'David Wiles's enquiries are securely based on past and current scholarly research, towards which the reader is directed by full and judicious footnotes. This is a study which deserves a prominent place on reading lists for all students interested in drama and theatre.' New Theatre Quarterly

'In this volume David Wiles, who has written with equal assurance about Elizabethan performance and ancient comedy, turns his attention to Greek or, as most modern critics would now define it, Athenian tragedy. Those who enjoy the originality, and sometimes the audacity, of his ideas, will not be disappointed here. No-one with a serious interest in the application of performance theory to historical texts can afford to ignore this book which is multidisciplinary in its approach, packed with ideas and re-readings, sometimes provocative beyond the call of duty but never dull.' Michael Anderson, Theatre Research International

'The book draws examples from all the extant tragedies, and some fragments, often with bold insight. Well over a dozen neat, tidy explanations appeared that I have filed away to share in the classroom.' Didaskalos