Reenacting Antigone: Contemporary Interpretations of Ancient Mythology
On Demand
2.5 Continuing Education Credits
“I want us to feel part of something, so we can share, learn, and create meaning as we move forward in our journey through crisis. In these uncertain times, it is important to connect.”
Join an international online community and experience the timeless myth of Antigone in a live group enactment, bridging ancient collective wisdom to today.
Sophocles’ Antigone has been recognized for generations as a play deeply interested in how we navigate responsibilities and obligations in conflict. In particular, it addresses the clash of loyalties that can come from religion, customs, or the imposition of human law. In addition to helping audiences think through the challenges of acting justly in an unjust state, this play also encourages reflection on the complex process of memorialization, the connections between identity and action, and how past trauma can influence present action and future suffering. Antigone is also about the collapse of personal relationships in the face of political strife and the difficult choices people face when trying to be true to the “self” while trying to survive.
In this webinar, we will provide opportunities to perform parts of Sophocles’ play with other participants, focusing on moments in the play in which critical decisions are made and characters are forced to weigh their personal identities against communal definitions. We will frame performances with discussions on the history of the play, myths, and discussions of various interpretations.
Through enacting scenes from Sophocles' play, we can discover not only the universality of a timeless story like Antigone, but also the therapeutic power group performance and interpretation holds for individuals and communities.
Developed in practice over several years, this unique learning experience combines psychology, mythology, and acting as a collective social experience. Focusing on the socially interconnected nature of mythology and tapping into the healing power of live performance will allow us to experience information from the deep unconscious. This exercise will inform us about ourselves, the other, and the movement of psychic energy within the collective.
We will reenact the myth in a social assembly, fostering new thinking through the collective narratives present thousands of years ago and still present today.
Join Dr. Leslee Brown, Joel Christensen, and Paul O’Mahony for this dynamic and unique afternoon of discussion. As Paul O’Mahony said, “since we are unable to explore the outside world, we have no option but to explore further the inner one.”
Everyone will get a part to read, in a safe, fun, playful environment of community. No acting experience or knowledge of mythology is required. This will be our second reenactment in our ongoing series.
* Mind Body Passport is committed to offering low-cost webinars during this time of crisis, to educate mental health professionals and others to better serve their communities. As a small business, I know finances are difficult and the events of the past few weeks are a tragic and deeply emotional time for us all. If you are in need and can not afford our seminars, please email us for financial assistance.
How does it work?
- The online enactment of Antigone will meet October 4, 2020, 12pm PST via Zoom for 2 hours.
- Once registered, you will receive your login information and the script to read.
- Choose a part and e-mail us your top 3 choices!
- Everyone will have a part to read and/or be part of the chorus. NO ACTING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED!
- You will also receive a link to view a discussion of the psychological components of trans-generational trauma, the Oedipus complex, healing through group performance, and Jungian archetypes and themes in Antigone.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss how past trauma can influence present action and future suffering
- Describe and discuss the therapeutic power that group performance and interpretation holds for individuals and communities.
- discuss the history of psychoanalysis and the importance Greek mythology played in the discovery of depth psychology
Who Is This For?
- Those with an interest in exploring mythology with a global community
- Psychotherapists
- Mental health professionals
- World and life learners
- Actors, performers
*No prior experience or knowledge required!
Facilitators
Dr. Leslee S. Brown
Dr. Brown is President and Director of Mind Body Passport Inc. designing and leading international trips and online international courses for adult professionals, offering continuing education credits worldwide. Dr. Brown's interests are multi-faceted, engaging topics of psychology, culture, art, psychoanalysis, social dreaming, and mythology and narrative stories as a therapeutic modality. She is passionate about weaving many disciplines and interests together and creating an atmosphere of growth and learning. Travel opens ones mind and creates change bringing new perspectives on living life. She also served as The Director of International Seminars and Gastprofessor at Sigmund Freud University, Vienna. International psychology and developing “psychologists without borders” has become her focus. Dr. Brown has been in private practice for over twenty years, has been a research psychologist for The Neurologic Institute and has served on faculty at UCLA Medical School teaching psychology and rapport building techniques to medical students. Dr. Brown was also assistant professor at The Chicago School and Director of Centers for International Studies. Leslee lives and works part time in Los Angeles, part time in Paris, and the rest of the time is traveling the world.
Joel Christensen
Joel Christensen is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Classical Studies at Brandeis University. He taught previously at the University of Texas at San Antonio (2007-2016). He received his BA and MA from Brandeis in Classics and English and his PhD in Classics from New York University where he also received an Advanced Certificate in Poetics and Theory.
Joel has been a Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies (2013) and has received the Society for Classical Studies’ Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Collegiate Level (2013). In addition to articles on language, myth and literature in the Homeric epics, he has published a Beginner’s Guide to Homer (One World, 2013) and also a Homer’s Thebes (CHS, 2019) with Elton T. E. Barker as well as A Commentary on the Homeric Battle of Frogs and Mice (Bloomsbury, 2018) with Erik Robinson. In 2020, He will publish The Many-Minded Man: the Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic with Cornell University Press.
Joel lives with his wife, Shahnaaz and their two children, Aalia and Iskander, in Dorchester, MA. In addition to working on online projects like Reading Greek Tragedy Online with the Center for Hellenic Studies and Out of Chaos Theatre, he also spends his 'off' hours posting material to the popular Classics-oriented website. www.sententiaeantiquae.com and tweeting about it (@sentantiq).
Paul O’Mahony
Paul O’Mahony is an actor, writer, director and producer. He is artistic director of the multi award winning theatre company Out of Chaos whose work has toured extensively in the UK, Europe, the US and New Zealand. He is associate director of Actors From The London Stage with whom he has toured the US, playing leading roles in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and Richard III. He was Eminent Artist in Residence at the University of Wyoming in 2015 and is currently an Associate of the Center for Hellenic Studies. He is the artistic director of Reading Greek Tragedy Online - an initiative he started with the CHS when the world went into lockdown. The recipient of two Cawkwell Prizes and an Ancient History scholarship in his time at Oxford, he has always been intrigued by the ways ancient stories interact with our own experiences. He is working on a stage adaptation of the Aeneid, and a musical set in Delphi.
Cost
**$39 for those who participated in Oedipus
Once we see your payment, we will send you the link to log in live for the reenactment and discussion of Antigone, your script and the recorded discussion of the therapeutic benefits of group performance and psychological processes and themes in Sophocles’ Antigone.
Can’t make it live? No problem a video recording will be made available.
Mind Body Passport is approved by the California Psychological Association to provide continuing professional education for psychologists. Mind Body Passport maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Mind Body Passport Inc. is also recognized as a CAMFT-approved Continuing Education Provider. Certificate awarded upon successful completion.
* Post-course test is required for continuing education credits.
Questions?
Contact Dr. Leslee Brown at info@mindbodypassport.com for a free one-on-one consultation.