| The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Tony Harrison |
| Characters | Apollo, Silenus, Hermes, Bernard Grenfell, Arthur Hunt, Kyllene, Satyrs |
| Date premiered | 12 July 1988 |
| Place premiered | Delphi, Greece |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | Ichneutae |
| Genre | Satyr play |
| Setting | Oxyrhynchus, Oxford, Ancient Greece |
The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus is a 1990 play by English poet and playwright Tony Harrison.[1][2] It is partially based on Ichneutae, a satyr play by the fifth-century BC Athenian dramatist Sophocles, which was found in fragments at the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus.[3][4][5]
In addition to its classical content, Harrison's play is also a dramatised account of the discovery of the papyrus fragments containing Sophocles' play by Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt.[6] The play had a one-performance première on 12 July 1988 in the ancient stadium of Delphi,[7] Greece with a follow-up performance at the Royal National Theatre two years later on 27 March 1990.[8][9][10][11] The 1988 premiere at Delphi starred Jack Shepherd as Grenfell, Barrie Rutter as Hunt and Juliet Stevenson in the role of the mountain nymph Kyllene.[12] No filming was allowed during the 1988 performance.[13] Before appearing on the stage in London the play also had a "homecoming" performance at Salt's Mill, a former textile mill, at Saltaire, Bradford. Additional performances were held at the Wharf Theatre, in Sydney, Australia in 1992 and the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in 1998. In January 2017 after nearly 30 years since first opening in London it returned to the Finborough Theatre.[14]
- ^ Peter Burian (2010). The Complete Euripides:Volume V: Medea and Other Plays. Oxford University Press. p. 395. ISBN 978-0-19-983092-3.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
The Guardianwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Martin Banham (13 May 2004). A History of Theatre in Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-139-45149-9.
- ^ Peter France (2000). "The" Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation. Oxford University Press. pp. 363–. ISBN 978-0-19-818359-4. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ Chris Baldick (2008). The Oxford dictionary of literary terms. Oxford University Press. pp. 299–300. ISBN 978-0-19-920827-2.
- ^ Sarah Annes Brown; Catherine Silverstone (2008). Tragedy in Transition. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 136–137. ISBN 978-0-470-69130-4.
- ^ Jefferson Hunter (2010). English Filming, English Writing. Indiana University Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-253-00414-7.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Ormand2012was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ John Russell Brown (2010). The Routledge Companion to Directors' Shakespeare. Taylor & Francis. p. 390. ISBN 978-0-203-93252-0.
- ^ Eurípides (2003). Heracles and Other Plays. Oxford University Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-19-283259-7.
- ^ Dirk Obbink; Richard Rutherford (2011). Culture in Pieces: Essays on Ancient Texts in Honour of Peter Parsons. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-19-929201-1.
- ^ "Venue Ancient Stadium of Delphi, Greece". Performance Database and Archive Catalogue. National Theatre. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ Oliver Taplin (1990). Greek fire. Cape. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-224-02683-3.
Here on 12 July 1988 the World Premiere of Tony Harrison's play The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus was mounted, a single performance at which all filming was forbidden...
- ^ "The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus, the Delphi text (1990)". APGRD.