On Sunday, November 1, 2009, at 3 PM, the Richard Stockton College Friends of Hellenic Studies will present “Byron’s Letters from Greece,” a reading of some of Lord Byron’s works which will be performed by Stockton theater student Patrick Judd. In addition, the Hellenic Dancers of New Jersey will perform the regional dances of Greece. The event will take place in the Stockton Performing Arts Center (PAC) and the ticket price includes a Mediterranean buffet lunch at 2 PM, prior to the performance.

This event will have its premiere in September at the National Historical Museum of Greece as part of the International Byron Conference. Stockton’s November event will present it in celebration of the 200^th anniversary of Lord Byron’s first trip to Greece which inspired him to write poetry about the country. Lord Byron was a Philhellene, meaning one who sympathized with the Greeks in their effort to free themselves from the Ottoman occupation in 1821 and who helped them restore the Greek nation. The word literally means one who loves all things Greek. 

George Gordon Noel Byron was an English poet of the Romantic era. He was born in London in 1788 and traveled the circle of other well-known British poets such as Mary Shelley, who wrote the story of Frankenstein. One of Byron’s children, Ada Lovelace, distinguished in her own right, collaborated with Charles Babbage on the analytical engine, a predecessor to modern computers. 

Byron’s strong convictions regarding political justice eventually led him to fight with the Greeks in their quest for independence. In 1824, he and the Greek statesman, Alexandros Mavrokordatos planned an attack on a Turkish-held fortress, but Byron died of a fever at Missolonghi, Greece before it could happen. His body was brought back to London where he is buried. The name Byron quickly became popular among Greeks and it is said that, had he lived, he might have even been crowned king of Greece.

Stockton professor Mark Mallett who also directs, created the script from Byron’s writings along withJudd, Professor Robert Gregg (Dean, Division of Arts and Humanities) and Professor David Roessel. Jaaron Boger is the Stage Manager.

The Hellenic Dancers of New Jersey is a group of first, second and third generation Greek-Americans dedicated to perpetuating their heritage through enthusiastic performances of the regional folk dances of Greece.   Master Instructor Eleni Chakalos leads them in more than 300 dances, songs, and related traditions. They’ve performed for presidential inaugurations, won first prize at the Garden State Arts Center intra-State Competition and danced at the Closing Ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Tickets are $35 for adults; $30 for FHS members and $15 for students. There is no charge for children under 12. For more information, please contact Dawn Kanaan, (609) 652-4830 or email her at dawn.kanaan@stockton.edu.

While I have attempted exactly zero credit hours on any academic transcript in the performing arts and have little more experience wtih drama production other than what high school drama club had to offer, I am no stranger to the theater.  From the Ithomean Odeon in Messenia to the Haymarket Theater in London, from the Shubert in New York to Kabukiza in Tokyo, I have seen a fair share (though never enough) of plays and musicals.  So, when I suddenly found myself working on the announcements and website for the upcoming Stockton performance of Byron's Letters from Greece, I decided to ask GWB (google - wiki - bing) what this play was.  When that search yielded nothing useful, I took seventeen bold steps out of my office, around the corner and down the hall to the office of Mark Mallett who, among many other things, is the director of the play and a very busy person.  He graciously gave me time he did not have and is thanked here for his generosity.

He credits David Roessel with being the originator of the idea of a Byron play.  There was the very convenient fact of the 200th anniversary of Byron's arrival in Greece which provided a welcomed setting. The play, he says, is an original work which was not written by Roessel and him, but adapted from among Byron's many writings from his first stay in Greece.  Drawing on letters, manuscripts and poetry, the goal was to "...create a collection of Byron's words that had a dramatic arc...in Greece," showing Byron in eastern Europe in his development as a philhellene. The hope was to give Byron a third dimension to make him presentable to an audience.  

When it comes to Greece and all things Greek, most attention is usually directed to the Classical and, to a lesser degree, Byzantine, studies. People may be surprised to learn that Byron's philhellenism was unique in that it specifically orbited modern Greece.  This play will serve to bring that philhellensim to light as he tells the audience, in his own words, what he thinks and feels about the Greece of his day. 

I know less about Byron than I do about drama.  Had he left behind so much material?  Indeed, he wrote a great deal.  He is remembered as a poet but his plays do not appear to have received much attention.  More importantly, he wrote a great deal of letters throughout the course of his upward social mobility.  He was not English and used his letters as a form of self-promotion.

Byron's being an outsider (both in England and Greece) is just the beginning of what was historically a very complex character.  Described by a former secret lover as "...mad, bad and dangerous to know," there were many facets to Byron.  Would we see him in this production? The Roessel/Mallett adaptation was originally much longer but had to be cut - virtually in half - to meet the constraints of the event at which it was presented in Greece.  Byron's social and sexual criticisms, to say nothing of his sarcasm, were mostly removed in order to focus on him in Greece and his growing philhellenism.

What is truly interesting about the concept behind the play is that it has expansion ports for additional acts which will be added in the future.  Mallett says it may ultimately be the middle act of a three-act play.  Further, as it is now in its shortened form, with Patrick Judd as Byron, this piece will grow and morph into something bigger and different each time it returns.  The play as it will be staged on November 1st may be different from the next time it is performed as the work is passed on.  Of course, this is hardly surprising to him because, as he explains, every show is different every day. (My first lesson in drama)

I was curious to know a little more about directing a one-man play.  It is neither more nor less work, he says,  "...'it is simply different," but no less rewarding.

Mark, Assistant Professor of Theater Arts, has worked with the ICHS before on productions of The Odyssey (2005) and Desire Under the Elms (2008) which was performed in Greece at our Delphi Symposium.  As appreciative he is of the opportunity to have worked with Roessel and Judd, the support of the Friends of Hellenic Studies and the collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Center for Hellenic Studies, we are grateful for his efforts and his taking the time to sit down and shed some light on the Byron production.  

The play, Byron's Letters from Greece, will be performed on November 1st, 2009 at the Stockton College Performing Arts Center.