My thought was that it would make sense to try “natural” acting of Plato because they reveal so much about the particular characters and yet “nature” is ultimately what the dialogues are meant to reveal.

Even so, I find myself wondering whether the expression that seems “natural” and makes the dialogue intelligible to me as a speaker and listener come from importing English cues. For example, would a speaker who has truly internalized the inflections of ancient Greek need to group phrases as much as I do?

Or again, I emphasize by doing three things: varying general pitch, loudness, and tempo. That seems natural. Is it?

Finally, I act mainly by expressing passions. Such passions as anger or uproarious laughter seem straightforward enough. But what about something more subtle — say, sarcasm or irony? Are there natural ways of expressing these things?

If you have suggestions about these matters, I’d love to hear them!

Your Plato project sounds intriguing, I’d love to hear more about it.

AS

Over the last few months, I’ve started to work with some friends on performing Plato’s dialogues. The project is in its infancy, though, as we try to get more people on board.

PB