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Greek Theatre
Origins
• Theatre was used to formally celebrate and honor
Dionysis, the Greek God of Wine and Fertility (The
Party God), during their great festival.
• Actual written and staged plays that were
performed over several days.
• Birth of Comedy and Tragedy: The two types of
plays performed.
• Thespis became the first recognized actor when
he stepped out of the standard chorus to perform
something apart from the rest of the chorus. Thus,
actors are called “Thespians” to this day.
Theatre Structure
PARTS OF THE STAGE:
Theatron
Orchestra
Parodos
Parodos
Skene
Theatron – Audience seating (carved
out of a hillside)
Orchestra – Main acting area,
particularly for the chorus
Skene – Building behind the orchestra
that had the “changing rooms.” The
actors changed masks in here to help
with scene changes. We take the word
“scene” from skene. They also used
the roof as an elevated acting area for
those actors playing Gods.
Parodos – Entrance/exit places for
actors on the stage, but also for the
audience to arrive and leave the show.
Playwrights
• Aeschylus – Considered the “father of tragedy.”
Wrote Agamemnon and Prometheus Bound
(among others).
• Euripides – Also wrote tragedies: Medea, Electra,
and The Bacchae (among others).
• Sophocles – Another tragedy writer: Oedipus and
Antigone were his most famous.
• Aristophane - Known as the “father of comedy.”
Wrote The Clouds, The Frogs, and Lysistrata
(among others). Often his plays were politically
based and/or satires of Athenian beliefs.
A Critic Emerges
• Aristotle – Yes, this is the same Aristotle you
have heard about in science, math, and other
subject areas. He wrote on MANY topics and is
still considered one of the most important
philosophers of all time. He became the first
ever theatre critic. He wrote The Poetics,
which was the first known written critiques of
the plays of the time. His critiques were
widely read and indeed influenced the art of
theatre.
Masks
• The actors wore only robes and masks for costumes. Though
the robes rarely changed during a production, the masks
changed often.
• Masks were used to show the emotions of the actors because
the audience was so large that there was no way for them all
to see the faces of the actors. The masks bore very
exaggerated expressions and were larger than real faces to
show the whole audience the characters general emotional
state.
• The masks were also changed to help facilitate scene changes
or shifts in the storyline so the audience knew there was a
new perspective to be seen or a turning point in the story.
• The actors spoke and sung through the masks, which were
hard and could not change expression without a “costume”
change, unlike our latex masks of today .
Quiz
• Let’s see if you took good notes! You may use
the notes YOU took, but you may not use your
neighbor’s note or your neighbors.
• Take out a piece of paper and a writing
utensil. Number your paper from 1-10.
• Remember to write in blue, black, or pencil
ONLY!!
Greek Theatre
• Who were the festivals (thus the plays of the
time) honoring?
• What did Aristotle write that was important to
theatre?
• Draw and label a Greek theatre.
• What is a theatron?
• Where does the word “scene” come from?
Greek Theatre
• What purpose did the masks serve in Greek
theatre?
• Who is the first known actor?
• Who wrote tragedies? (You must get all of
them.)
• Who is the “father of comedy?”
• What is the purpose of the orchestra?
Greek Theatre
• Make sure your name is on your paper and
turn it in.
• With the remaining class time, continue the
work on your project or the research for it.