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This article sheds light on Irish playwright Marina Carr's 2011 Phaedra Backwards , which premiered at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, as a particularly dense and multidirectional twenty-first century retelling of the Hippolytus myth. The centrality of the Minotaur in the drama, the role of technology in his creation, the place of nature in human life, and certain surprising motifs, such as the eating of daffodils, are examined through the lens of posthumanism to show how Carr's play invites reflection on nonconformism in society and on human damage to the natural world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second half of the eighteenth century saw a new impetus in the relationship between Europeans and classical literature. There was a clear move away from what had become perceived [...]

Tom Paulin's Greek tragedies present extremes of bodily abjection in order to service of a politics of resistance that is tied, in each case, to the political context of the drama's production. The Riot Act (1984), Seize the Fire (1989), and Medea (2010), share a focus on the degradation of oppressed political groups and feature characters who destabilize the status quo. Yet the impact of disruptive political actions is not ultimately made clear. We are left wondering at the conclusion of each tragedy if the momentous acts of defiance we have witnessed have any power to create systemic change within politically rigged systems. The two 1980s plays are discussed together and form a sequence, with The Riot Act overtly addressing the Northern Irish conflict and Seize the Fire encompassing a broader sweep of oppressive regimes. The politics of discrimination in Medea are illuminated by comparison with similar themes in Paulin's Love's Bonfire (2010). Unlike other Northern Irish adaptations of Greek tragedy, Paulin's dramas, arrested in their political moments, present little hope for the immediate future. Yet in asking us to consider if individual sacrifice is enough to achieve radical change they maintain an open channel for political discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a literary criticism of the play "Ariel" by contemporary Irish playwright Marina Carr and directed by Conall Morrison. It outlines its engagement with Greek tragedy but also through the multiple literary allusions created by its title. It notes that some of the director's decisions impacted negatively on the production, compounding problems in the performance of an already difficult play.