Classical Week returns to MSU with Sept. 22-23 performances of ‘Dyskolos’
Contact: Carl Smith
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Classical Week, ɫƵ’s annual celebration of Greco-Roman art and culture, returns next week, highlighted by performances of the Greek comedy “Dyskolos” on Sept. 22 and 23.
Free and open to the public, doors open at 6 p.m. each night for the 6:30 p.m. performances at Lee Hall’s Bettersworth Auditorium. After each showing, the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College will kick off its yearly Orators Lecture Series with short discussions on humor and satire led by Eric Vivier, associate professor of English and honors college faculty fellow.
“Classical Week is our signature fall event, bringing together Shackouls Honors College students from many different academic majors and helping us build our community,” said Tommy Anderson, Shackouls Honors College dean. “As a land-grant institution, MSU is committed to elevating the performing arts and supporting experiential learning. It’s simply amazing what our students do in such a short time.”
Also known as “Old Cantankerous,” “Dyskolos” is the only surviving play in nearly complete form by Menander, the defining voice of ancient Greek new comedy, and was first performed more than 2,300 years ago. Set in a small Greek farming village, the play centers around the lives of a bad-tempered old man, his beautiful daughter, a rich young nobleman, various family members and their witty servants, all of whom are orchestrated by the god Pan. Modern audiences find Menander surprisingly contemporary: His characters wrestles with family tensions, stubborn personalities, unexpected love and the messy-but-joyful business of being human through love, intrigue and redemption.
“Dyskolos” is directed by Donna Clevinger, senior Shackouls Honors College faculty fellow and professor in the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre. The production features 29 students majoring in a variety of subjects across campus and represents an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Shackouls Honors College and MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design. Two grants—one from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South’s Committee for the Promotion of Latin and another from the Society for Classical Studies for Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities—are helping fund the performance.
“I am thrilled to have both of these organizations supporting the fine work the Classical Week production brings to the university and to our community in this its 15th consecutive year of presentations,” Clevinger said.
This is the nineth year the honors college has sponsored the Orators Lecture Series. Held three times each academic year, the program invites speakers from various disciplines to engage and enrich the campus and local communities through public forums, panel discussions, seminars, course work, research and public lectures. This year’s theme is “Comedy, Community and Coping: From laughter to resilience for your mind, body and soul.”
For information, contact Clevinger at 662-325-2522 or dclevinger@honors.msstate.edu.
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