Item Response #1 – Due 2/18

Your assignment is to find an archival document or item relating to ancient theater in any of the traditions that we’ve studied so far: Egyptian, Greek, Mesoamerican, or ancient Persian (for the purposes of this assignment, medieval Christian liturgical drama will not be included, as it did not take place in the ancient world).

First, find an item to analyze. An item can be a photograph of something from one of these ancient traditions, a drawing or building plan, or anything else that relates to these performance traditions. Please choose something ancient and not modern (i.e. no photographs of a 2012 staging of Oedipus). You can find such items on the following two online archives, or you can find something on your own:
1. The Ancient Theater Archive (primarily material about ancient theater buildings)
2. The NYPL digital collections (search for “ancient theater” or “Greek theater,” etc.)

Once you have found your object, please email it to me or bring a printout to class on Tuesday.

Your next step is to analyze the item. What is it that you found? What details can you observe about it? What does this item tell us about theater in the ancient world? See this handout for more questions you might ask of an archival document.

Then, write about it. Your paper should be 2-3 double-spaced, typed pages and should contextualize your item in its historical and theatrical context based on your observations and the readings (not on outside research). You will be assessed on how well you contextualize the object and how carefully and thoughtfully you’ve examined it.

Please include a printout of the object with your paper, as well as information about where you found it.