Volume 5 - Number 3

From September through early December, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, in association with England's Royal Shakespeare Company, presented the world premiere of Tantalus, a cycle of 10 original Trojan War-related plays by British playwright John Barton. The Denver production, directed by Sir Peter Hall and Edward Hall, brought about two thirds of Barton's immense creation to the stage and featured some additional text by Colin Teevan. (The author's complete text has recently been published by Oberon Books.) Each performance cycle ran a little over 10 hours; most were spread over two or three days and included a catered meal in the Denver Center's elegant Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom.

At the request of the Denver Center, John Gibert of CU Classics organized two public events to provide an academic perspective on the production. On the morning of Sunday, October 29, the author of Tantalus and a panel of distinguished scholars of Greek drama and society gathered in the Ballroom for a round-table discussion, and from 1:00 to 7:00 the next day, a symposium entitled "Tantalus and the Greeks" offered 20-minute papers by each of the panelists and further discussion. The panel included John Barton, Deborah Boedeker (Brown), Paul Cartledge (Cambridge), Helene Foley (Columbia), John Gibert, Michael Kustow (Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company), Graham Ley (Exeter University), Sheila Murnaghan (University of Pennsylvania), and Rush Rehm (Stanford). The round-table discussion was moderated by Jim Symons of CU Boulder's Department of Theatre and Dance.

Noriko Tanaka Knox, Leslie and Woody Eaton and Peter Knox at the dinner honoring Tantalus symposium panelists.

By general consensus, the events were a resounding success. 600 people attended Sunday's round-table discussion, at which the panelists concentrated on aspects of the Denver production-of which most of them had at that point seen only two thirds! Topics included masks, costumes, the chorus, stylized acting, music, dance, lighting, and set design. Members of the audience offered perceptive comments and posed thorny questions for the experts. Local theater fans, teachers, and students took to the microphones, along with visitors from Chicago, Seattle, Boston, New York, and other cities across the country. Denver was the only North American venue for Tantalus, which will now tour the U.K., ending with a spring run in London, to be followed by two Greek engagements. A television production and a documentary are in the works.

Attendance at Monday's symposium was around 200-300, most of whom stayed for an elegant reception, hosted by Dean Peter Spear, following the 6-hour symposium. The panelists spoke under the headings "Ancient Drama, Modern Approaches," "Backgrounds in Greek Epic and Tragedy," and "Modern Adaptations and Re-Creations of Greek Drama." John Barton was scheduled to speak, along with his academic consultant Graham Ley and Michael Kustow, on a fourth panel, devoted to "The Making of Tantalus," but in the event he spoke about the Denver team's adaptation of his work early in the afternoon and then rose many more times throughout the day to respond to papers or field questions from the floor. He and all the symposiasts gave first-rate performances which kept the hardy audience coming back for more. Six of the papers are now available on the DCPA's Tantalus web site.

Representatives of the DCPA, which generously met most of the costs of the symposium and provided additional resources and assistance of the highest professional caliber, were pleased that the events generated an unprecedented level of public interest. The university and the department also benefited in several ways. Through a combination of subsidies provided by departments and other campus entities and complimentary and reduced tickets made available by the DCPA, a great many students were able to attend Tantalus, which was otherwise priced beyond their means. Grateful acknowledgment is due the DCPA and CU's College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Fund for Excellence (sponsors of the free round-table and symposium), as well as to CU's Departments of Theatre and Dance, French and Italian, and English, the Graduate School, the Farrand Residential Academic Program, and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. The Center for Humanities and the Arts partially subsidized faculty attendance through a generous grant. A gift by Ann Nichols made possible attendance by a large number of Classics majors and minors.

DCPA Chairman Donald R. Seawell

Another benefit to the department and the university, of course, was our association with the DCPA in such a grand and important theatrical event. (Tantalus was widely covered in venues like The New York Times, National Public Radio, and major British newspapers; 130 critics attended the official opening in October.) Peter Spear, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, expressed our appreciation eloquently while presenting DCPA Chairman Donald R. Seawell with a carved stone buffalo at Monday's reception. We hope that "Tantalus and the Greeks" will be the first of many such collaborations.

In addition to their public appearances, the distinguished academic guests had a chance to drop in on classes, visit with students and colleagues, and do a little hiking in the foothills near Boulder. We all enjoyed hosting them and getting to know them better. Finally, it should not go unmentioned that Tantalus gave the department an opportunity to thank some of our friends and benefactors. An elegant dinner for the symposiasts was sponsored by Noriko Tanaka Knox. On that occasion, we also had the privilege of hosting Leslie and Woody Eaton, whose generosity and dedication to CU have now been made known to all by the inscription of their name on the new Eaton Humanities Building, which houses the Classics Department among others. Also in attendance was the new President of the University of Colorado, Elizabeth Hoffman, whose public comments indicating that she is a strong supporter of Classics and the humanities in general have not escaped our notice. President Hoffman was accompanied by her husband Brian Binger. Leslie, Woody, Betsy, and Brian: we hope you had a good time, and we thank you for your work towards our common goals.