This fascinating introduction to the comedy of Menander is the work of two classical scholars, both of whom have worked extensively as theatre practitioners. This is the first book to consider the plays of Menander primarily as performance pieces and to uncover the dramatic technique of this widely admired comic writer, whose plays had all but disappeared until the 1950s. Looking at the theatrical context of Menandrian comedy in its widest sense, the book includes discussions of recent productions, the recovery of the texts, the treatment of women and slaves, the nature of Menander's comedy, and where it may have led within the European tradition. This book will be of interest to both students of theatre and classicists.

Foreword
Preface
A Comic Tradition: The Search for New Comedy
Menander in Time and Place
Theatre and Society
The Maker of Plays
Menander's People
Menander's Legacy
Appendix 1: A Summary of Plutarch's Comparison between Aristophanes and Menander
Speaking of the Play
Famous Lost Words
Menander at the Getty
Chronology
Selected Bibliography
Index