Theatre Final Study Guide Ancient Greek Theatre Limitations 1 Covering thousands of years of theatre in short amount of time generalizing 2 Focusing on Western theatre 3 We don t know much because theatre is ephemeral not written down Sources of information about Greek theatre Extant texts Archaeological remains plays from 5th century B C but ruins of theatre from 4th century B C Visual art primarily vase painting Written reports Sparta war fighting Athens enlightenment artsy Adelphi spiritual Men citizen native born Women produce children and run the home Chronology Trojan War Thespis Playwrights Surrender of Athens Aristotle s Poetics Roman Empire under Julius Caesar Dionysia Every March in Athens celebrates Dionysus first Dithyrambs then theatre Dithyrambs hymns dancing and singing troupes of 50 Thespis a dithyramb singer brilliant idea to step out of the chorus The First Actor 3 Types of Plays Comedy o Everyday people o A crazy happy idea o Sex jokes scatological potty jokes lampooning famous people o From komodia revel song Satyr Play o Part man part goat o Attend Dionysus loves wine o Parodied mythical stories o One extant satyr play Cyclops Tragedy o Mythic or heroic o Kings queens warriors o Hero with character flaw o Katharsis audience is so moved they express lots of emotion learn a lesson o From tragados goat song goat was prize Playwrights Upper class men Well educated Not making money Actor and coach Tragic actors submit 3 tragedies and 1 satyr play tetralogy Comic authors submit one comedy Aeschylus earliest extant plays introduced the 2nd actor shrank chorus wrote 80 plays Sophacles introduced the 3rd actor more conversational focus on hubris overbearing pride wrote 114 plays Euripides wrote 90 plays 17 extant sensational violent plots disillusioned Aristophanes 44 plays 11 extant political jokes one comic playwright Aristotle Philosopher wrote The Poetics Six elements of tragedy 1 Plot order of actions in a play 2 Character revealed by actions 3 Thought Idea theme 4 Verbal language how words are written 5 Music not part of effectiveness 6 Spectacle costuming set design special effects Recognition moment where hero realizes everything s going to go badly Peripety reversal moment where hero loses everything Archon selects plays sponsors and judges Choregos richest men paid to house feed train the chorus Theatrones building manager tickets enforcing rules Thorikos oldest example of theatre Physical Theatre Theatron Sitting place Orchestra dancing place Scene building behind backstage Parados where chorus enters Thymele altar Ekkyklema hidden platform shows dead bodies Mechane crane deus ex machina Greek Actors All men Chorus always amateurs Travel exempt from military Became celebrities teachers Formed a guild 288 B C E Costuming Masks show gender race job class encouraged big gestures Shoes soft boots for dancing comic chorus platform sandals nobility tragedy Tragedy usually robes Comedy Satyr padded body suits male characters wear phallus Chorus costumed alike human or animal Rome 240 B C 476 A D Para Theatras entertainment that doesn t strictly classify as theatre Mimes real on stage women strippers prostitutes sex violence on stage Gladiatorial combats fighting to the death Bestiarii Beast fighters animals eating other animals then put people Naumachia sea battles flood floor of theatre bring naval ships put slaves on Christians lions ships fought to the death The Medieval Period Roman Emperor Constantine moved Roman capital to Constantinople 330 A D Fall of Rome 476 A D Approximately 500 years without theatre First theatrical performance came back in Catholic church Quem Quaeritis Power of Church Theatre through teaching of Church religion Most common author Anonymous The Renaissance or Rebirth Rebirth of the classics of Greece in Rome Rebirth from Middle Ages Humanism Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation 1517 and Henry VIII and Anglican Church Age of trade and exploration Gutenberg and Printing Press Bibles printed in vernacular The Italian Renaissance Elizabethan England 1558 1603 1588 English defeated Spanish Armada Religious stability secured Anglican power Patron of the arts Shakesepeare and the English Renaissance Queen Elizabeth I King James Christopher Marlowe hugely successful playwright deid early Where plays were performed At court Private playhouses indoor theatres more expensive Public playhouses o Outdoor theatre o Daylight o Bare stage Theatres The Swan o 3 levels of seating o Thrust stage The Heavens on inner rafters o Overhang o Balcony lord s rooms o Columns o Tiring house o 2 entrances or 3 o DeWitt drawing o Built 1599 burned in 1613 o Shakespeare Theatre o Second globe built in 1614 o Closed by Puritans and English Civil War in 1642 o Rebuilt in London in 1997 The Globe Blackfriars o Built by James Burbage o Indoor private theatre o Winter home for king s men in 1609 o Closely resembled Globe stage Who did theatre Shareholders hired men boys Theatre companies Richard Burbage lead actor William Shakespeare Later King s men Town and touring Costumes Actors wore clothing of their own time no matter where the play was set Audiences Very poor could not afford very rich did not attend Other popular entertainments Had an active interactive relationship with actors Daylight meant audience was fully visible Eating drinking prostitution pickpockets o Bear baiting o Bull baiting o Dog fights o Cock fights Why go to theatre Popular entertainment See the big name stars Blood and guts Music How to end a play o Always dance at end of play o Enemies in show dance with each other even dead ones William Shakespeare Born 1564 Actor shareholder and resident playwright in Lord Chamberlain s men Householder in the Globe and Blackfriars Wrote 3 types of plays o Tragedy everyone dies o Comedy everyone gets married o History Othello Richard Burbage Paul Robeson 1930 in London First successful production with Othello of African decent Not done in America until 1940 Transition to Romanticism and Realism England 1642 Charles I beheaded by puritans who establish commonwealth They shut down the theatre 1660 The Restoration Charles II returns to England from France Brings women with him and Neoclassicism Neoclassicism o Rigid and rule based o Unities Time place and action o Tragedy about nobility o Five acts Romanticism o Social context o Rousseau nature over civilization o Revolutions 1776 in America 1789 in France o In literature The Hunchback of Notre Dame
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