3 14 What are the difficulties in studying theatre history We are focusing on Western Theatre We make large generalizations about time and geographies Theatre is ephemeral There is limited extant material Sources of Information about Greek Theatre Extant texts Archaeological remains Commentaries Such as Aristotle Visual art in Greece primarily statues and vase painting Origins of Western Theatre Ritual Theories o Origin of Tragedy Dithyramb Choral odes to honor Dionysus o Origin of Comedy Phallic processions Gerald Else s Great Man Theory o Actor Thespis stepped out of dithyramb chorus to enact role of God Thespians o Playwright Aeschylus introduced second actor Ancient Greece Political Structure o Democracy o City states polis i e Athens artistic center Sparta military Delphi magic Religion o Polytheistic o Gods interact with humans Festivals 534 BC First festival specifically devoted to theatre After each year three major festivals Playwrights presented a package 3 tragedies plus 1 satyr play Whole polis not sure about women and slaves o Houses feeds trains chorus actors Theoric Fund o Free tickets for poor Athenians tetralogy Audience Theatre as a Civic Duty Choregos Three types of plays Tragedy Comedy Satyr Based on Oedipus what are the qualities of a tragedy Part of trilogy Based on historical or mythic stories Hero has a flaw hamartia that leads to his her downfall Teaches the audience a lesson and allows them to release their emotions catharsis Comedy Everyday people The main character faces a difficult situation and has happy idea Humor comes from sex jokes scatological potty jokes and satires of famous people Satyr Play Features the satyr part man part goat Written to accompany tragedies Parodied mythical stories Only one extant satyr play Cyclops Only 32 tragedies and 12 comedies survived from 4 playwrights out of thousands of plays Thespis The first actor Three major playwrights Aeschylus 525 456BC Sophocles 496 406BC Euripides 485 406BC Greek Theatre practice Actors o All men o Maximum of 3 o Exempt from military Chorus o Between 14 50 men Characters Source of discussion with protagonist Ideal spectator Tell audience what to think about what is going on Spectacle Dancing Strophe and Antistrophe Characteristics of the physical theatre Theatron seeing place o Up to 15 000 seats Orchestra dancing place Skene building at the back Fa ade Stage Parados entry ways Thymele altar Special effects The Ekkyklema The Mechane o Revolving or rolling platform hidden behind skene doors o Crane standing behind the skene o Used for appearance of gods o Dues ex machine god from the machine From Rome to the Renaissance 3 26 Epochs in Pre Modern Theatre History Greek Theatre 625 BCE 330 BCE Roman Theatre 342 BCE 553 CE Medieval Theatre 600 CE 1300 CE Renaissance Theatre 1300 CE early 1600s CE PART 1 ROMAN THEATRE Anything Greece can do I can do better Scenae Frons ornamented building behind the stage used as a backdrop for the play More of a decoration than addition to the play Vitruvius 80 BCE 15 CE Roman Architect Wrote De Architectura On Architecture with a chapter on building theatres Would be rediscovered in Renaissance Roman Comic Playwrights Plautus 254 BCE 184 BCE Widely popular comic playwright Very influential in Renaissance o Menaechmi is source for Shakespeare s Comedy of Errors Terrence 185 159 BCE Wrote 6 plays all survive Combined multiple Greek sources into one play which he was criticized for Everyday language used less complicated meter Roman Tragic Playwright Seneca 5 BCE 65 CE Most famous Roman Tragedian All are adapted from Greek originals May not have been publicly presented Famous for rhetoric and aphorism Violent and sensational o Thyestes has bodies of children baked and eaten o In his version of Oedipus She slits her stomach open on stage Versus where she hangs herself and the chorus says she died a tragic death in original Roman Spectacle Entertainment Chariot racing Horse racing wrestling boxing Gladiatorial contests Wild animal fights Mock sea battles Built arenas coliseum and circuses circus maximus Fall of Rome Roman military was over extended Roman mercenaries foreigners revolted Roman administration breaks down empire too big to control Raiding barbarians attacked infrastructure like water supply The Church was left to pick up the pieces Decline of Empire Rise of Christendom Initially it was illegal to be Christian in Rome Christians were among persecuted groups o Tertullian To the lions 311 CE Constantine made it legal to be Christian 380 CE Theodosius I made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire Rome was first sacked in 410 CE last emperor deposed in 476 CE Pope Gregory I picks up the pieces in 590 CE PART 2 MEDIEVAL THEATRE Trends in Anti Theatricalism from what is True violent spectacle on display for sale Plato s Republic Theatre like mythology is lying and distracts us Tertullian Theatre like gladiatorial games is a mob enjoying Renaissance critics Theatre like dance or prostitution is the body English and American critics Theatre like gambling and gaming is a waste of time and money because it won t last Don t waste time Church Theatre The Medieval Church is opposed to theatre Very little survives about secular theatre Eventually the Church starts to use performance in its business Medieval Theatre Mystery Plays Tell stories from the Bible or lives of the saints Part of festivals Guilds fund and perform o Use festivals to promote work have fun Inside Church or outside on floats Major type is Passion Play o Has to do with last week of Jesus s life arrest trial execution resurrection Passion meant suffering Medieval Theatre Morality Plays Stories about virtue and how to live Allegorical symbolic Main character Everyman or Mankind Virtue Characters Prudence Charity Justice Hope Temperance Vice Characters Pride Lust Envy Death PART 3 THE RENAISSANCE Renaissance from French or Rinascimento Italian mean rebirth Begins in 1300 in Italy and slowly spreads through Europe different countries had Renaissance at different times Greek and Roman ideas are rediscovered in libraries or through archaeology Printing Press 1440 and travel spread ideas Rediscovering Theatrical Literature Re learning Greek Ottoman Empire Finding extant Greek plays Aeschylus Sophocles Euripides and Latin as lingua franca something in common Finding extant Roman plays Plautus Terrence and Seneca Plays discovered libraries archaeology from Ottoman and Arab Aristophanes
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