SPARTA V ATHENS!

Ancient Greece believed in the concept of democracy. Ancient Greece was not one country, instead, independent city-states existed; these states had their own government and army.
Sparta and Athens were the most powerful states of Ancient Greece; they were also enemies. Both Sparta and Athens has trouble feeding the people of their states. Both Sparta and Athens set out to conquer states that had enough food supplies to be able to support and feed the people, and in return the conquered land would get protection from invading armies.

Even though Sparta and Athens were geographically close to each other, there was a drastic difference in their ideologies and the basic way of life. Athens was a principle city of ancient Greece in the first millennium, with its cultural and philosophical achievements setting down the foundations of a new western civilization. On the other hand, the militaristic Sparta, famous as a martial power and eventual conqueror of Athens, was formed after the Dorian migration from the north. While the militaristic and machismo culture of Sparta was totally war-driven, Athens was home to some of the most extraordinary accomplishments of philosophy, art, and science in human history.

Aristotle

Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece. In 335, Aristotle founded a school, the Lyceum, in Athens. In Lyceum he spent most of his time teaching and writing. Aristotle died in 322 B.C.

NAME: Aristotle
OCCUPATION: Philosopher
BIRTH DATE: c. 384 BCE
DEATH DATE: c. 322 BCE
EDUCATION: Plato's Academy, Lyceum
PLACE OF BIRTH: Stagira, Chalcidice, Greece
PLACE OF DEATH: Chalcis, Euboea, Greece
FULL NAME: Aristotle

Greek Comedy

Greek comedy is divided into three different stages, Old, Middle, and New. Not one complete play survived from the middle stage of comedy in Greek Theatre. Menander is the name linked with New Comedy, Aristophanes is the exemplar of Old Comedy.

Aristophanic and Shakespearean Comedy
The Plutus Comedy of Errors

Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors is one of his early plays. Even though it is one of his shortest plays, it has a lot in common with Wealth (The Plutus). Shakespeare and Aristotle has the same ideas when it came to using comic factors in these plays.
Such as using puns and word play; in addition to slapstick comedy.

Shakespeare uses comedy more through language than anything else, he communicated his comedy through language and the ingredients for his comic plays are clever words, insults and metaphors which is the same ingredients Aristotle uses in Wealth.

Also the theme of love within Shakespeare’s comedy plays is prevalent and in Aristotle’s play Wealth there is characters who are the Old Women and the Youth; both playwrights have included an obstacle within the plays; such as when Wealth’s sight is restored the Youth no longer wants anything that the Old Women gave him with such kindness and she is heartbroken but at the end of the play, it is insinuated that they are both united.

Modernising Aristotle’s Wealth

Modernising Aristotle’s play and keeping the insults, metaphors and clever words was key. Keeping that comedy aspect was essential, but modernising a Greek play, was a challenge. As we modernised the play, it was agreed for it to be a musical. Writing our own songs; explaining the story so far and also playing to the audience with emotions. Re-writing the play combining it with original songs, spoken dialogue dancing and acting. The story and emotional context of a musical- including love, anger, happiness, sadness ext. All of these emotions are communicated through the words, movements, staging, music and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole.