Greek tragedy is NUIG hit – and there’s more to come

Ancient Greek drama, with its emphasis on blood and guts and references to a myriad of pagan gods might seem light years away from our modern, technology-driven world, but a new production of Sophocles’ play, Electra, at NUIG’s Cube Theatre demonstrates how relevant these classic stories remain today.

This version of Electra was written by Frank McGuinness, the Donegal dramatist whose other plays include Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme, Carthaginians, and Dolly West’s Kitchen. He attended Monday’s production of Electra, which was part of the university’s Theatre Week. His version of Sophocles drama – based on the original, written around 410BC – was staged by students from NUIG’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, with the cast ranging from novices to more experienced actors.   
Afterwards, at an open question and answer session, Frank McGuinness explained the ongoing appeal of these ancient dramas.
“Greek tragedies got to the core of things and are quite shocking in their simplicity and directness,” he said. That was the reason they had survived as theatre.
“You learn from the Greeks, never lose the smell of blood from your writing.”
Frank McGuinness, who “has always been attracted to the combination of violence and intelligence,” told Monday’s audience that he was working on a new version of his one-woman show, The Match Box for the 2015 Galway Arts Festival drawing on Euripides’ tragedy, Hecuba. That story is about a woman who loses her family and sees her home – Troy – destroyed, and the impact it has on her.