Sphinx

I have sometimes reflected that my epitaph should probably be ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time’ – especially when, as seems all too likely, I perish from a surfeit of missed deadlines. What I’ve always thought of as a boundless intellectual curiosity, able to get excited by and imagine my own contribution to any number of different projects, could equally well be described as a butterfly mind or a puppy-like lack of discrimination, randomly chasing cars and shiny things. The net result is the same, an excessive ‘to do’ list and regular bursts of apology-writing when the time and energy just run out.

Which isn’t to say that the original ideas weren’t good – and the feeling of “Oh gods, what have I said I’ll do?” shouldn’t obscure the fact that – cue fanfare! – I’ve been awarded the money to do it. Yes, my past speculative comments about a collaborative project with theatrical people to explore the dramatic potential of the Melian Dialogue will be made reality, thanks to an AHRC follow-on funding award! Dates to be confirmed, but I am going to be working with the wonderful Rebecca Atkinson-Lord (former Bristol ancient history student, now director and performer) and her Arch 468 team to develop the Melian Dialogue as a dramatic piece in multiple stagings (I’m hoping for mime, among others), leading to a filmed performance and panel discussion in London, and then handing things over to ‘recovering theatre company’ fanSHEN, who will be developing it into an interactive experience, along the lines of their fascinating project The Justice Syndicate (highly recommended if you get the chance).

The title of this post, Do What You Must, is actually the title of this second part of the project, rather than just me moaning about being over-committed. Having been up at five after a night of the cats being bloody awful, part of me is simply trying not to think negative thoughts about how on earth I’m going to fit this in alongside everything else. But mostly I’m in a state of slightly dazed self-satisfaction, that what I thought was a good idea has persuaded other people – and growing excitement that, yes, this is really happening, and I’m going to get to spend a week seeing what creative people can make of Thucydides and then see how others respond to it. Watch this space for dates and details!