Greek Tragedy on Radio

AN EAR FOR AN EYE: GREEK TRAGEDY ON RADIO by Natalie Anastasia Papoutsis A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Centre for Study of Drama University of Toronto © Copyright by Natalie Anastasia Papoutsis 2011 An Ear for an Eye: Greek Tragedy on Radio Natalie Anastasia Papoutsis Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Centre for Study of Drama University of Toronto 2011 Abstract An Ear for an Eye: Greek Tragedy on Radio examines the dramaturgical principles involved in the adaptation of Greek tragedies for production as radio dramas by considering the classical dramatic form’s representational ability through purely oral means and the effects of dramaturgical interventions. The inherent orality of these tragedies and Aristotle’s suggested limitation of spectacle ( opsis ) appears to make them eminently suitable for radio, a medium in which the visual dimension of plays is relegated entirely to the imagination through the agency of sound. Utilizing productions from Canadian and British national radio (where classical adaptations are both culturally mandated and technically practical) from the height of radio’s golden age to the present, this study demonstrates how producers adapted to the unique formal properties of radio. The appendices include annotated, chronological lists of 154 CBC and BBC productions that were identified in the course of research, providing a significant resource for future investigators. ii The dissertation first examines the proximate forces which shaped radio dramaturgy and radio listeners. Situating the emergence of radio in the context of modernity, Chapter One elucidates how audiences responded to radio’s return to orality within a visually-oriented culture. Chapter Two then analyses the specific perceptual and imaginative activity of individuals, considering how audiences experience acoustic space. I describe how the audience’s central position in the reception of radio drama is integral to the completion of the dramatic frame of radio. The second part of this dissertation addresses radiophonic dramaturgy and issues in representation. In Chapter Three, the didactic and nationalistic impetus for the adaptation of classics as radio plays is considered and the principles of radio adaptation are outlined. The final two chapters examine the formal properties of productions in adaptation through case studies to illustrate where the play’s inherent orality allows for ease in adaptation or where greater dramaturgical intervention is required. Chapter Four examines the construction of dramatic figures, music and song, the use of paratheatrical materials, and narrative strategies for the representation of action, space, and time. Chapter Five examines productions where greater dramaturgical intervention and innovation is in evidence, including the manipulation of perspective (in the CBC’s 2001 Medea ), the use of music to modernize setting (in the 1998 CBC-BBC co-production of The Trojan Women ), the use of experimental montage (in the BBC’s 1976 Ag ), the introduction of flashback sequences (in the CBC’s 1987 Antigone ), and solutions to the problem of what I term “dramaturgical erasure” (the inadvertent removal of silent figures from the perspectival field). iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I wish to thank my supervisor, Domenico Pietropaolo. His diverse experience and vast knowledge were invaluable to me as I developed this project, particularly as I contended with some of the more challenging aspects of an interdisciplinary study. His wisdom and encouragement sustained me in difficult times and his moral support and intellectual guidance were essential for this project’s completion. Thank you to my committee members, John H. Astington and Martin Revermann, who were exceedingly generous with their contributions and their time. Their insights and questions guided me in the development of my ideas and their enthusiasm for my project reminded me that I had something interesting to say. It was my great fortune to have such a remarkable committee. I also wish to thank Charlie Keil, who offered his mentorship and who gave me the opportunity to teach in the Cinema Studies department where I gained experience in the formal analysis of image and sound. I am grateful for the assistance of the librarians and technicians of the British Library Sound Archive, the BBC Written Archives Centre, the National Archives of Canada, the CBC Archives in Toronto, and the Stratford Festival Archives. Thank you to Gabriel Josipovici and Charles Tidler who kindly granted permission for extracts of their scripts to be included in this dissertation. In particular I want to thank Amanda Wrigley (Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama) for her help and friendship. This research could not have been completed without the assistance of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research (Heather McCallum Scholarship), the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama (Arthur Lindsey Fernie Research Fellowship), the University of iv Toronto School of Graduate Studies (Shane Baghai Fellowship in English Literature and additional travel grants), and Massey College (Frederick Hudd Award, Robertson Davies Award, and the Jack and Rita Catherall and Evelyn Catherall travel grant). Thank you to my friends at the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama and at Massey College for reading chapters, offering words of encouragement, and providing some welcome and entertaining distractions during this long journey (with a special thank you to the ladies of my band, Cherries on Top, and to Sarah Copland and Liora Zimmerman). I also wish to thank Christine Karcza and Togra Ghaemmaghami for their generous mentorship and unfailing support. I could not have persevered through this process without the love and support of my family, especially my loving parents, Chris and Tina Papoutsis, and my brother James. I can not find the words to express how important my parents are to me or how much their support means. They made many sacrifices so that their children could have an education and demonstrated great patience as we navigated degree after degree. This dissertation is as much theirs as it is mine. Mom and Dad, µε όλη την καρδιά µου, σας ευχαριστώ. v Table of Contents Title Page ............................................................................................................................. i Abstract............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents............................................................................................................... vi List of Appendices ............................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION: Remediating Tragedy for Radio .................................................... 1 PART ONE: Radio Reception in a Mediatized Culture .............................................. 21 1 An Ear for An Eye: Radio and Modern Orality ....................................................... 22 Radio Orality and Ancient Oral Forms.................................................................... 24 The Loss of Orality and the Rise of Visual and Tactile Media ............................... 41 Modernity and the Emergence of Radio .................................................................. 46 Mediatized Culture and the Experience of Radio.................................................... 56 2 Adjusting the Receiver: Audiences and the Experience of Radio Drama ............... 61 Defining the Radio Drama Frame............................................................................ 63 Imagined Space: Radio’s Stage ............................................................................... 79 The Role of the Audience ........................................................................................ 98 Reassessing “The Mind’s Eye” and a “Blind” Medium ........................................ 105 vi PART TWO: Radiophonic Dramaturgy and Representation.................................. 111 3 Invisible Presence: Adapting and Broadcasting Tragedy ...................................... 112 The Problem of Adaptation: The Status of the Cultural Product........................... 116 The Pleasure of Adaptation: Receiving Familiar Narratives ................................. 128 The Project of Adaptation: Programming “A National Theatre of the Air”.......... 133 The Principles of Adaptation: Radio Form and the Form of Tragedy................... 155 4 Narrative Orchestrations ........................................................................................ 176 Paratheatrical Framing........................................................................................... 179 Representing Action through Speech: Choruses, Messengers, Narrators.............. 192 Representing Action through Sound Effects: Performance Gestures.................... 208 Temporal Relations: Ellipses, Contraction, and Expansion................................... 219 Spatial Relations: Entrances, Exits, Asides, and Soliloquies................................. 227 Music and Song...................................................................................................... 240 Dramatic Figures...................................................................................................

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