Download theatre history test review: greece

THEATRE HISTORY TEST REVIEW: GREECE • Know The Structure of a Greek Tragedy o Identify and describe the five elements: o Prologue – A short speech by one or more actors that sets the location and time and provides the mythological exposition of the play o Parodos – means ‘entrance’. The chorus tells the audience who they are in the play and provides background information. This is all done in a song/dance style o Episode – The actors step out of the skene and perform a scene o Stasimon – a song and dance by the chorus, commenting on the action thus far § Episodes and Stasimons occur multiple times until the play reaches it’s conclusion o Exodus – A summation by the Chorus on the theme and wisdom of the play • Know the Three Playwrights of the Golden Age of Greek Theatre: o Aeschylus o A Warrior who became a playwright. o His play’s were about profound spiritual and moral issues expressed through sharply defined characters and powerful dramatic situations o Ex: The Oresteia (examines the ethical and political chaos results when one depends on irrational emotions rather than rational solutions) and The Libation Bearers (known for its intense use of special effects) o Sophocles o Well educated and handsome playwright o His plays focused on the critical moments in a character’s life that define them. He showed people as being trapped by their inflexible personalities, not a fate predetermined by the gods. o Ex: Oedipus Rex o Euripides o The playwright unafraid to speak his mind, he denounced oracles, and questioned the existence of gods. o His plays were filled with stinging indictments against war and the savagery of the Athenian army. o Ex: The Trojan Women (re-­‐enacts the slaughter of an innocent village by the army because they were neutral in the war) • Know the Concept of Catharsis and Tragic Heroes: o One of the purposes of Greek drama was to produce a catharsis in the audience. It did so by using tragic heroes (extraordinary people who rise to great heights but make error’s in judgment due to a character flaw such as hubris (pride/arrogance). Catharsis is the twofold feeling of pity (for the misfortune of the tragic hero) and fear (that you also might possess the same tragic flaw and suffer the same fate). If the play was successful, audiences would be purged of their Hamartia (the greek term for this flaw). o Consider: Do we experience the same thing today when we see a tragic play or film? In what way is our experience similar or different from the Greeks? MIDDLE AGES • Understand the Fall and Rise of Theatre in the Dark Ages: o In Exodus 20:4 it states, “Thou shall not make unto thee any graven images, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” This passage led to ecclesiastical doubts about people acting. Christians forbid visiting the theatre, and actors were deprived of all rights, stripped of all possessions and reduced to extreme poverty. Theatre was forced out of existence. o 1200 years later, the Vatican re-­‐introduced theatrical elements into Mass to ‘fortify’ the faith of it’s audience (who now spoke several non-­‐Latin languages, and were loosing interest in going to church). These plays became more elaborate and as Europe moved into the High Middle Ages and liturgical drama began to flourish. o Consider: What was this time period like for those living then? What aspects of the culture at this time encouraged the later development of secular drama? (clue: Humanism and the printing press helped us escape this dark period in history) • Know the Three Primary forms of Drama used in the Middle Ages: o Mystery plays o Liturgical dramas performed outdoors by workers guilds (mystery derives from the Anglo-­‐French word mesterie meaning “occupation”) o Guilds would perform plays related to their profession (ex: the shipwrights might stage the story of Noah’s Arc) o A series of several mystery plays was called a mystery cycle, and lasted from sunrise until after sunset o Miracle plays o Plays (performed in the church) that recounted the lives, suffering, and miracles of particular saints o Morality Plays o Allegorical plays that taught moral lessons about how to conduct one’s life o Actors represented or symbolized ideas or moral principles such as Beauty, Fellowship, Good Deeds, Etc. o Example: Everyman RENNAISANCE • Know the Three Primary forms of Theatre found during the Renaissance: o Popular Theatre – simple comedies and dramas for the common people, performed on the streets and in makeshift theatres (later permanent theatres paved the way for famed playwrights like Shakespeare and Moliere) o Humanist Theatre – Slavish imitations of Greek and Roman plays, popular with sovereigns, aristocrats, and intellectuals o Liturgical Dramas – The biblical plays from the middle ages (which survived in Spain after being outlawed in many other parts of Europe) • Know the Influences of Italian Theatre: o Commedia Dell’arte o a form of slapstick comedy performed by wandering troupes of professional actors. o Each actor specialized in playing one stock character based on a common stereotype (crafty servants, lovers, retired merchants, gossipy old women, etc.) o There were no scripts, so each play was a unique improvisation of a basic scenario o Classical Correctness o Aristotle’s writings formed a set of dramatic principles that were applied to every drama (referred to as the three unities) § Unity of time – the action of a play must take place within twenty-­‐four hours § Unity of action – comedy and tragedy cannot commingle § Unity of place – all settings must be reachable within the twenty-­‐four hour period o Theatre artists sought to imitate Greek plays and acting, leading to: § Declamatory Acting – delivering lines directly to the audience § Performing play entirely in song – a form of theatre which led to Opera o Indoor Theatres o Led to the creation of intermissions (so the candles lighting the theatre could be relit o Utilized perspective scenery (a technique of converging line on a vanishing point to create the illusion of greater depth/space on the stage § A proscenium arch was added to create a ‘picture frame’ • Know the Three Major Playwrights of Elizabethan England: o Christopher Marlowe o A playwright and a Spy for Queen Elizabeth o Known for his play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus o Joined a group of free thinkers, and yearned for knowledge o Accused of Atheism and sentenced to torture, but killed in a bar fight before he was located o Ben Jonson o Actor, playwright, and good friend of Shakespeare o Known for his plays The Isle of Dogs, and Every Man in His Humour o Known for his Temper, Imprisoned Twice, once killed another actor in a duel (but was spared the gallows because he could read, in Latin, Psalm 51:1-­‐2) o William Shakespeare o Little known about his personal life, and no writing of his besides his sonnets, and plays o Began writing in his thirties while he was an established actor o Became popular because of his writing style: beginning with a jolting event, moving from location to location, intensifying tragedies with comic relief, and filling his plays with sex, violence, and conflict. o Many famed works including Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth, made his a wealthy man and the most staged playwrights today (400 years after his death)