Download theatre

Outline:
 to define “theatre” as a notion;
 to follow the history of the theatre development;
 “components” of theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form
of fine art that uses live
performers to present the
experience of a real or imagined
event before a live audience in a
specific place. The performers
may communicate this experience
to the audience through
combinations of gesture, speech,
song, music, and dance.
The development of “theatre”
• Athens, in honour of Dionysus
(the god of wine and fertility).
• The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three
types of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play
containing mythological or historical plots.
• At those times only men performed roles in big
masks. (There were only 2 actors on the stage, the
third was proposed by Sophocles).
• No decorations
• Women weren’t allowed to the theatre, especially
to see comedies, if they were, they sat apart.
• In Greece to be an actor was considered
prestigious whereas in Rome – disgraceful
• Popular dramatists (playwrights) of those times:
Aeschylus (Эсхил), Sophocles (Софокл), and Euripides
(Еврипид), they are creators of Greek tragedy.
Aristophanes (Аристофан) is a creator of comedy as a
genre.
• In Rome Plautus and Seneca are worth mentioning,
they verbally eleborated Euripidies‘s tragedies to the
high-style.
The Medieval Theatre
 emerged in X-XI centuries in Latin tradition, not as the
continuation of the antique drama.
 covered a wide variety of genres and subject matter
(morality plays, farces, masques and drama)
 provides few surviving records of Medieval plays due to
the low literacy rate of the general population
 churches began to stage dramatized versions of
important biblical events
 An important playwright was Hrotsvit
 Other Medieval performances included mimes,
minstrels (уличные поеты), storytellers and jugglers
who traveled in search of employment
 Liturgical dramas spread across Europe and Russia
throughout that period
An actor (alternatively actress for a female; is
a person portraying a character in
a dramatic or comic production; she or he performs
in: film, television, theatre, or radio.
According to the actor’s performing people differ such
kinds of theatre as:
 theatre of the absurd
 Ballet
 drama theatre
 Puppy theatre
 Musical
 Opera
 Operetta
 Pantomime
Golden age theatre
• from 1590 to 1681
• In Renaissance Spain (both highly sponsored by
the aristocratic class and highly attended by the
lower classes)
• a large number of the 10,000 to 30,000 plays of
this period are still considered masterpieces.
• Spanish Golden Age theatre has dramatically
influenced the theatre of later generations in
Europe and throughout the world. Spanish drama
had an immediate and significant impact on the
contemporary developments in English
Renaissance theatre.
The theatre in Shakespeare’s time
• was much different
• authors wrote plays for the masses,especially
those who couldn’t read or write.
• a bad influence on people and kept them from going to
church
• Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, loved acting and
helped the theatre become popular.
• popular theatres emerged outside city walls, it was an
unsafe area with crime and murder
• almost no scenery, the dialogue was the most important
part of the play
• Colourful and well-designed costumes
• Women never performed in plays, so young boys
played female characters
• no stage crew as there is today. Actors had to do everything
themselves - from making costumes to setting the stage.
Elizabethan theatre
The Reconstructed Globe Theatre in London
Thanks for your attention!!!
Hometask: to prepare reports on the topics:
1. Modern Theatre
2. The role of theatre in people‘s life
3. The Globe Theatre
4. People and their duties in the theatre (crew, director, etc.)
5. Theatre of the absurd
6. Ballet
7. Drama theatre
8. Puppy theatre
9. Musical
10. Opera
11. Operetta
12. Pantomime
13. Inside the theatre (stage, stalls, etc.)