Please join us for this lecture on January 21st, at 7:30pm, in Angell Hall Auditorium C (435 S. State St, Ann Arbor, U-M Main Campus) by Pantelis Michelakis, University of Bristol, as he explores the work of Eva Palmer-Sikelianos. Below is the abstract for this talk provided by Professor Michelakis. On January 22nd, from 10-3pm, there will be a workshop on the life and work of Eva Palmer-Sikelianos. Please contact Sean Norton, spnorton@umich.edu, if you are interested in participating in this event, so that you may get the pre-circulated materials.

Pantelis Michelakis' Abstract for "Placing the Delphi Prometheus: Theatre, Cinema, Culture"

The Delphic Festivals of 1927 and 1930, organised by the American director and choreographer Eva Palmer and the Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos, are a landmark in the twentieth-century reception of Greek tragedy. They had a vital role in legitimising the revival of Greek drama in archaeological sites around the Mediterranean, and exerted a seminal influence on the reinvention of Greek theatre as heritage, to be displayed for the benefit and education of modern audiences. The highlight of the first festival was a stage production of Aeschylus' Prometheus. The paper will focus attention on the film version of this production. It will be argued that the film is not simply a recording of the stage performance but an artistic product in its own right. Even though it is not the first film of Greek tragedy, as has sometimes been argued, it has an exciting history which testifies in a striking manner to the legacy of the Delphic Festivals.