The magic at the doric temple
It was the beginning of the new millennium and I was standing on one of the world’s most ancient sites: The Doric Temple of Segesta. Set on the edge of a deep canyon in the midst of wild, desolate mountains, this huge, fifth-century BC temple stood with the dignity of a majestic king. It had been perfectly preserved through over 2,500 years of foreign invasions and earthquakes, which was quite amazing considering it was an hour drive from Palermo and situated in one of the most seismic zones in Europe.
Though the temple had no roof and its 36 giant columns were never fluted, giving historians reason to believe it was unfinished; there was something very magical and mystical about it. The people of Segesta were obsessed with Greek culture and style and they claimed to be descendants of the defeated Trojans. As tribute to this obsession, they also built a massive theatre on a hilltop. However, the first representation of the theatrical work Una Festa per Aristofane wasn’t going to be staged at the theater; it was to be performed in front of the enchanted Doric temple.
As Creative Director of Dionysos Magazine, an online magazine sponsored by the European Union within a project called Network for Ancient Places of Performing Arts, I was asked to find a way to broadcast this comedy live on the Internet. Keep in mind this was only the year 2000, so this was a feat even CNN was still experimenting with; and CNN at least had electrical outlets in their center in Atlanta. The closest plug at this site was in a village 20 miles away; therefore my only possible connection was going to have to be through satellite. It felt as if I was directing my own Greek play without the benefit of knowing the ending.
Renting one hour of satellite time, testing the connection, assisting the technicians in installing the dish, helping them establish their position through GPS, and pointing the antenna to the satellite in the sky; we worked relentlessly until show time.
I organized the film crew, who was to film the night’s event; I prepped the journalists, who were to interview the actors and the director of the opera; and wondered all the while, will it work? I still remember the evening so vividly: driving my car away from the site with my laptop in my lap and going to the closest place that I could get an Internet connection. I held my cell phone against my ear to phone friends all over the world asking them to check the quality of the images they saw on their screen.
But it was the moment when I looked down at my own screen that I realized what I had done: wow, it was magic.
