Ferguson - Michael Brown - Greek Tragedy - Transformative Music - Dynamic Conversations Antigone in Ferguson shares the truth about justice as experienced on stage with spirit-felt, soulful, & captivating music composed and directed by Dr. Philip A. Woodmore in a unique adaptation written by Bryan Doerries of Theater of War Productions. In this book, you will discover the transformative power of music (when interwoven with the drama of Greek tragedy) to change people's thinking and actions regarding injustice on the macro and micro level in our modern society. This transformation in thinking leads to healing discussions that produce effective, pervasive and long-lasting actions. Dr. Philip A. Woodmore will be your guide as we investigate and interrogate the journey to this thrilling transformation. Dr. Woodmore is a nationally recognized music educator who specializes in composition, vocal coaching, choral curriculum and programming, and collaborative rehearsing. Using his expertise, he has composed an original score and lyrics to Sophocles's tragedy, Antigone, which has become an Off-Broadway smash-hit known as Antigone in Ferguson.

Antigone in Ferguson: A Journey Through the Transformative Power of Music is an intimate look into matters of injustice and inequality in our society through the lens of the arts. The production "Antigone in Ferguson" is a groundbreaking project that fuses dramatic readings by acclaimed actors of Sophocles' "Antigone" with choral music written by Dr. Philip A. Woodmore and performed by a diverse choir from St. Louis, Missouri and New York City. Following the performance there is a powerful, healing discussion about racialized violence, police brutality, systemic oppression, gender-based violence, health inequality, and social justice. This book documents the journey of this production, the testimonies of those who participated, and bares witness the transformative power of music.

A witty, inspiring reckoning with the ancient Greek and Roman myths and their legacy, from what they can illuminate about #MeToo to the radical imagery of Beyoncé. The picture of classical antiquity most of us learned in school is framed in certain ways -- glossing over misogyny while omitting the seeds of feminist resistance. Many of today's harmful practices, like school dress codes, exploitation of the environment, and rape culture, have their roots in the ancient world. But in Antigone Rising, classicist Helen Morales reminds us that the myths have subversive power because they are told -- and read -- in different ways. Through these stories, whether it's Antigone's courageous stand against tyranny or the indestructible Caeneus, who inspires trans and gender queer people today, Morales uncovers hidden truths about solidarity, empowerment, and catharsis. Antigone Rising offers a fresh understanding of the stories we take for granted, showing how we can reclaim them to challenge the status quo, spark resistance, and rail against unjust regimes.

For years theater director Bryan Doerries has been producing ancient Greek tragedies for a wide range of at-risk people in society. His is the personal and deeply passionate story of a life devoted to reclaiming the timeless power of an ancient artistic tradition to comfort the afflicted. Doerries leads an innovative public health project—Theater of War—that produces ancient dramas for current and returned soldiers, people in recovery from alcohol and substance abuse, tornado and hurricane survivors, and more. Tracing a path that links the personal to the artistic to the social and back again, Doerries shows us how suffering and healing are part of a timeless process in which dialogue and empathy are inextricably linked. The originality and generosity of Doerries’s work is startling, and The Theater of War—wholly unsentimental, but intensely felt and emotionally engaging—is a humane, knowledgeable, and accessible book that will both inspire and enlighten.

This handbook provides students and scholars with a highly readable yet detailed analysis of all surviving Greek tragedies and satyr plays. John Ferguson places each play in its historical, political, and social context—important for both Athenian and modern audiences—and he displays a keen, discriminating critical competence in dealing with the plays as literature. Ferguson is sensitive to the meter and sound of Greek tragedy, and, with remarkable success, he manages to involve even the Greekless reader in an actual encounter with the Greek as poetry. He examines language and metrics in relation to each tragedian's dramatic purpose, thus elucidating the crucial dimension of technique that other handbooks, mostly the work of philologists, renounce in order to concentrate on structure and plot. The result is perceptive criticism in which the quality of Ferguson's scholarship vouches for what he sees in the plays. The book is prefaced with a general introduction to ancient Greek theatrical production, and there is a brief biographical sketch of each tragedian. Footnotes are avoided: the object of this handbook is to introduce readers to the plays as dramatic poetry, not to detail who said what about them. There is an extensive bibliography for scholars and a glossary of Greek words to assist the student with the operative moral and stylistic terms of Greek tragedy.