Thea 1030 1st Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Intro to Theatre Midterm Study Guide Greek Theatre City Dionysia Primary Religious Festival Featured new works by playwrights Theatre as form of worship Included orgies intoxication animal sacrifice Dionysus is god of wine revelry and rebirth In honor of him Tragedy Preferred form Tragedy important because it teaches a lesson Hero Heroine Hero takes responsibility for their action The Greek Theatre Theatron Seeing Place Scaena background Orchestra dancing and singing area nearest audience Production Elements Use of Chorus o Give background information o Act as ideal preferred audience o Offer philosophical observations o Balance actions of main characters o Create spectacle o Foreshadow The Actors o All male o 2 3 primary lead actors o Wore masks o Traditional for performance o Covered entire head o Highly detailed with hair and make up o Enabled principal actors to play several roles Ekkyklema o Rolling altar used to reveal dead bodies o Did not show violence on stage Deus ex Mechane God from Machine o Gods were flown onto the stage o Appearance of the God on stage with use of a machine o Contrived ending not enough time Roman Theatre Development of Roman Theatre o Theatre becomes a 3 standing structure 3 dimensional o Audience moves closer to stage See hear better o Reduced orchestra area to half Circular singing dancing area becomes half o Eliminated chorus o Borrow form of Religion from Greeks o Comedy writers streamline the comedic form by eliminating the chorus o Periaktoi Revowing triangular columns production element First attempt at scenic design Seneca 4 BCE 65 CE Only known roman tragedy writer Precursor to Elizabethan Drama 5 act structure incorporated on stage violence supernatural beings Greeks Romans Role model for us and how drama tragedy and comedic should be like on stage Chinese Theatre Jingju All male characters must wear a head dress Water Sleeve Extends emotion in the scene Everything must seem effortless and graceful Make up identifies role good or bad 3 Things Which Influence Japanese Chinese Theatre from the Greeks Romans Use of masks Use of music All male actors Renaissance Theatre 13 16th Century Renaissance means rebirth Rebirth of society culture etc Commedia Del Arte o New dramatic form o Art of comedy o Improvisational form of theatre o All characters are incorporations of stock characters These are characters who repeat throughout history Based upon stereotypes Characters Often carried slapsticks o Used for fighting o Used for noisemaking Performed Lazzi o Standard bits of comic business o Lazzi repetition of an action that makes you laugh Renaissance in London England Elizabethan Theatre Elizabeth reigns from 1558 1603 Arts flourished during her reign Elizabeth was a linguist She spoke 6 languages Government tried to get a tight leash on theatre because it could influence the people to revolt against them Crown controls the theatre Heavy government censorship Elizabethan Theatre Production All classes of people attended theatre Audience was divided into three tears levels o Pit Closest to the stage Groundlings poorest people watched from here They stand Lowest level o Galleries Sit on cushions Mid level o Boxes Box seats Richest people sit here Highest level o Acting Troupes 3 Distinct Levels Lowest Level Apprentice Level Youngest actors Help build set as well Mid Level Hirelings Hired for a specific role Highest Level Shareholders Most experienced Receive a percentage of what the show makes Paid the best Plays performed in repertoire Different plays everyday Different shows back to back Christopher Marlow 1564 1593 He creates might line o A new type of dramatic verse Iambic Pentameter o 5 beats to each line o 2 syllables to each beat o Accent falls on the second syllable This metered writing is adopted by other writers of the period Scansion the process of identifying the metric construction of the line of poetry in terms of the Iambic Pentameter Video Watched in Class The Taming of the Shrew Petruchio s father dies So he decides to marry the shrew for her father s money The shrew s name is Katherine and she has a nicer younger sister named Bianca Bianca cannot get married until the shrew does which conflicts with all of Bianca s love interests Petruchio s motto was Nothing comes amiss when money comes with all Petruchio plans to turn convert Katherine from wild Kate to a Kate conformable He plans to break her of her wicked ways so she will be nice like her young sister Bianca