Embodying Greek tragedy: phenomenological explorations of the suffering body in theory and practice

This thesis investigates the theoretical, practical and performative possibilities produced within the triangularity of phenomenology, Greek tragedy and contemporary dance theatre. The body constitutes the primal matter of all three disciplines privileging their co-examination in the post-dramatic mise-en-scène. Hence, the project proposes a model of dramaturgical analysis to establish a system of identification and facilitation of embodiment in performer training and theatre directing. The process is engaged with the suffering body in Greek tragedy and is evidenced by three body-centric performances. At the same time, it resists traditional logocentric approaches in order to unseal novel interpretive avenues. The case studies are developed upon the phenomenological theories of Edmund Husserl, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Drew Leder, treating the body as the nullpunkt of all perceptual experiences that are perpetually present in the ultimate here and now (Dolezal, 2009; Sokolowski, 2008). In this regard, the first performance, 'Prometheus Immobile' (2018), marks a practical examination of suffering that departs from stillness and confinement. Following a systematic analysis of Leder’s (1990) modes of disappearance, 'Bacchae in Absentia' (2019) explores consciousness in psychosomatic imprisonment, emphasising mental conditions as manifested ecstatically. Finally, the dance film 'Medea Inside' (2021) crystallises the essence of the phenomenological enquiry, reifying a visceral amalgamation of lived and performed realities of confinement in domestic and virtual environments. The filmed performance deploys the pregnant body as a reference to selfhood and alterity.