LA’s Getty Villa to Hold ‘Ancient Greek Theater’ Exhibit

The Getty Villa of Los Angeles will present an exhibit, ‘The Art of Ancient Greek Theater,’ in conjunction with its production of Sophocles’s ELECTRA, the Los Angeles Times reports. The exhibit, which will run from August 26, 2010 to January 3, 2011, is decribed by the Getty Villa as “the first exhibition in the United States in over 50 years to focus on the artistic representation of theatrical performance in ancient Greece.”
The exhibit will feature art borrowed from many celebrated collections and will include vases, masks, and figures, the LA Times reports. In addition, the Getty will put out a companion book, ‘The Art of Ancient Greek Theater,’ describing the development of theater in ancient Greece and its relationship to the visual arts. The book will be edited by Mary Louise Hart, the exhibit’s curator.
The Getty’s production of ELECTRA will run in an outdoor theater from September 9 through October 2 (Thursdays through Saturdays only) and will feature a new translation by Timberlake Wertenbaker. Previews, for which tickets will cost $20, will be held September 2 through 4. Tickets for the production will go on sale July 1. The Getty will be open special hours in order to allow playgoers to visit the art exhibit.
From November 19 to 20, the Getty will present a workshop performance of Sophocles’s THE TRACKERS in its indoor theater.