Several years ago when Bill Kershner took a Greek class from fellow Sweet Briar instructor Eric Casey, he had it in his mind to one day use the knowledge to adapt Aristophanes' ancient play "The Frogs" for a modern performance in English. What he didn't know then was that the translation would somehow end up incorporating doo-wop music of the 1950s and '60s.

But that's just what happened. Kershner, SBC professor of theater and music, noticed something familiar about the rapid-fire "brek-ek-ek ex" syllables sung by the Greek chorus in the traditional version of "The Frogs." To him the sound recalled the nonsensical yet indelible vocal hooks from early rock 'n' roll and R&B nuggets such as "Blue Moon," "Get a Job," and "Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight."

"The idea [came] because in the Greek version, the chorus sings 'brek ek ek ex koax koax,' which the Greeks thought sounded like frogs croaking, words that sounded to me like doo-wop music," he said. "I don't know where the idea came from, I just thought it sounded like fun."

Despite the seemingly irreverent take on a classic, Kershner, who is directing "The Frogs," noted that the original Greek choruses also sang tunes from the collective public consciousness. "That's always the trick in performing any ancient Greek play [in Greek adaptations]," he said, "to make the chorus interesting. Most of the real ancient Greek productions used tunes the audience knew."

The Sweet Briar Theatre Department will present this mix of playful humor, Greek mythology, and vintage rock 'n' roll in its spring production of "The Frogs," which runs from Thursday, April 7 through Saturday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 10 at 2 p.m. in the Murchison Lane Auditorium of the Babcock Fine Arts Center.

Aside from its 20th-century adorning, the play features many characters from Greek mythology and religion including Dionysus, god of wine, played by Caitlin Cashin '07; Herakles (Omar Ott), the famous hero; Pluto (John Goulde, SBC religion professor), god of the Underworld; Charon (Michelle Demere '08), who rows dead souls across the River Styx; and even Euripides (Shaheen Moosa '07) and Aeschylus (Emily Olson '07), tragic playwrights who have to fight each other for the right to return to Athens with Dionysus.

Although modest about how much of Greek language he's actually mastered, Kershner said he felt comfortable enough to do things his own way this for this project. At first, his only goal was to incorporate a few doo-wop songs into the Greek version of "The Frogs." "If you make your own version of the choral lyrics, then you can make the songs fit any tune you want," he said. "I ended up getting carried away and adapting the entire play."

Once he got rolling, Kershner expanded his "Happy Days"-ish vision beyond basic doo-wop into a variety of vocal-oriented classics from the late '50s and pre-Beatles '60s. "The Great Pretender," the Beach Boys' "Surfer Girl," "Love Potion No. 9," and definitive rockers "Hound Dog," and "Johnny B. Goode" all found their way into Kershner's skewed adaptation.

Kershner said he was surprised by the songs the cast members — led by Cashin, Moosa, and Olson — were familiar or not familiar with.

"Many of them were songs that the students didn't know at all, but they knew some of them," he said. "They all seemed to know ‘Surfer Girl.' " Kershner was particularly perplexed by their familiarity with the pre-rock era standard, "Mr. Sandman." "For some reason, they all knew that one," he said. "They are definitely getting an education in 1950s music."

Despite the inherent generation gap and quirkiness of the source material, Kershner said his adaptation hasn't been a hard sell to his theater students. "They are really having a great time with that stuff," he said. "It genuinely has made them quite excited. Everybody loves pop music."

He also credits the choreography of Kathryn "Kit" Robertson '06 with further inspiring the young performers. "We have a lot of students working on this," he said. "And I think they're really enjoying that a student is doing the choreography."

Besides his labor of love with the music, Kershner emphasizes the inherent pleasures of working on a Greek-rooted production. In "The Frogs," he notes, Aristophanes is actually satirizing drama itself, as his characters battle each other over who is the better playwright.

"The Greeks are the masters in terms of theater. It all comes from there," Kershner said. "The particularly interesting thing, especially for a teacher, is that Aristophanes is making fun of drama."

And despite its whimsical title, "The Frogs" is fraught with political implications that echo in today's world. Aristophanes, Kershner said, did not believe in the premise behind the Peloponnesian War that raged for 30 years between Athens and Sparta.

"What gives it more power is that it was written during the Peloponnesian War," he said. "Athens lost the war, so it turns out Aristophanes was right."

Another parallel to modern times in "The Frogs" is the viciousness of its political humor. While some of the play's general jokes are tame by today's standards, Kershner said the political barbs — surprisingly — go beyond what is considered above board today.

"The biggest challenge in the adaptation was trying to make the language modern and understandable," he said.

Working on "The Frogs" reinforced the director's amazement at the timelessness of the themes explored in Greek dramas. "It's still the question that all countries are engaged in trying to figure out: Is it worth sending people off to die for a cause? That's why Greek art is as interesting today as it was then. They were dealing with the same questions that we are."

Cast members also include Rosanna Hawkins '07 as Xanthias; Tess Drahman '08 as Aiakos; Courtney Sames '06 as Koryphaios; Virginia Everett '06 as the corpse; Cameron Seay, Lynchburg College Class of '08, and Brook Sterling, LC Class '07, as pall bearers; Angelica Guarino '06 as the maid of Persephone; Cat Ashley '07 as the waitress; Elisabeth Tutwiler '07 as Plathane; Katie Beth Ryan '08, Laurel Watts '08, and Kim Battad '07 as officers; Elizabeth Caldwell '07 as the slave of Pluto; and Liz Killiam '08 as the dancing girl. Maureen McGuire '08 and Fatima Lbida '08 join other cast members in the chorus.

Tickets for the "The Frogs" are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $3 for students and can be reserved by calling the Sweet Briar Box Office at (434) 381-6120.

A summary of "The Frogs" by Aristophanes

This document was originally published in The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 2. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 30-31.

The play of "The Frogs" turns upon the decline of tragic art. Euripides was dead; so were Sophocles and Agathon; there remained none but second-rate tragedians. Dionysus misses Euripides, and wishes to bring him back from Hades, the infernal world. In this he imitates Hercules, but though equipped with the lion-hide and club of the hero, he is very unlike him in character, and as a dastardly voluptuary, gives rise to much laughter. Here we may see the boldness of the comedian in the right point of view; he does not scruple to attack the guardian god of his own art, in honor of whom the play was exhibited, for it was the common belief that the gods understood fun as well, if not better, than men. Dionysus rows himself over the Acherusian lake, where the frogs pleasantly greet him with their croaking. The proper chorus, however, consists of the shades of the initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries, and odes of wonderful beauty are assigned to them. Aeschylus had at first assumed the tragic throne in the lower world, but now Euripides is for thrusting him off.

Pluto proposes that Dionysus should decide this great contest; the two poets, the sublimely wrathful Aeschylus, the subtle, vain Euripides stand opposite each other and submit specimens of their art; they sing, they declaim against each other, and all their failings are characterized in masterly style. At last a balance is brought, on which each lays a verse; but let Euripides take what pains he will to produce his most ponderous lines, a verse of Aeschylus instantly jerks up the scale of his antagonist. Finally he grows weary of the contest, and tells Euripides he may mount into the balance himself with all his works, his wife, children and servant, Cephisophon, and he will lay against them only two verses. Dionysus, in the meantime, has come over to the cause of Aeschylus, and though he had sworn to Euripides that he would take him back with him from the lower world, he dispatches him with an allusion to his own verse from the Hippolytus. Aeschylus, therefore, returns to the living world and resigns the tragic throne to Sophocles during his absence.