ATHENS IS at war and it is not winning. The best playwrights in Greece are dead. Morale in the city is low. The time is right for a hero to step forward.
Enter party god and wine lover Dionysus, and his meat head half-brother Heracles. They vow to go down to the underworld on a risky adventure to bring either Aeschylus or Euripides back from the dead so they can write new plays for Anthens, capture how the people feel, and bring them hope.
A perilous river journey, a gender-fluid playwright, a bunch of frogs, and two writers with enormous egos (and do not forget "a little jar of oil" ) will ensure this journey will be anything but easy.
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This is The Frogs by Aristophanes [pictured above] which will be staged by third year drama and theatre studies students at NUIG, starting this Thursday, March 10, up to Tuesday March 15 (excluding March 13 ) at 7pm, with a 1pm showing on March 16, at the university's O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance.
The play, first performed in 405 BCE, asks the questions: What is the function of Art? Can it uplift? Should it inspire? Should it speak to the everyday experience? What is the worth of art in times of crisis?
Alongside the students, the play also involves Marianne Kennedy (director ), Mike O’Halloran (technical and production ), Ella Daly (costume advisor ), James Riordan (physical theatre advisor ), and Dr Peter Kelly from Classics (dramaturgical advice ). The translation is by Kenneth McLeish, the Scottish born author and playwright.
For tickets go to https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-frogs-tickets-289452439037
