Punchdrunk on the Classics

Blurb

Punchdrunk on the Classics: Experiencing Immersion in  The Burnt City  and Beyond  draws attention to Punchdrunk’s use of ancient Greek literature in their creation of immersive theatre. The book documents and analyses the effects of utilising Greek tragedy within both Punchdrunk’s creative development windows, and the company’s final staged productions. It features material stretching from  The House of Oedipus  (2000) right through to  The Burnt City  (2022-23), on which the author worked as dramaturg. Chapters include rehearsal studies, explorations of how Greek literature can shape an audience’s experience in immersive theatre, and considerations of how  The Burnt City  might change our understanding of the poetics of immersion in antiquity. Overall,  Punchdrunk on the Classics  provides an unparalleled depth of insight into an individual Punchdrunk production, and highlights the until-now overlooked significance of antiquity within Punchdrunk’s practice. Emma Cole  is Senior Lecturer in Drama at the University of Queensland, Australia; previously, she was Senior Lecturer in Liberal Arts and Classics at the University of Bristol. She is a classicist and a theatre historian and is an expert on Greek tragedy in contemporary theatre. Her previous book,  Postdramatic Tragedies , was published in 2019.