In the center of the room, students adorned in togas and other traditional Roman attire address each other with language and phrases that seem somewhat out of place today. The vaulted ceiling echoes their every word.
After the voices recede, applause takes its place. It is not time travel, though. It is simply the students of the Shackouls Honors College at Mississippi State University in the midst of preparing for Classical Week 2022.
Classical Week, which is a celebration of Greek, Roman and other cultures of the ancient world, will see the students staging a production of “Phormio”, a Roman Comedy by Terence.
The cast and crew is made up of 13 students from the honors college, a majority of which are freshmen.
“The students have been wonderful in learning their lines and their staging quickly since we have had only a month to put the play together,” said Donna Clevinger, professor and senior faculty fellow at the honors college, and director of the play. “They are talented, fun to work with and represent a wide variety of majors across the campus.”
The casting for the play took place shortly before classes began, and rehearsals began immediately after.
Despite the tight schedule, the experience has been a positive one for the students involved.
“I am having a lot of fun at rehearsals,” said Alexander Ketzle, a freshman playing the titular role. “Phormio is such a hilarious character to play, and I think the audience will really enjoy that.”
Where Ketzle has four years of theater experience, Aaron Twietmeyer, also a freshman, has never worked on a play before.
He is the assistant director of the production.
“Putting together ‘Phormio’ has been an excellent experience,” he said. “I have never been a part of a theater production, so this process is all very new and exciting.”
There will be two performances, on Tuesday and Wednesday, both at 6 p.m. The play is free to attend and will be held in the Zacharias Village Courtyard on MSU’s campus unless it is raining, in which case it will be moved to Bettersworth Auditorium in Lee Hall.
The play revolves around two brothers, Demipho and Chremes, who live in Athens; each of them has a son, Antipho and Phaedria, respectively. The two return home from business trips to find things in disarray.
The sons fell in love with Phanium and Pamphila, while their fathers were away, and the family servant, Geta, recruited the titular Phormio to help.
According to Clevinger, little is known about the playwright’s (Terence) life. He wrote six comedies and died relatively young.
His plays were staged in Rome in the 160s BC, and each one was an adaptation of a comedy that had originally been written in Greek.
“Phormio” was first performed in September of 161 BC during the Roman Games. The games were an annual festival in honor of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva.
The script for the play was translated by Clevinger and the play’s dramaturg, Anne Groton. They began the process in the early spring of this year.
Clevinger is excited for the audience to see the fruits of the group’s labor.
“I do believe the cast and production staff are one of the best groups I have worked with on a Classical Week production,” she said. “I am very proud of these students and what they have accomplished in such a short amount of time.”
Orators Series
As part of the Classical Week celebrations, the Orators Lecture Series will kick off its fifth year.
The series is sponsored by the honors college and is held three times a year. There are speakers representing different campus disciplines invited to speak.
This year’s theme is “Family Secrets and Societal Roles: Finding Meaning in Human Connectivity.”
The first lecture will be given by the play’s dramaturg, Groton.
Her lecture is entitled, “Living on the Edge: How Outsiders Could, and Still Can, Find a Home in the Ancient Greek and Roman World.” According to Clevinger, the play serves as a backdrop to the lecture.
Groton is a professor and department chair of classics at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. She is alsa specialist in ancient Greek and Roman comedy.
Her lecture will be held on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the forum room, 401, in Griffis Hall.
The other two lectures for the year will be held on Nov. 17 and Feb. 15, 2023. The lectures are free to attend.
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