Theatre History Ancient Greece 12 13 2012 Major playwrights Aeschylus o Agamemnon Sophocles o Focus on Hubris o Oedipus Antigone Euripides o More violent o Medea The Bacchae Aristophanes o Comic playwright o The Frogs The Birds Lysistrata Greek Theatre Practice All male actors Max of 3 actors on stage at a time backed with a chorus Exempt from military service Chorugus funds and produces the play The Chorus Chorus made of 50 14 men shrunk over time Helps audience understand what s happening like a narrator Also voice of reason for character voice of discussion Could be minor characters a mob towns people etc Spectacle moved together and looked cool Dancing Strophe and Antistrophe Ideal spectator Theatre of Dionysus Located just below the Acropolis in Athens o Shows how important theatre was it was central to the city Almost all thrust stages Characteristics of Greek Theatres Built into the hillside Seating was high up raked Seated up to 15 000 people Theatron o Where the audience sits means seeing place Orchestra o Circular space where chorus danced means dancing place Skene House o Behind orchestra at the back of the theatre o Used as a dressing room and for storage o Actors wait for ques there o Also the scene s background Fa ade Stage Parados Thymele o On sides of Theatron o Entry Ways for actors and chorus One single set that provides the background o We believe there was an alter not sure where though as this means alter Special Effects The Ekkyklema off stage The Mechane Music Lires flutes dancing o Revolving door on Skene House where wagon rolled to reveal something typically dead bodies since all violence happened o Crane behind Skene house used for appearance of Gods and could fly people around the stage Costumes Tragedy Comedy Satyr o Basic robes accessories to show the character o Padded body suits o Phallus might have indicated something about character Both forms wore Masks o Allowed actors to play multiple characters o Emblems to communicate race gender job o Might have had built in megaphone for projection Chorus all costumed alike human or mystical animal typically Theatre History Rome 12 13 2012 Rome 240 BC 476 AD Takes over Greece Roman Theatre elaborate Not built into hills but looked like Greek theatres just more Adopted from Greek Drama All actors were male and masked BUT in Rome comedy was preferred not tragedy o Also more like sit com type comedy Performed at festivals called Ludi which included other entertainments Theatre not as popular as it was in Greece Ludi Give them bread circuses Starts off as 11 days of entertainment for populous by end of the empire Ludi lasts 100 days Functioned to show power of Rome and to keep citizens happy and to distract them from revolting Christians fed to lions gladiator fights theatre Para Theatricals at Ludi Mimes Gladiator battles Bestiarii Naumachia battles o Beasts from across Rome would be brought to fight each other and to fight people o Flooded coliseum and had gladiators fight to the death naval Anti Theatrical Prejudice in Rome Ludi were hyper violent and sexualized Christians didn t like this and took a stance o Also didn t like it because they were getting eaten by lions Christians write about opposing theatre Tertullian writes a famous essay on it Heading into the Medieval Period Rome Christianity go head to head Constantine Catholic emperor moves Roman capital to Constantinople and Rome crumbles Approx 500 years pass without theatre since the Church and hierarchy ruled Theatre History Medieval Period 12 13 2012 Medieval Theatre Around 10 AD Church begins to bring back theatre to use for biblical teachings Quem Quaeritis 925 AD o Eastern Biblical stuff Involves a lot of spectacle Hell s Mouth very appealing Pageant Wagon Theatre almost exclusively religious Most plays signed Annonymous because it s not about the glory of the playwright it s about the glory of God o Whale s jawbone typically made to show the entrance to Hell o Hell is shown as unappealing while heaven is shown to be o Parade floats made by a group built to make scenes of biblical stories Paraded around tons of stories Hroswitha of Gandersheim First documented women playwright Was a nun who modeled Roman comedy Christian themes usually triumphed in the end of her plays Theatre History Renaissance Shakespeare 12 13 2012 Renaissance or Rebirth 14th Century 17th Century Rebirth of the teachings of Greece and Rome return to glory Unfolds early on in Italy eventually spreads across Europe Returns to the classics of Greece in Rome in art architecture etc Human beings are also of value and can do a lot o Value humanism and free will Protestant Reformation and Anglican Church arise Age of Trade Exploration Gutenberg the Printing Press 1454 o Bibles printed in the vernacular A lot of stage craft and theatre building Plays mostly copied from Greece and Rome Theatres are very ornate and architecture is crazy Perspective and vanishing points utilized Elizabethan England 1558 1603 In 1588 the English defeat the Spanish Armada and naval power shifts making England the dominant world power Religious stability Elizabeth secures Anglican power Queen Elizabeth and King James were huge art patrons who allowed people like Shakespeare to flourish Theatre becomes commercial o It s about making money o For profit theatre rises o Performed during the day o Balcony seating non raked stage tiered seating o Crowd made of commoners Elizabethan Staging Practice Public vs Private Theatres o Private had less commoners and was allowed year round performances as they were indoor theatres o Public theatres were outside and full of commoners Theatres were located in the South Bank in London which was the entertainment district The Globe Theatre Public theatre with a polygon shape not a circle just a lot of sides Partial roof covering the galley seating Multiple levels held up to 2 500 Yard in front of the stage o Groundlings or cheap seats were located there Very poor couldn t afford plays and the very wealthy had plays come to them Raised Thrust Stage o Traps o Backed by Tiring House Fa ade stage Used as a backdrop and for actors to be off stage o Heavens Under awning above the stage heavens were painted Way of showing they were part of a larger cosmology o Discovery space plays demanded it o Stage was bare essentially scene location and setup was said in the lines by the actors o Plays done only during the day For Profit Theatre The first time for commercial theatre ever
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