Download THEATRE ORIGIN THEORIES

THEATRE ORIGIN THEORIES
Late 19th and early 20th centuries
• Theatre thought to have emerged out of myth
and ritual
• Theory supported primarily by anthropologists
• Belief that both desirable and undesirable forces
of supernatural or magical origin influenced food
supply and well being
• Actions by the group (or its shamans) could
influence the forces for good through fixed
ceremonies or rituals.
• Rituals contained elements that were also
entertaining and gave pleasure thru repetition.
• Stories (myths) that explain, disguise, or idealize,
grew up around ritual.
• Myths include representatives of those
supernatural forces that the rites celebrate or
hope to influence.
• Performers may wear costumes and masks to
represent the mythical characters or supernatural
forces.
• Over time the society may abandon or modify
some rites. But the myths may continue as part of
the oral tradition and may be acted out under
conditions divorced from ritual concerns.
• This is the first step toward theatre.
Post WWII
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All human transactions seen as basically performative
Supported by different anthroplogists
Enactments of relationships with specific purposes.
Elements found in both ritual and theatre
Ritual and theatre seen as different ways of organizing
and using elements that are basic in almost all human
activities.
• Ritual and theatre are simply different ways of
organizing and using elements basic to all human
activities. Both coexisted but used for different
functions within the same society.
Performative Elements and Functions
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Time
Place
Participants (players/audience)
Scenario (agenda/goal/text/rules)
Clothing (uniform/costume/mask/makeup)
Sound (speech/music)
Movement (gesture/pantomime/dance)
Function or purpose
How each of these elements created and combined
with others and for what ultimate purpose
distinguishes one kind of transaction from another
Other Theories of Origin
• Storytelling thru words or pantomime and
impersonation
• Imitations of animals or out of narrative forms of
dance or song
• Aristotle sees humans as naturally imitative
(mimesis)
• Humans have a gift for fantasy that may be used
to reshape reality. Theatre is one tool whereby
people define and understand their world or
escape from unpleasant realities.
• Existence of a stable society permited theatre
to develop
• People allowed to examine human problems
rather than be seriously threatened by them
• Presence of a group of people skilled at
performance
Chronology
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Major Egyptian Ritual/Drama 2500–550 BCE
Greek plays being written 534 BCE–150 CE
Roman plays 240 BCE–65 CE
Sanskrit plays 100 CE–1000 CE
Kutiyattam 900 CE to present
Western liturgical drama 975 CE–1500 CE
Outdoor religious drama 1200 CE–1600 CE
Yuan plays 13th century CE
Noh 14th century CE to present
Kathakali from 17th century CE to present
Aeschylus 525–455 BCE
• Wrote 90 plays
• Only 7 extant
• Of all the surviving plays of ancient Greece his
Oresteia is the only trilogy to survive
(Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, and
Eumenides)
• The real creator of tragedy and first to
associate tragedy with moral and religious
problems. Created the tragic style.
• Added a second actor; increased dialogue and
reduced the importance of the chorus
Sophocles 497–405 BCE
• Wrote 125 plays but only 8 have survived
• Won 24 prizes for his tragedies
• Active in Athenian social and political life; held
several priesthoods; imperial treasurer in 443
BCE, and a army general in 440 BCE
• Added a 3rd actor; increased dialogue;
decreased the importance of the chorus; fixed
number of chorus at 15; invented painted
scenery; made each play of the trilogy an
organic unit; plays in trilogy no longer deal
with one unified theme.
Euripides 480–406 BCE
• Wrote some 90 plays and won few victories in
dramatic contests. 18 of his plays have
survived.
• Most modern of the 3 great Athenian
tragedians (“the Ibsen of the Greeks”)
• Least popular among his contemporaries but
most appreciated by later generations.