THET110 FINAL EXAM REVIEWDifficulties in studying thet history:- Focusing on Western theater- Make generalizations about time and geography- Limited surviving materialEpochs in Pre-Modern theater history in Mediterranean Europe:- 1. Greek theater- 2. Roman theater- 3. Medieval theater (after fall of Rome)- 4. Renaissance theater Greece- How do we know about it?o Surviving texts, archaeological remains, visual art in Greece (ex: statues), commentaries (ex: by Aristotle)- Origins:o Origin of tragedy- “dithyramb”- choral odes to honor Dionysus (god of wine and fertility) o Origin of comedy- phallic processions (sexual, inappropriate)- Great man theory:o Actor, thespis- was a singer of dithyrambs but then he was the first personever to appear on stage as an actor playing a character (“thespians”) Gerald Else also saw Aeschyulus as the other founding father of greek tragedy- Ancient Greece :o Political structure: Democratic City-states (polis) Athens= artistic scene Sparta= military Delphi= magico Religion: Polytheistic (many gods)- gods interacted with humanso Cultural values: Competition Wisdom and reason Rhetoric and oratoryo Theater: Occasional and competitive - Tragedy means “goat songs” Festivals- First festival= devoted to theater- Tetralogy- package of three plays: 3 tragedies and 1 satyr o Satyr= combo of tragedy and comedy, used phallic props- Audience= whole polis Civic duty- Theoric fund- free tickets to festivals for poor Athenians- Choregos- wealthy Athenians who house, feed, train, and cover all expenses not covered by the state for chorus actorso 3 types of plays: 1. Tragedy 2. Comedy 3. Satyro TRAGEDY : Qualities of tragedy plays (based on Oedipus):- Based on historical/mythical stories- Features kings, queens, gods - Hamartia- a hero’s flaw that leads to his/her downfall- Catharsis- allows them to release their emotions and “cleanse”- Teaches the audience a lesson Playwrights:- Aeschylus- Sophocles- Euripideso COMEDY : Qualities of comedy plays (based on Lysistrata a comedic play):- Everyday people- Main character has a difficult situation and a “happy lead”- Humor comes from phallic/sex jokes and satires of famous people Playwright:- Aristophanes o SATYRS: Qualities of satyr plays:- Features the satyr-part man/part goat- Written to accompany tragedies- Parodied mythical stories- ONLY surviving satyr play: Cyclops- Greek theatero All maleso Maximum of three actorso Actors are exempt from the military- The choruso Between 12-50 male memberso Sources of discussion with protagonisto Idea spectatoro Spectacle Dancing- Antistrophe o Sang Antistrophe- west to east Strophe- east to west- Characteristics of Physical Theater:o Theatron- “seeing place”o Orchestra- “dancing place”o Skene- building at the back of play area (like a Facade stage used by Romans)o Parados- entry ways o Thymele- alter/platform- Special effects of the Physical Theater:o Ekkyklema- revolving/rolling platform hidden behind skene doors o Mechan- crane standing behind stage used for appearance of gods “deus ex machine”= god from the machineRome- Roman theater:o Improved theater to amman (Greek was epidaurus) SIMILARITIES between roman & greek theater:- Both had arena style seating- Both were outdoors- Both use masks - Both had male-only performances- Both had theaters in major cities DIFFERENCES of roman theater- Had death on stage- Built from the ground up advance in architectureo (greek built their theaters from side of mountains)- made seats steeper to fit a larger audience- had a back wall called “scenae frans” enclosed space onstageo (greek was kept open)o Vitruvius- Roman architect who wrote “De Architectura” instructions on building theaterso Comic Playwrights: Plautus- widely popular and influential- Plays about 2 twins finding each other in same town Terrence- wrote 6 plays, uses everyday language, combined multiple greek sources into one play Seneca- most famous, plays adapted from greek originals, famous for rhetoric and aphorisms (short sayings), plays were violent - Roman entertainment:o Chariot racingo Wild animal fightso Wrestling- Fall of Romeo Barbarians attacked infrastructure o Empire was too big to controlo Church was left to pick up the pieces- Rise of Christendomo 1. Was “illegal” initially to be a Christian in Romeo 2. Christianity made legalo 3. Christianity made official religion of roman empireo 4. Decline of empireMedieval Theater- Anti-theatricalism- belief that theater is wrong and bado 1. Theater tells lies—lies are against Christianityo 2. Theater is violent—violence/murder is against religiono 3. Theater promotes prostitution--- prostitution against religiono 4. Theater promotes gambling--- gambling against religion- Church theatero Medieval church against theatero Church eventually starts to use performanceo Mystery plays- tell stories from the Bible/ lives about saints Part of festivals Inside churches Passion play= major type of the mystery plays that show last part of Jesus’ lifeo Morality plays- stories about virtue/ “right” way to live Allegorical (symbolic) “everydayman”= main character “sloth”= ex of a vice characteristics Renaissance- Renaissance= “rebirth”- begins in Italy - greek and roman are rediscovered - mass produce ideas- re-learn greek- latin as “lingua franca” universal language - discovery old greek plays- scenic design invented in renaissance o perspective scenery- neoclassical unities:o desire to follow Arisdotle’s “Rules” 1. Unity of action- only tell one story 2. Unity of place- only one setting 3. Unity of time- only one day- Academics:o People study how greek/roman plays were produced o Fascinated by greeks/romanso Built teatro olimpico as a scenae frans but showed a greek play in a Renaissance scenery (wrong)- Who pays for theater: o Greek and roman civically fundedo Medieval church funded o Renaissance Academies—wealthy “renaissance men”o Renaissance courts—wealthy courts Commedia erudite- Professional Theater:o “Commedia del l’Arte”- theater of the professional first modern professional theater first professional actress started in Italy touring was important importance of music and dance influential throughout Europe o audience pays for theatero “arte”= skill, technique,
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