The ancient Greek theatre of Syracuse, with its 2,500-year history, has witnessed countless performances in both ancient and modern times. This year, Fondazione INDA staged the 59th season of ancient Greek theatre performances. As part of this year’s edition, the theatre hosted a production of Euripides’ tragedy Hippolytus, titled Fedra – Ippolito Portatore di Corona (Phaedra – Hippolytus the wreath bearer), directed by Paul Curran with sets designed by Gary McCann.
“As a set designer, you’re faced with both the challenges and opportunities that designing within a specific setting brings,” McCann tells Scenography Today. “Whether textually, culturally, or spatially, we strive to align both the piece and the space it inhabits, whilst providing a clear context and perspective to the audience aesthetically.”
Collaborating with Fondazione INDA at this historic theatre presented unique challenges and opportunities. “Interpreting the ancient Greek tragedy of Fedra by Euripides for a modern audience and making sense of it in the present day was both a challenge and an opportunity,” McCann explained. “We had to work in a setting that the piece was originally intended to be played in, all those thousands of years ago.”
Fedra’s story centers on the tragic downfall of a powerful aristocratic woman. “Despite being the mistress of her own downfall, several influential external factors are at play, notably the machinations of the all-powerful gods who assert their authority and power throughout the story,” McCann emphasized.
Understanding these dynamics from a modern psychological perspective was crucial for the set design. “From a modern perspective, it is paramount that both the stage designer and director analyze the psychology of each of the characters at the center of the drama,” he said. “This analysis helps to ensure the staging and performance environment effectively house and communicate the mental state of the dramatic personae of the play to the audience.”
One of the most striking elements of the set was a giant phrenologist’s head, which also served as a monumental bust of the goddess Artemis. “We arrived at the idea of a striking and giant phrenologist’s head, which in turn doubles as a monumental bust of the goddess Artemis – not withholding the obvious symbolism of a ‘mask.’ Masks were traditionally used by each of the actors taking part in plays in the days of ancient Greece itself,” McCann explained. The head symbolized the various facets of the characters’ psyches and doubled as a nod to the traditional masks used in ancient Greek theatre.
“The steel scaffolding which supports and surrounds the head infers to the audience that a monumental, ancient construction is currently being repaired or excavated for archaeological reasons,” McCann said. “This enables us to reflect on the idea that we are uncovering an ancient play and text and re-presenting it thousands of years later, in 2024.”
“By utilizing the full height and depth of the space, we reinforce the theme of uncovering and rediscovering the ancient in both the present day and the modern world,” McCann noted. “The neat trick here being, and it may come as no surprise, that the theatre itself is located in the center of one of the most important archaeological parks in Italy,” [Ed.: the Archaeological Site of Neapolis] which “includes multiple caves and structures hewn from the rocky hillside, including the second largest altar in the ancient Greek world and the tomb of the famous mathematician, physicist, and engineer Archimedes, who was born, lived, and died in Syracuse,” McCann concludes.
