Standard PDF - Randolph College

“Luckiest Classicist in the World”
Amy R. Cohen puts her own touch on Greek Play tradition
Amy R. Cohen will never forget
the first time she saw The Dell
and the College’s Greek Theatre. It
was a beautiful spring day, and she
was interviewing for her current
position as a classics professor.
As she gazed out at the facility
during a tour of campus, her jaw
dropped. “It was one of those ‘Oh
my God’ moments. They showed
me this amazing space and told
me about the Greek Play tradition.
I just couldn’t believe it.”
Eleven years later, Cohen is
still amazed. “I feel like the luckiest
classicist in the world,” Cohen said.
“I get to teach Greek, and I get a
real laboratory to work in, and I
have these fantastic students.”
The College’s first Greek Play
was produced in 1909 when Mabel
K. Whiteside led students in an all-
Greek production of Euripides’
Alcestis. She continued the
productions until her retirement in
1954. With Whiteside’s departure,
regular productions of the Greek
plays lapsed.
Shortly after Cohen arrived
on campus, she was asked to revive
the Greek Play. In 2000—46 years
after Whiteside’s last production—
Cohen and her students produced
Sophocles’ Antigone. “It was
immediately something our
current students took up,” Cohen
said. “They saw its value to the
history of the College, and at the
same time, they saw how they
could bring new life to it.”
Now, Cohen’s productions
have their own following and draw
hundreds of spectators, including
schoolchildren and alumnae. Her
plays are performed in English
and adhere to most of the original
Greek drama conventions,
including the use of masks,
which are designed and
created as they were during
ancient Greek times.
Betty Jo Hanna Harper
’50 performed in the chorus
of Whiteside’s productions
and has returned to see two
of Cohen’s productions.
“Miss Mabel wanted this
to continue, not only as a
College tradition, but as
a way of informing and
educating people who have
not had the advantage of
studying Greek drama. She
would be delighted,” Harper
said.
With a first scholars’
symposium scheduled for
October, Cohen’s dream of
showcasing the College’s
unique facility and program
is coming true. The
conference, which coincides with
the 2010 Greek Play, Euripides’
Hecuba, has attracted scholars,
graduate students, and theatre
professionals from around the
nation.
“I’m so proud of what we have
accomplished here,” Cohen said.
“Our students are well educated in
theatre and understand how
important these plays are to the
history of drama. We’ve also been
able to introduce the community
to the power of Greek drama. Every
time I go out to The Dell, I can feel
Miss Mabel. I know she would be
proud of what we are doing.”
this fall
Hecuba
by Euripides
in a new translation by
Jay Kardan and Laura-Gray Street
October 8–10, 2010
4 P.M.
For more information:
randolphcollege.edu/greekplay
(Above) Amy R. Cohen adjusts a mask used
in Randolph’s Greek Play.
3