Theater History Theatre of Ancient Greece and Rome 8 28 PM 5 9 11 The Seagull The concept of the director Concept that got disposed of Masha was a sorcerer controlling all of the events that occurred DIDN T GET APPROVED The swaying of the people subtle theme symbolism What are the difficulties in studying theatre history We are focusing on Western Theatre 1600 years and the entire globe Highlights of western theatre history We make large generalizations about time and geographies Theatre is ephemeral There is limited extant material o DeWitt Van Buchell drawing of The Swan 1596 Drawing of The Globe Theatre Shakespeare s theatre Copy of the sketch Sources of Information about Greek Theatre Extant texts o Have some existing texts o Can ascertain some information o Thousands of Greek plays we have around 45 plays in existence by 4 authors Archeological remains Commentaries such as Aristotle Visual art in Greece primarily statues and vase painting Origins of Western Theatre Ritual Theories Dionysus o Origin of Tragedy Dithyramb choral odes to honor gd God of wine fertility revelry and then theatre o Origin of Comedy Phallic processionals Gerald Else s Great man Theory o Actor Thespis stepped out of dithyramb chorus to enact role o Playwright Aeschylus introduced second actor for Thespis to of gd Thespians talk to Athens artistic center Sparta military Delphi magic Citizen is defined by his city state The Greek World 534 BC to 476 AD Ancient Greece o Political Structure Democratic City states polis o Religion Polytheistic Gods interacted with humans o Cultural Values Competition Olympics Wisdom and reason Rhetoric and oratory Male dominated Theatre practice in ancient Greece Occasional and competitive o Tragedy means goat song o Happened at very specific times once a year etc o Part of a competition o The winner of the competition would win the goat Festivals o 534 BC first festival specifically devoted to theatre o 3 major festivals in Ancient Greece o 5 day festival Athens all citizens MALE expected to attend o at the end of the 5 days comedic playwrights compete o Package of plays present their plays playwrights would write their trilogies o Audience Whole polis not sure about women and slaves Theater was a civic duty there were many lessons within the plays o Types of plays at these festivals Tragedy Oedipus Rex Tragic flaw Based on historical or mythical stories Feature kings queens and gds Hero has a flaw hamartia that leads to his her downfall end in a bad place Teaches the audience a lesson and allows them to release their emotions catharsis emotional relase Comedy Sexual references Low brow topics Everyday people The main character faces a difficult situation happy idea in Lysistrata sex strike Teasing her husband Humor comes from sex jokes scatological potty jokes and satires of famous people Satyr plays satyr half man half goat Short comic play that made fun of tragedies or politics Features the satyr part man part goat Written to accompany tragedies Parodied mythical stories Only one extant satyr play Cyclops There were thousands of plays written but only 32 tragedies 11 comedies 1 satyr survive from four playwrights TRAGEDIANS Aeschylus 525 456BC Earliest extant plays Wrote 80 plays 7 extant Big winner popular Introduced the 2nd actor and shrunk the chorus Sophocles 496 406BC Wrote 114 plays 7 extant plus fragments Won many times Focused on HUBRIS Introduced the 3rd actor Euripides 485 406BC Wrote 90 plays 18 extant Plays featured more sensational violent plots Least popular bad boy rebel Comic Playwrights Aristophanes 445 385 BC Only examples of ancient comedy Wrote 44 plays Included sex jokes scatological humor and political jokes Greek Theatre Practice Actors All men Maximum of 3 actors on stage The Chorus o 50 down to 14 men o narrators of the play o Characters o Source of discussion with protagonist o Ideal spectator o Spectacle Dancing strophe and antistrophe dance moves Theatre of Dionysus Location Just below acropolis Made of stone carved into mountains Semi circle setting Stadium like All outdoors PHYSICAL THEATRE o Theatron seeing place up to 15 00 seats o Orchestra dancing place o Skene building at the back fa ade stage o Parados entry ways for the chorus o Theymele altar Special effects no props or set o Ekkyklema no violence on stage o Revolving or rolling platform hidden behind skene doors o Mechane Crane standing behind the skene Used for appearance of gds or for fantastical flights on birds dues ex machina gd from the machine Costumes o Tragedy Robes and accessories to show character o Comedy Satyr Padded body suits comic appearance Phallus o Chorus All costumed alike May be human or mythical animal o Masks and Shoes Multiple characters Amplify your voice later developed built in megaphone Had emblems to communicate gender race job class All red hair means prostitutes in ancient theater Large Shoes Platform soles Roman Theatre Rome 240 BC 276 AD 05 10 2011 Theatre in Rome Performed at festivals called Ludi with other entertainments o Para Theatricals at Ludi o Theatre of Pompey and Gladiator Barracks o Bread and Circuses feed them and entertain them and then they won t revolt o 200 BC 11 days of performance o 27BC 43 days of festival o by the end of the empire there were 100 days of Ludi Like a carnival Adapted from Greek drama Actors all male and masked Different style of comedy than in Greece o More like a sit com Mimes o Men and women unmasked Gladiator fights Bestiarii o Beast fights o Roman zoos Naumachia o Naval battles o Flood the coliseum and reenact naval battles Anti theatrical prejudice in Rome Tertullian s De Spactaculis composed between 196 212 AD o About not going to the theatre because Christ would not like it The Medieval Period Roman emperor Constantine moved the Roman capital to Constantinople 330 AD Fall of Rome 476 AD Approx 500 years without theatre Middle Ages of Medieval Period Power of Church was dominant as well Spiritual world was dominant After 10C AD church uses theatre for church teachings o Quem Quaeritis 925 AD Medieval Theatre o Whale jawbone on stage resembles hell Church was NOT fans of theatre Pageant Wagon Written plays written by anonymous about the glorification of gd Highly religious plays Hroswitha of Gandersheim German Nun Modeled Plays on Roman Comedy Adapting roman comedy Christian Themes esp the virtue of chastity First female playwright Shakespeare Things to look out for 05 10 2011 English culture of the
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