Project objectives
Menander Redivivus aims to fill a long-standing gap in Classical Reception studies by offering a comprehensive examination of the reception of Menander in modern theatre. By identifying, collecting, categorizing, and making freely available online evidence of modern performances of his works, the project seeks to shed light on Menander’s contribution to theatre and its enduring influence on modern theatrical history. The project’s digital archive will serve as a valuable educational tool for university departments, drama schools, and high schools—most of which currently do not include Menander in their curricula.
The project’s key objectives are:
- Digital Archive: To create an open-access platform to present the project’s aims, activities, and objectives and communicate research findings to the scientific community and non-scientific audiences. The platform aims to catalogue productions of Menander’s comedies, enriched with comprehensive metadata, visual and audiovisual material, and resources for study, including bibliographic references, publications, and talks on the reception of Menander.
- Original Research: To produce new scholarly research that explores the reception, interpretation, and adaptation of Menander on the modern stage. The main research questions will explore the level of interest in Menandrean drama, its connection to each country’s historical, political, or socioeconomic context, and how gender differences affect this interest shedding light on the complex dynamics of cultural exchange and adaptation.
- Knowledge Dissemination: To promote the integration of digital humanities into ancient theatre studies and facilitate dialogue between academia and the dramatic arts. To uncover new insights on the modern theatrical productions of Menander’s works, shedding light on un underrepresented area of classical reception. To locate and identify instances of Menander’s influence on modern theatre and his position in the history of European theatre, from Roman comedy and commedia dell’arte to writers such as Shakespeare and Molière.
- Outreach and Engagement: To engage a wider audience through initiatives such as an International Conference, a Vodcast series, and an Edited Volume, making the study of Menander accessible and inspiring to scholars, students, and theatre practitioners alike.
- Collaboration and Networking: To foster international collaborations among scholars, theatre practitioners, and institutions, encouraging innovative approaches to the performance and study of Menandrean comedy with a focus on fragmentary plays.
