Transcript Egyptian Theatre

Ms. Yates
Theatre Arts
2B
Theatre in Ancient Egypt
Though the Ancient Greeks are often given credit for inventing the theatre,
the real credit belongs to the Ancient Egyptians. While they did not build
performance spaces or create theatre festivals the way the Greeks did, they
did perform public, ritualistic events, which included many characteristics
of theatre. Records indicate that these performances included plot, props,
costumes, and scripts. Details of these performances have been found
carved into temple walls, such as the temple of Edfu, shown below.
Today, you can see the ruins of ancient
theatre’s in Egypt. However, these are from
the Roman period. In Ancient Egypt, theatre
was performed in the temples.
About Ancient Egypt
The term “Ancient Egypt” refers to Egypt’s earliest time, as it developed in
Northeastern Africa along the Nile River around 3150 BC. Egypt’s history is
divided into periods of Kingdoms. It was most powerful during the New
Kingdom period, but then declined steadily and was taken over by the Greeks
who established the Ptolemaic Dynasty (ruled most famously by Cleopatra).
Egypt later became a Roman province in 30 BC.
Early Egyptians made great contributions to science, art, math, architecture,
agriculture, and government. Many of their ideas were copied by their
conquerors. The Egyptian were polytheistic, and their gods and goddesses are
the main characters in Egyptian theatre.
Anubis
Horus
Isis
Osiris
The Earliest Plays
3100 BC- Egyptian Coronation Festival Play
2750 BC- Egyptian ritual dramas
2000 BC- Passion Play of Abydos
The first recorded Passion Play took place in Egypt, around 2000 BC. The play
was about the king-god Osiris. Though he was a good king, Osiris was brutally
murdered and pieces of his body were scattered throughout Egypt. His wife
Isis and his son Horus gathered up the pieces and created sites where pilgrims
worshipped Osiris. Osiris was later resurrected. Passion plays were performed
annually in his memory at sites throughout Egypt.
Plays and Stories
- Pyramid Plays
Early ritualistic dramas performed at a pharaoh’s death to help send him to
the Underworld.
-Religious Plays
These included morality plays and creation dramas. They generally took
place inside the temple.
- Osirian Mysteries (Passion Plays)
The festivities were divided into three parts: the defense of Osiris by his
son, the fight and death of Osiris, and the triumph of Osiris when his enemies
were defeated. The famous Abydos Passion Play falls into this category, as does
the Memphite Drama, which chronicles the life and resurrection of Osiris and
the coronation of his son Horus.
-Satires
During the later portion of the Egyptian period, performances based on
humorous local myths started to appear.
Acting and Audience
- Little is known about the actors in these plays, but apparently the acting
was very realistic. There are several accounts of actors dying due to wounds
they received during onstage battles.
- Roles were generally performed by elders and priests. This means that only
males performed.
- As theatre was part of the ritualistic, religious ceremony, the audience was
expected to give these plays the proper reverence and attention.
- However, plays were often interactive, meaning they required audience
participation. Stories survive of audience members becoming so caught up in
the drama of a performance that riots ensued.
Costumes and Make-up
The costume and make-up in these performances can only be inferred from
the reliefs and hieroglyphics of the time. It is likely that the priests and
elders who played the roles had ritual pieces that audience would recognize
as belonging to certain characters. This piece of ritual is later adapted into
the masks used in Greek Theatre.
It is also known that make-up was used by both men and women in Ancient
Egypt. Black, lead-based eye make up called kohl was popular. It was
believed that the gods Horus and Ra would protect the wearers of this makeup.
Vocabulary
Passion Play: a play depicting the suffering and death of a god. Today, we
think of these as Christian plays, depicting the end of Jesus’ life, but they were
performed in Egypt about the god Osiris.
Kohl: Egyptian eye make up.
Satire: a literary form that uses irony, sarcasm and ridicule to expose vice and
folly
Morality Play: an allegory play, in which a character is met by the
personification of moral characteristics. Today, these plays are mostly
associated with the medieval period.
Pharaoh: the title used to discuss rulers of Ancient Egypt. In reality, this
term was not used until the New Kingdom.
Bibliography
Fort, Alice, and Herbert Kates. "Egyptian "Passion" Plays."
TheatreHistory.com. Grosset and Dunlap, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.theatrehistory.com/ origins/ egypt001.html>
Glencoe Online. "Interactive Theatre History Timeline." Interactive
Theatre History Timeline. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
<http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/
007861614x/student_view0/interactive_theatre_history_timeline
.html>
"Life in Ancient Egypt." Inside the Temples. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct.
2011. <www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/ GeogHist/
histories/Oldcivilization/Egyptology/LifeAncient/lifeinEgypt2.h
tm
Prince, Nancy, and Jeanie Jackson. Exploring Theatre. New York,
N.Y.: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.