Paul Corey: Canadian Theatre and the Tragic Experience of Evil

This paper explores the experience of evil and the history of theatrical expression, in relation to contemporary Canadian theatre and the post-9/11 discourse of good and evil in the United States. If we define “evil” broadly as the harms humans cause and the sufferings they endure, then we can say that evil contributed to the birth of Western theatre in ancient Athens.  There are two important elements to the vision of evil (kakon) found in Greek tragedy: first, no human or divine force is understood to be either completely good or absolutely evil; second, the threat of evil can sometimes be contained but it can never be permanently defeated.  The Bush Administration has characterized the current “war on terror” as a dualistic struggle between absolute evil and good.  I will argue that Canadian theatre should draw on the Greek tragic account of good and evil in order to best critique melodramatic dualism and the hubristic desire for global omnipotence.