Download Theatre Unit 1 – Introduction, History

Introduction to Theatre
What is theatre?
• Theatre can be considered any
performance for an audience.
• Audience - a group of people joined as
one to witness a singular event.
• Good theatre - entertains and enlightens.
Theatre History
• Theatre came from religious ceremonies
- rituals to appease gods or spirits.
• Today, theatre has moved away from the
religious ceremony into a form of
entertainment.
Greek Theatre
• Greek theatre is the root of the Western
idea of theatre.
• In Greece, theatre maintained some
aspects of the religious in terms of
celebrating particular gods.
• From Greek theatre, we understand
tragedy and comedy.
Greek Playwrights
• Aeschylus
• Sophocles
• Euripides
• Aristophanes
Roman Theatre
• Roman theatre began as a varied art
form incorporating dance, music, and
other art forms.
• When the Romans conquered Greece,
Roman drama was heavily influenced by
Greek drama.
• The only surviving Roman dramas are
Greek rewrites.
Early Medieval Theatre
• With the lack of social structure, theatre
performance moved under the Church.
• These plays symbolized the rituals of
Christianity for the illiterate masses.
• The earliest known liturgical drama is
Whom do you Seek?
High and Late Medieval
• Liturgical drama spread from Russia to
Italy.
• Plays were presented on “pageant
wagons,” with amateur actors outside of
towns.
• These were considered morality plays,
used to maintain social morality.
Renaissance Theatre
• Think Shakespeare
• Renaissance theatre expanded on
medieval theatre themes of morality;
however Renaissance drama continued
to expand in scope.
• Theatre was outlawed in England in 1642
due to Puritan rule.
Restoration Drama
• Restoration drama refers to the English
drama written after 1660 when theaters
were reopened.
• Restoration drama also saw an increase
in special effects in theatre.
Neoclassical and
Melodrama
• From the Renaissance until the mid 1800’s,
drama can be considered neoclassical and
melodramatic.
• Neoclassical refers to a return to classical
ideas and acting: intricate stages and
costumes, overacting.
• Melodrama exaggerates plot and character
in order to appeal to emotions.
Romanticism and Realism
• Drama began to take a turn to realism the use of real emotions and real life
rather than over-exaggerated drama.
• Realism caused a revival in drama in
England, including playwrights like Isben,
Shaw, Wilde, and Yeats.
Modern Theatre
• Modern theatre is a mismatch of various
forms of theatre focusing mainly on the
ideas of realism.
• Today, musical theatre takes precedent to
dramatic theatre in most cases
(Broadway).
Aristotle’s Poetics
• The Greek philosopher Aristotle stated
theatre had to have certain elements to
be considered theatrical, specifically with
tragedy.
• These are included in his writings called
Poetics
Aristotle’s Poetics
• Plot (Mythos)
• Character (Ethos)
• Thought (Dianoia)
• Diction (Lexis)
• Melody (Melos)
• Spectacle (Opsis)
Plot (Mythos)
• The “structure of incidents” or what
happens.
• Remember the plot structure we
discussed with narrative speeches.
Character (Ethos)
• Character is the who of the story, but the
character is who connects the audience
to the story.
• Main characters should be good,
appropriate, and consistent.
Thought (Dianoia)
• Spoken reasoning that explains the
character or story backgrounds.
• Think monologues or soliloquies.
Diction (Lexis)
• The quality of speech.
• Speeches should reflect character and
the moral quality of the play.
Melody (Melos)
• The Chorus - in Greek plays the Chorus
were a group of actors that were
considered part of the narration of
events.
• Music should be part of the story; it
shares in the action.
Spectacle (Opsis)
• The visual elements of the play
• set
• costumes
• props
• anything you can see
Common Theatre Terms
• comedy - genre of play with a humous
content that usually centers on and
makes comments about the
shortcomings in our human nature.
Common Theatre Terms
• tragedy - genre of play in which the
central character or protagonist is
destroyed irrevocably through fate or
because of some inherent quality that
causes his or her downfall.
Common Theatre Terms
• action - the physical or psychological
activity an actor engages in.
• conflict - when two opposing forces
collide; the first element actors must
discover about the story they are telling.
Common Theatre Terms
• fourth wall - the imaginary separation
between actors onstage and the
audience
• monologue - sustained speech delivered
by an actor without interruption