Final Review Tuesday April 08 2014 7 57 PM Theatre History Difficulties in studying theatre history We focus on western theatre Greece is western We make large generalizations about time and geographies Theatre is ephemeral There is limited extant existing material Thousands of plays written in Ancient Greece but less than 50 survived Shakespeare s The Globe Theatre Buchnell s drawing of the Swan Theatre is what was used to determine what Shakespeare s theatre looked like Sources of information about Greek Theatre Extant texts Texts in existence give us clues on what Greek Theatre was like Archaeological remains Theatres that were built of stone help us visualize the architechture Visual art Commentaries Aristotle In Greece it was primarily statues and vase paintings Pronomos vase approx 400 BC Greek Tragedy 80 years of Poetics Genres Time period 80 years Comedy mocking men in power Tragedy big themes Satyr plays making fun of the tragic protagonists Battle of Salamis Greeks won Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta Sparta won End of Golden Age of Greece between Persian and Peloponnesian War Golden Age and Pericles Aristophanie s The Frog Tragedy Aristotle s About Poetics Work on the subject of tragedy Tragedy an imitation of action that is serious complete and of certain magnitude pity and fear catharsis Tragedy means goat song in Greek sung by goats Or song with goat prize Serious complete and of a certain magnitude Protagonists of tragic event must be king salesman or heroes Pity and fear Catharsis purgation We only experience pity if we witness an undeserved fortune Puts him in opposition to Plato tragedy moral danger to the citizens Aristotle s 13th Chapter of Poetics Peripeteia core of the tragic myth sudden change of fate Hamartia failure to discern what s right Final Page 1 Dionysus Dithyramb Space Chorus Form Audience Sophocles Hamartia failure to discern what s right God of wine festivals harvest fertility Satyrs Dionysus worshippers who sang to him these became rituals Satyric play Dithyramb Aristotle s 4th chapter of Poetics Tragedy was evolved from satyric play by a transformation in which the subject matter was gradually enlarged and comic element discarded Dionysiac cult song chanted by a chorus and its leader Dialogue between lyrics and verbal part between chorus and the actor Thespis steps out of Dithyramb and enacts Dionysus Dithyramb means 2 doors twice the door of life Tragedy and Dionysus City Dionysiac Festival Dionysus NOT a part of the Olympic circle Political aspect Aristocracy Democracy more about citizens Dionysus of Lenaea comedy Dionysus Eleutherus tragedy The festivals were competitions and happened twice every year Skini stage Deus ex machina balcony Orchestra Ekkyklima moving platform that allows the audience to see what s going on inside of the house palace Choros chorus No drop curtain one act play Chorus provides the money for the play choregos Weakness of action predict prognosis when drama rises lyricism drops Number of actors in Aeschylus was 2 Sophocles was 3 Euripides was more Athenian citizens Theorika Fund fund that came from the city of Athens to the poor people who couldn t afford tickets Most of his tragedies take their heroes names human centered He lived through the Golden Era Mortals control their choices but not their destiny Oedipus 430 420 BC Dramatic irony when the audience knows something before the protagonist Tragic conflict because he s trying to find out who killed his father but it was him Hubris much pride self confidence Rome Medieval and Renaissance Theatre Theatre practice in Greece Occasional and competitive Large festival was City Dionysia Different days with different plays tragedy satyr comedy Rome 240 BC 476 AD Adapted from Greek Theatre Actors all male and masked Comedy more popular than tragedy more like a sit com Final Page 2 Comedy more popular than tragedy more like a sit com Performed at festivals called Ludi along with other entertainment Paratheatricals at the Ludi Bread and Circuses 200 BC 11 days of performance 27 BC 43 days of Ludi By the end of the Roman Empire there were 100 days of Ludi Mimes men and women unmasked Gladiator combat people were captured trained and fought to death for entertainment Bestiarii gladiators fought wild animals to the death Christians were a threat and would often be chosen for this Naumachia coliseum where they fought to death Anti theatrical prejudice in Rome The church said it was taking over the Bible Medieval Period Roman Emperor Constantine moved Roman capital to Constantinople Fall of Rome 476 AD Power of church approx 50 years without theatre After 10 C AD Church uses theatre for religious teachings Quem quaeritis return of theatre with religious texts Pageant wagon parade route that would go around and reenact Bible stories Renaissance or Rebirth 14 C to 17 C Return to classics of Greece and Rome Humanism free will The most common playwright was anonymous You wrote for the glory of God Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation 1517 and Henry VIII 1540 and Anglican Church Trade and Age of Exploration Gutenberg and Printing Press 1454 Bibles printed in vernacular Now you can read it in your own language Elizabethan England 1558 1603 1588 English defeated Spanish Armada Religious stability secured Anglican power Patron of the arts Staging practice Private theatres ex Blackfriar Indoor inside city limits more expensive Public theatres ex The Globe Outdoor outside city limits less expensive Bear baiting dogs and bears would be released and fought to their death in The Bear Garden The Globe Theatre Shakespeare s theatre Built in 1599 burned in 1613 Polygon Partial roof The floor was called the Yard and these were the cheap seats groundings stand here Many levels held approx 1500 people Characteristics Thrust stage that s raised Traps things below the stage can come up Backed by Tiring House fa ade stage serving as a set piece Above stage are Heavens zodiac on ceiling Discovering space Bare stage Final Page 3 Bare stage Very little props and set pieces Happened during the day It s outside and they don t have lighting Shakespearian theatre is for profit Sharing companies had stakes and got percentages from the profit Commercial theatre the purpose was to make money Acting All male casts Declamatory style Limited rehearsal time Sides actors received only their lines from the script paper was expensive Contemporary costumes Elizabethan Playwrights Christopher
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