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The UCL Classical Drama Society and the Department of Greek and Latin each year present a classical play in English translation in UCL's own theatre, the UCL Bloomsbury. The play takes place in February each year (about the same time as the ancient Athenian dramatic festival known as the Lenaia).
This is now one of the most famous and long-running commitments to the modern production of ancient drama in the world. It attracts large audiences, many of whom are young people studying classical drama at school or university, and is regularly reviewed in the national press. Ticket prices are kept low.
The production is managed by students in the Department of Greek and Latin, with help and advice from staff. A number of former students involved in the classical play have gone on to careers in drama. Students choose a director and a producer in the autumn: the title of the play for the following year is announced in late October (and will be posted on this website).
The
Department of Greek and Latin is committed to bringing these
productions to the widest possible audience. For each production we run a
programme of lectures and workshops,
free and open to the public, which are run by leading academics and
theatre experts from across the UK. For the benefit of schools and
colleges we also create a web-page of study materials
on ancient drama in general, and with special focus on the current
year's performance. The students also maintain a blog on the play as
they rehearse.