A New Translation of The Persians Reinvents the Chorus
General translation
Thursday, March 27, 2008
By Charles Donelan
Modern versions of ancient Greek tragedy face many obstacles on their way to potential aesthetic success. When DIJO Productions and Virtual Theatre Company open a new version of the world’s oldest play tonight at Victoria Hall, they will be up against perhaps the toughest of all of them: what to do with the chorus?
...[Ellen] McLaughlin took on the task of translating this ancient play for the modern theater. The result is a script that thoroughly re-imagines the choral parts, allowing for individual voices to emerge from, and character development to take place within, the massed group of 13 men who will take the stage to play this collective role at Victoria Hall.