's Phaedra.