Sign of the Times: Natalie Haynes and Eline Arbo on Greek myths, the female gaze, and the patriarchy
They are both masters at retelling ancient and widely known stories in such a way that they take on new meaning: British writer and comedian Natalie Haynes and director Eline Arbo. In a new episode of Sign of the Times, they will use scenes from world literature to discuss Greek myths, patriarchal history and standing up for female voices.
Sign of the Times is a co-production of De Balie and ITA.
Run time tba
Genre perspective
Language English (conversation) & Dutch (scenes)
Surtitles English (scenes)
Greek myths, the female gaze, and the patriarchy
A Cambridge classicist graduate, Natalie Haynes began her career as a comedian but grew into one of the UK's most successful authors. She is a frontrunner for one of the most important movements in modern literature: retelling classic stories from a female perspective. For instance, in Stone Blind (2023), she tells the story of an abused woman and presents Medusa not as a monster or victim, but as a human being.
-|-
Similarly, director Eline Arbo, artistic director of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam since September 2023, fearlessly questions the patriarchal theatre canon and transforms classic female characters on stage into people of flesh and blood. How can creators move beyond stereotypes and the male-female dichotomy? And how do their retellings shed new light on Western culture?
About Sign of the Times
During Sign of the Times, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam and De Balie explore today's social issues during a unique combination of theatre and conversation. In previous editions, we talked about the Catalans' anger with Carles Puigdemont, who fled from Spain, French writer Kamel Daoud shed light on colonial identity, and David Van Reybrouck, Ivo van Hove, the ITA Ensemble and De Balie collaborated on a theatrical performance following Reybrouck's book Revolusi.
