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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