Ecumenica 3.1 - Ecumenica

Spring 2010

Letter from the Editor
Carolyn D. Roark

Feature: Romanization, Rebellion, and the Theatre of Ancient Palestine
Miriam Kammer

Abstract: Because so little is known about theatre in ancient Palestine, the subject offers scholars an attractive enigma. On the one hand, Roman theatres—along with aqueducts and the control and use of local building resources by Romans—in ancient Palestine suggest a kind of Romanization of the local inhabitants. Theatres, in this reading, are tools of colonization. Used for more than just plays, they were sites of political rallies, worship, and culture. On the other hand, Jewish participation in theatre, despite biblical prohibitions against mimesis, may be more complicated than previously assumed. This article, looking at both the physical environment and the use of the building as venue for entertainment and politics, examines what is known about the theatre at the city of Sepphoris in Galilee. The arguments surrounding the use of this theatre highlight the debate about how successful or not successful Romanization was in ancient Palestine.

Feature: Andromeda and the Beauty of the African Soul: Greek Tragedy and the Early Christian Fathers
Robert Brophy

Abstract: This article proposes two key notions to explain how modern productions can restore original interpretations of classical Greek dramas by acknowledging both the noble African as the original protagonists of these dramas and the African soul as an important site of struggle for the early Church fathers. First, the author proposes that Phaethon, Memnon, and Andromeda are, and have always been, African royalty by tracing their royal pedigree and progeny through archeology and literature. Second, the author shows how classically educated Church fathers upheld older nobler views of the African soul as truly beautiful through redemption by exploring their writings, taking Origen as a notable example. The article concludes that admirable blackness and African magnanimity can be reclaimed through contemporary staging as in The Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company’s workshop reading of Phaethon Son of the Sun.

Highlight: Unorthodox View: An Interview with Yisrael Campbell
Thomas Donnarumma

Profile: The Rockae, an adaptation of Euripides’s The Bacchae
Tom RobsonProfile: The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)
Cynthia M. SoRelleBook & Performance Reviews:

Wade Hollingshaus—Profanations, Giorgio Agamben
Steven Wood—The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith, Alan Wolfe
Guy Story Brown—The Henry VI Plays, Stuart Hampton-Reeves and Carol Chillington Butler
Kevin Wetmore—Equivocation, Geffen Playouse, Los Angeles, CA
James Brandon—All the Fame of Lofty Deeds, House Theatre, Chicago, IL.
Matthew Saltzberg—Let Me Down Easy, Second Stage Theatre, New York, NY
Rachel Steinberg—The Madonna Painter, Factory Theatre, Toronto, Canada