Download Greek Theatre Notes

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Greek Theatre:
The Origins of Theatrical Performance
Origins of Greek Theatre
 Greek Theatre started as a part of religious festivals in
532 BC!
 At the “City Dionysia,” a festival to celebrate the Greek
God of revelry, Dionysus, songs were sung by large groups
to celebrate the God.
 Over time, the songs began to tell more and became
more elaborate. Eventually, someone decided to break
from the group.
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Thespis- The First Actor
 The singer Thespis created the idea of
drama when he stepped out of the chorus and
spoke the words of an individual character.
 This was the first time a single person
performed instead of the whole group, or
chorus.
 Thespis also became the first person to
speak the words instead of singing them.
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Conventions of Greek Theatre
 No matter how many speaking parts were in
a play, each play had three actors and a
chorus.
 Each actor wore a mask to represent his
character. If an actor had to play more than
one character, he would just change masks.
 Only men were allowed to act in plays. Any
female parts were played by a man in a
woman mask.
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Masks
 The masks helped identify the different
characters and whether the characters were
happy (comedy) or sad (tragedy.)
 Because the audience sat far away, the
masks were oversized to allow audience in the
back to see the characters.
 The masks also amplified the sound of the
actor’s voice to reach the back of the
audience.
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The Greek Stage
 The Greek Stage was called the “Theatron.” In many ways it
resembled the modern stage, but with some very important
differences.
 Parts of The Greek Stage (Draw this and label it in your notes!)
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Parts of the Greek Stage
 Orchestra- The “dancing space” where the actors
and chorus performed.
 Skene- Raised building at the back of the stage.
Had doors for entrances and exits and allowed God
characters to act from the roof.
 Theatron- The “viewing place” where the
audience sat.
 Parodos- Paths on the sides of the stage that
allowed the audience to enter and exit. Sometimes
used by actors as well.
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Greek Theatre Facts
 Greek Theatre started in the mid-500s BC.
(About 2500 years ago.) Before this time,
there is no mention of Drama in literature.
 Greek plays were presented in competition
with other plays at the religious festival. Most
of the time, they were performed only once.
 They were based on famous stories about
the Gods or great Greek heroes.
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Structure of a Greek Play
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Prologue
Parados
Episode 1
Choral Ode 1
Episode 2
Choral Ode 2
Episode 3
Choral Ode 3
 Etc...
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Structure of a Greek Play- Vocabulary
 Prologue- The characters speak to the
audience and tell what the play is going to be
about.
 Parados- Chorus chant about what
happened before the play began
 Episode- Characters act out the story
 Choral Ode- Chorus chant and comment
about the story/theme.
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Late Point of Attack
 Greek plays begin LATE in the story. The Chorus fills the
audience in on what happened before the play began in the
Parados.
 Example: If Finding Nemo were a Greek play it would
begin when Nemo was dropped into the Dentist’s fish tank
and the Chorus would tell the audience how he got
separated from his father.
Violence happens OFF stage
 Even though Greek tragedies were very violent, none of
the violence EVER happened onstage. The chorus or actors
would report about the tragic violence that happened.
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The Greek Chorus
 Plays of Greek theatre always included a chorus
 Chorus: A group of masked performers who looked alike,
and spoke all at the same time.
 All the chorus wore identical masks, because they
represented the same character or group of characters.
 The masks created a sense of unity and uniformity, a
kind of single organism
 The chorus offered a variety of background and
summary information to help the audience follow the
performance.
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The Greek Chorus Continued
 They commented on themes and demonstrated
how the audience might react to the play.
 In many of these plays, the chorus expressed to
the audience what the main characters could not
say, such as their hidden fears or secrets.
 The chorus often provided other characters with
the insight they needed.
 The chorus represents, on stage, the general
population or “regular people” of the story.