Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great Greek drama in five acts by Christian Lanciai. Preface. The most dramatic element in the story of Alexander is the dramatic changes in his character and personality. That’s chiefly what tempted me to work out the drama in order to that way get closer to his person and understand it better, after having associated with and studied the subject from 1969 to 1992, when this was written. Why then a ”classical” drama? The future and development of the real theatre has been questioned, and many suggest that it even is dying and outgrown by film and TV. No factor has been more important for the decline of the art of the theatre, however, than all abortive experiments to find new ways and forms in the direction of avant-garde and modernism. Modern inventive and altering interpretations can never do justice to a Greek or Shakespeare drama. Classic dramas need appropriate costumes and settings required by their historical context to achieve a convincing effect, which is and remains the real art of the theatre, which relies first of all on the spoken word. Menial to this true art of the theatre is corruption of the language, deleting of texts, sloppy scenography and careless diction above all. My opinion is that nothing is more important in the theatrical art than the language, which only can be made understandable by meticulous diction. In order to facilitate this the ancient Greeks invented verse, which made it easier for the actors to learn the texts and more pleasing to the audience to listen to them by the rhythmic delivery. The Alexander saga is really more epic than dramatic, a factor that must emerge clearly in an effort at a dramatization like this, why some speeches might appear long and tedious. It was tempting to add a chorus between certain scenes (like in Shakespeare’s “Henry V”) to further highlight the epic character, but I dared not go that far – Alexander himself died to keep his story on a human level and refrained 1