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From Alpha to Omega Women: Ancient Greek Origins and Contemporary Re-visions

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Violent Women in Contemporary Theatres

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Abstract

In this chapter Taylor Porter probes the roots of violent women in tragedy and how some contemporary playwrights, directors, and actors have adapted these works. Beginning with the wellspring of Western literature, Greek myth and theatre, she appraises Medea, including an analysis of Deborah Warner’s production (2002); the myth of Philomele through Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Love of the Nightingale (1990); The Baachae; and Caryl Churchill and David Lan’s A Mouthful of Birds (1986) (based on The Baachae). In different ways, they embody the basic tropes of maternal violence, from evil monster to possessed psychotic. In a startling contemporary representation of Medea-like figures, Suzan-Lori Parks’s Red Letter Plays, In the Blood (1998) and Fucking A (2000), reveal the impact of structural violence on maternal violence, forcing us to consider our part in the mothers’ choices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Theatre, Illinois College, Jacksonville, IL, USA

    Nancy Taylor Porter

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  1. Nancy Taylor Porter
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Correspondence to Nancy Taylor Porter .

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Taylor Porter, N. (2017). From Alpha to Omega Women: Ancient Greek Origins and Contemporary Re-visions. In: Violent Women in Contemporary Theatres. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57006-8_3

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