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Theatre History
Middle School Drama
Theatre History
Plato
 Lived in the 4th century
BC
 Considered one of the
greatest thinkers
 He taught Aristotle
Aristotle
 Disagreed with epic
poetry
 He believed in emotions,
or Pathos
 He gave lectures about
dramatic literature-his
lectures were written into
a book called the Poetics
The Poetics
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Plot
Character
Thought
Diction
Melody
Spectacle
Plot
More and more tension is
created as characters set out
to get what they want
Characters are in a
crisis and therefore the
plot is at its climax
Slowly the plot of
the story is
resolved
The story
continues after
the audience
leaves
Conflict
between
characters
occur and
create tension
The story begins
before the
audience sees the
show
The play
begins here.
The audience
only sees a
section of the
entire story
Character

The playwright creates characters so we
can see & experience the plot

They all have a purpose whether they are
a main character or not

“There are no small parts, just small
actors”
What Kinds of Characters Are There?
Thought

The statement of what the entire play is
about

Theme

Look at the title and what characters say
in the plot
Diction

The language of the play
-stage directions
-given circumstances (setting)
-character description
-what the characters day
Melody
Anything that is heard in a play. Can you
name a few examples?
 Compare and contrast “Morning Report” to
“Shadow Land”

Spectacle

All objects/things that are seen on stage

OR concepts that are mentioned and we are to
imagine what they look like
-for example: It is a dark and stormy night
Let’s Apply What We Know
Medieval Theatre
Began in the Catholic churches during
Easter mass
 Stories from the Bible were dramatized
 The church began to get jealous of the
plays because people were more
interested in the plays
 Plays had to leave the church

Medieval Theatre
The plays became traveling plays called
Mystery plays
 Mystery-means trade or craft
 Mystery plays were performed on wagons
 Eventually the plays became more
developed and were called Morality Plays

Medieval Theatre
Morality plays were about people’s traits
and virtues
 The plays were now written by authors,
not guildsmen
 Actors were becoming a part of an
organization rather than traveling as a
troupe
 Costumes, make-up and props were more
formal
