Weber State University is hosting a week of all things Greek, with the Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church’s food festival right in the middle.

Organizers are encouraging folks to head over to the Greek Community Center this weekend to fill their bellies with traditional fare, and then spend some time on campus Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday enjoying classical Greek theater.

The week culminates with a performance of Euripides’ “Iphigenia in Tauris” by the Classical Greek Theatre Festival, a traveling performing group based out of Westminster College, on Wednesday night.

When Caril Jennings took over marketing the Classical Greek Theatre Festival’s annual appearance at WSU 14 years ago, she asked herself, “Why should the guest performers have all the fun?”

Instead of just hosting the performance each year, Jennings decided to turn the event into a series of events including panel discussions and lectures from a variety of perspectives.

“This is a way for me to make connections with other disciplines across campus,” said Jennings, who is WSU’s performing arts marketing director. Over the years, she has invited professors from sociology, health, nursing, botany, zoology, musical theater, dance, history, English and psychology to participate.

Jennings said she uses the plays to connect with departments she wouldn’t normally work with. For example, as part of this year’s festival, David Ferro, dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology, gave a lecture earlier this week.

The topic was the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered from a shipwreck in 1900, but its complexity was not understood until the 1950s.

Ferro talked about the significance of this archaeological discovery, believed to have been constructed between 150 B.C. and 100 B.C., near the Greek island of Antikythera. This is important to his computer science students in understanding that human beings have been trying to invent computers for thousands of years, and it also ties into the time period and geographic location of classical Greek theater.

“All of the presenters have a love for the topic they are presenting on,” Jennings said. “It’s more than publicizing the event, it’s using it as an educational tool.”

Jennings believes Greek theater is an important educational tool in itself, backing up her words with a reminder that Greek and Roman history were once the foundation of a classical education.

Euripedes’ women

According to Jennifer Kokai, assistant professor in the department of performing arts, modern-day events are reflected in these ancient plays.

Kokai, a new staff member at WSU who has an educational background in theater history, is presenting the lecture “Swearing, Seducing and Other Problems With Euripides’ Women,” in the Wildcat Theatre at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

Euripides, she explained, is the latest of the Greek playwrights, and his work has troubled many people because of his morally problematic characters.

Kokai will highlight the women from his works “Medea,” “Hippolytus” and “The Bacchae.”

In these plays, Euripides humanizes his characters and reveals their motives in a style that sets him apart from his tragedian counterparts Aeschylus and Sophocles, who portrayed women as the ideal — caretakers of the home who were seen and not heard — or as villains with no explanation behind their actions.

In “The Bacchae,” the women have fallen under a spell and run off into the woods where they are dressing immodestly and drinking.

The main character, Medea, in the play of the same name, murders her children — and the female character in “Hippolytus” is placed under a spell by the gods that makes her fall in love with her stepson.

These are shocking themes, but Kokai said they are likely extreme versions of things that were really happening at the time. Greece was involved in a drawn-out war and the men had been gone for a long time.

“If you look at the cultural context, it gives a better understanding to Euripides’ characters’ extreme behavior. He gives his characters good reasons for their actions,” Kokai said.

‘Wealth,’ then and now

On Tuesday, Greek Readers Theatre, with a cast from WSU faculty, staff, students and some members of the community, presents “Wealth” by Aristophanes.

This political satire, at 1:30 p.m., looks at the unequal distribution of wealth.

“Every year, we see a current topic reflected in a play written 2,300 years ago,” Jennings said.

A poor, virtuous man wonders why horrible people are rich and sets out to try to fix the situation, turning the world upside down in the process.

Jennings said that the personalities in the play are the same as individuals we recognize today.

She also warned: “Greek comedies are vulgar, full of sexual innuendo and crass language.”

The main event

On Wednesday, the festival comes to its featured event, an evening performance of “Iphigenia in Taurius” by Euripides, at 7:30 p.m. in the Wildcat Theatre in the Shepherd Union Building. Tickets are required ($8-$11).

At 6:30 p.m., one hour prior to the performance, Jim Svendsen, artistic director of the Classical Greek Theatre Festival, will present a slideshow and lecture to help set the stage and give context to the story. He explains what was happening historically at the time and helps audience members gain an ancient Greek point of view.

Though it is considered a classic Greek tragedy, it appears more like a comedy or Shakespearean romance. “It is an odd plot for a Greek tragedy,” Svendsen said.

In the tale, it is revealed that Iphigenia was not sacrificed at the hands of her father as the audience was led to believe in an earlier production. Instead, she was rescued by the goddess Artemis and forced to take part in human sacrifices. The story leads to her brother being brought to the altar to be sacrificed, and then takes on a Hitchcockian thriller feel as the brother and sister recognize each other and plot their escape.

Svendsen said that there are many elements in the story that the audience will relate to. First, it is a story of justice and revenge, “topics we all love,” he said.

Second, it is a good coming-of-age story about two 18-year-olds and a girl in her twenties, all of whom search for meaning and find their true selves in a chaotic world.

Third, it reinforces the patriotic values that bind people to their home country. The lead characters are separated from Greece and long for old-world values such as justice, piety, wisdom, moderation and hospitality.

It is also a play about a dysfunctional family, one that specializes in lies, deception and the killing of children. And, finally, it is a love story. More specifically, a story about “brotherhood” or “friendship” — a kind of love that can sometimes be the strongest of all.

Svendsen is one of the founders of the Classic Greek Theatre Festival, now in its 41st year.

After 40 years of operating out of the University of Utah, the festival recently relocated to Westminster College. This move allows for open auditions to university students and members of the community.

Svendsen said one component of the CGTF mission statement is that Greek drama, like Shakespearean drama, has much to offer modern audiences.

The plays have great characters, interesting plots and lots of ideas to think about, he said. “And, I think people like ideas. They like to debate topics,” Svendsen added.

Schedule of Events

• 10 a.m.-10 p.m today and Saturday — Enjoy traditional Greek food at the Greek Community Center, 674 42nd St., South Ogden. This is the annual fundraiser for the Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church. Food is sold a la carte for $2-$6.
• 1:30 p.m. Monday — “Swearing, Seducing and Other Problems with Euripides’ Women.” Jennifer Kokai presents a 40-minute lecture, followed by a question-and-answer session. Hetzel-Hoellein (Special Collections) Room, Weber State University Stewart Library, on campus at 3848 Harrison Blvd, Ogden. Free.
• 1:30 p.m. Tuesday — Greek Readers Theatre, Aristophanes’ “Wealth.” Mature themes, for adults only. Hetzel-Hoellein (Special Collections) Room, WSU Stewart Library. Free.
• 1:30 p.m. Wednesday – Panel discussion on Euripides. Hetzel-Hoellein (Special Collections) Room, WSU Stewart Library. Free.
• 6:30 p.m. Wednesday — Introductory lecture and slideshow by Jim Svendsen, Classical Greek Theatre Festival director, in the lobby outside WSU Wildcat Theatre in the Shepherd Union Building. Free to those who purchase tickets to the performance.
• 7:30 p.m. Wednesday — Performance of Euripides’ “Iphigenia in Tauris.” Wildcat Theatre, Shepherd Union Building. Tickets, $8-$11, available through the Dee Events Center box office, 1-800-WSU-TIKS or weberstatetickets.com. They can also be purchased at the door.

 

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