Excerpt from Euripides' Alkestis: Adapted and Arranged for Amateur Performance in Girls' Schools The representation of a Greek tragedy under modern conditions must always be a matter of difficulty. Unless the performance takes place in the open air it is impossible in any degree to reproduce the surroundings which play so important a part in determining the whole course of the Attic drama. The theory that the performance took place on a high narrow stage, with the chorus far removed from the actors, is now generally abandoned. This makes it easier to solve some of the problems suggested by the practical necessities of representation. Briefly, recent investigations seem to point to the following arrangement of the place used for performance. First in importance the wide orchestra or dancing place of the chorus, circular in shape, paved with marble, and having in its centre the Altar of Dionysos. The wide passages, called Paradoi, led away right and left from the orchestra in front of the stage: by these the audience in the first place passed in and out; along one of them, that on the right facing the stage, the chorus entered, and it seems not unreasonable to conclude that by the other took place the entrance of characters supposed to come from a long distance. Lastly, there was the stage itself, at first a temporary structure, afterwards reproduced in costly materials. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.