Transcript THEATRE
THEATRE HISTORY GREEK – MIDDLE AGE What do you do when you want to tell someone something exciting? Facial Expressions Body Language Dramatic Tradition began over 3,000 years ago with primitive people. “acted out” things they thought were important QUICK FACTS DRAMA= “TO ACT” or “TO DO” THEATRE= “A PLACE OF SEEING” = THEATRE THESPIAN =THESPIS (Rebel) THEATRE ARTS= ALL parts of training or instruction in the field KNOWN TODAY RITUALS SHAMAN (priest) SYMBOLIC CLOTHING CAMPFIRE SET ORDER of EVENTS PLAYS ACTOR COSTUMES STAGE PLOT of EVENTS PRIMITIVE PEOPLE Believed that acting out something would make it happen. Their actions repeated over and over until a pattern or RITUAL was developed. RITUALS possibly grew out of dances they developed after observing animals. STORYTELLER STORYTELLING came from hunters reenacting the “kill” for tribe members not present during the hunt. GREEK THEATRE Religious Festivals honoring the God Dionysius Dionysius = Wine & Fertility Bless the people Many children Rich land Abundant crops DRAMATIC CONTEST – 534 B.C. DRAMA came first COMEDY came later THESPIS was first winner FAMOUS WINNERS AESYCHYLUS EURIPEDES SOPHOCLES ARISTOPHANES = DRAMA = COMEDY Only 40 some plays remain today Oedipus the King – Sophocles Considered one of finest dramas Lysistrata – Aristophanes Best known Greek comedy ATHENS Greek Theatre was built 14,000-17,000 people possibly attended each production Theatre built on hillside so audience could see ORCHESTRA Performances took place on ground level of the circular floor. NO electricity or sound Plays began early in the morning and lasted until sunset. MASKS People wore lightweight masks Change characters quickly Female roles became more believable ALL men CHORUS Men Boys No women Singing and Dancing Greeks Originated: Theatre Drama Tragedy Comedy ROMAN THEATRE 146 B.C. Rome conquered Greece Roman people were wealthy and had much free time and loved entertainment. Liked short comedies = sitcoms today ROMAN Few plays have survived Most based on plots of Greek plays Seneca (5 B.C.- 64 A.D.) had 9 plays survive BEST KNOWN: The Trojan Women, Medea, Oedipus, Agamemnon = based on Greek plays ROMAN COMEDY Comedies were much more popular than tragedies. Scripts that have survived are either by Titus Plautus (254 B.C.–184 B.C.) or Publius Terentius (190 B.C.–184 B.C.) a.k.a. known today as Terence. ROMANS Romans DID not limit the number of actors on stage like the Greeks. Stage setting is always the same street, regardless of play being produced. Backdrop – permanent stone structure known as Scaenae frons. Scanae Frons Represented front of many houses in which there were doorways. Doorways = houses for main characters which served as the entrance & exits for the actors. The scanae frons served as the place or temple if a tragedy was being performed. “BORROWING” The practice of “borrowing” previously written ideas and characters is seen repeated throughout history. Even today we are still using the same characters and plots that have been used for thousands of years. The Roman Menaechmi was Shakespeare’s source for The Comedy of Errors, one of his most popular scripts today. ROMANS REMEMBERED Great engineers. Great architects. Theatre buildings were unified, free standing and several stories high.