Tag: Theatre

Isis and Osiris: The opera!

In three weeks the King Tut exhibit Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs will be leaving Toronto, heading off to the mountains of Denver. The exhibition has been a huge success, and has prompted a new wave of Egyptomania unseen since King Tut’s 1979 visit to the city.

It wouldnt be appropriate for the king to leave without a send-off, and the Art Gallery of Ontario has an interesting one. This Wednesday the gallery will play host to the premiere of Osiris and Isis the Opera. Composed by Colin Mack and directed by Guillermo Silva-Marin, this show will explore the most famous love story in Egyptian mythology. The company producing it is called Ariaworks, a start-up company created specifically to produce this.

Their website states: ‘The artistic vision of this presentation will make ancient Egypt and its mysteries vividly come to life through the dramatic expression of this passionate story of the ancient gods.’

To briefly sum up the Osiris and Isis myth, Isis is the loving wife of Osiris the same Osiris who has a rather nasty brother named Set. Set tries to kill Osiris by nailing him into a coffin (and throwing him into the Nile). Isis saves Osiris, recovering him intact. Set then chops Osiris up into pieces, forcing Isis to hunt them down and put them back together again. At the end of the day their son, Horus, is born. He in turn goes after Set, seeking revenge for all the mean things he did to Osiris.

Osiris isn’t the only Egyptian god to have escaped from the confines of the King Tut exhibitions recently. A giant Anubis was recently spotted being towed around New York’s harbour as a publicity stunt to announce that tickets are now on sale for the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at New York’s Discovery Times Square Expo. Tickets are also on sale for the Denver exhibit of the Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs show, and of course King Tut Virtual is always open to visitors.

Osiris and Isis the Opera premieres at the Walker Court at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Wednesday, March 31 at 7pm. Its a free event.

Daily Flickr Finds: Dmitriy Moiseyev’s Colosseum

The home to some of the greatest shows on Earth, Rome’s Colosseum had a capacity of 50,000 making it the largest built by the Romans. Where gladiators would have battled and public shows would be held, this amazing monument is captured beautifully by Dmitriy Moiseyev in this photograph. Taken at dusk, the interior lights can be seen glowing from within the structure, emanating a glow about this ancient relic.

Rome’s Colosseum differs from many of the Greek amphitheatres preceding it, as it is a freestanding structure as opposed to being built into a hillside. With such a high capacity, the Roman architects also took into account the need for quick evacuations, similar to building standards set out in today’s stadiums. There are 80 entrance/exits in the Colosseum, of which 76 would have been used by spectators. The layout was arranged so all visitors would be able to access their allotted seats quickly, and be able to leave the stadium within minutes in case of emergency.

Centuries of wear and damage from fires, earthquakes and stone robbers have left the Colosseum in partial ruin, but it remains nonetheless one of the iconic examples of Roman architecture today.

You can find out more about the Colosseum here on Heritage Key, and be sure to take a look through Dmitriy Moiseyev Flickr photostream!

The Acropolis Theatre of Dionysus to be Restored

The ‘birthplace of drama’ – the Theatre of Dionysus, located on the south slope of the Acropolis – is to be partially restored in a 6 million project that is set for completion in 2015. The ancient open-air theatre in Athens saw the premire of many of the great dramatic works written during the ‘golden age’ of Greek Tragedy.

Famous ancient playwrights – such as Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes – took part in competitions staged twice yearly at the Dionysus theatre; the City Dionysia festival during the spring and the Lenaia in wintertime.

The limestone and marble version of the theatre – built in the 4th century BC – seated an estimated 14,000 to 17,000 spectators.

Scholars still differ in opinion concerning the architecture of the first Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus in Athens. The size, shape and even the precise location of the original orchestra and of the seating benches that once surrounded it have all been disputed. Some suggest circles for the theatre’s original structure, others suggest trapezoid forms of differing shapes and sizes.

Only a small section of the stone theatre – restored and redesigned by Roman emperor Nero – was excavated in the 19th century and is still visible today. The restoration works will gradually add several tiers to these, using a combination of new stone and recovered ancient fragments, while strengthening retaining walls and other parts of the building.

The restoration of the Theatre of Dionysus is part of a larger project to restore and protect the entire Acropolis area; other examples are the construction of the New Acropolis Museum which opened this year and the rebuilding of the 5th century BCTemple of Athena Nike (parts of which are in the British Museum).

Daily Flickr Finds: Rafa Vjajes’ Sabratha Roman Theatre

Located on the coast of north-west Libya, Sabratha was incorporated into the Roman Empire during the second and third century AD as a trading post, when it flourished as an outlet for wares being exported from Africa. The city, nearby to Leptis Magna, was most notable for a fantastic Roman theatre which was built during 175-200AD as part of the reconstruction of the city under Emperor Septimius Severus’s rule. The remains are some of the finest examples of Roman architecture today, as is captured in a beautiful panorama in Rafa Vjajes’ photograph.

The three storey structure had over 25 entrances and the seating, stage and backstage rooms are still present, making it the most intact Roman amphitheatre today. With the capacity to hold 5,000 people, and a stage backdrop of 25 metres, the theatre was constructed using 108 columns over 3 storeys.

Reconstructed in the 1930s by an Italian team of archaeologists, and then reopened by Mussolini to be used to hold plays, many of the original materials used in the construction have been replaced with new alternatives. Travertine marble has replaced much of the synnadic marble and white marble used in the original structure.

Read more about Sabratha here at Heritage Key, and be sure to look through Rafa Vjajes’s Photostream at Flickr!