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Theater
Chapter 5:
The Dawn of Western Theatre
Dionysus
God of Wine & Theatre –
going to the theatre was like
going to church. Had four
major festivals in honor of
him (one in every season).
Dionysus
Three of the four seasons
included theatre.
The spring festival happened
first.
Greek theatre comes out of
ritual.
Dithyramb: a hymn sung in
honor of Dionysus.
Theatrical Terms
Chorus: a synchronized group of
performers who sang, danced, and served
as a link between the ancient Greek
Audience and the characters and events in
the plays being performed.
Theatre People
Thespian: an actor or theatre
artist. The first actor’s name
was Thespis.
Hamartia: The ancient Greek
word for a tragic flaw.
(pronounced Ha-marsha)
Theatrical Terms
Hubris: the tragic flaw of pride.
Satyr play/Satire: a short, comedic play which
often poked fun at the ancient Greek
tragedies. The modern term satire comes
from these plays.
Early Theatre People
Chorus Leader: a chorus member who
also served as an actor, but was limited to
playing only one role.
Choregos: Ancient Greek play producer.
He was responsible for all the costumes,
salaries, and special effects in a
production. Serving as a choregos was
not only a civic duty in ancient Greece, it
was considered an honor.
Greek Theatre
• Amphitheatre: A Greek theatre built into a
hillside. The audience would sit on the hill and
watch the performance taking place on the flat
land at the base of the hill. This type of theater is
still used throughout the world.
• Orchestra: In an Amphitheatre, this is the
circular performance area at the bottom of the
hill where most of the action of the play takes
place.
Greek Theatre
• Theatron: Ancient Greek word meaning “seeing
place”. In an amphitheatre, it is the hillside upon
which the audience sits. It is from theatron that
we get the modern word theatre.
• Skene: The building directly behind the
orchestra. It contained dressing rooms and
storage area for the costumes and props. The
front of the skene could be used as a backdrop
for productions. We get the modern words scene
and scenery from skene.
Greek Theatre
• Periakto: Three sided set piece with a
different painting on each side. The device
could be pivoted to reveal a different
scene (not Peri-ac-toid!, Periakto)
• Mechane: a huge crane used to literally fly
actors onto the orchestra from above.
GOD FROM THE MACHINE!
• Deus ex Machine: Literally, “God from the
Machine”. Originally from the Greek
practice of flying an actor onto the stage
from a crane. Today, it is used to describe
when a play has a contrived ending where
some impossible plot twist solves all of the
play’s problems.
The Big Three Tragic Playwrights:
-Aeschylus: wrote over 70 plays
but only 7 still exist.
-Sophocles: wrote more than
120 plays of which 7 survive.
-Euripides: wrote over 90 plays of
which 19 survive.
Greek Theatre
• Prologue: A solo speech given by a
character at the beginning of the play as a
means of giving all of the necessary
exposition to the audience. Euripides was
the first to use prologues.
Greek Traditions
• Lenaia: A Winter festival held in honor of
the female worshippers of Dionysus.
Comedic plays competed for prizes at this
festival.
• Art of Dionysus: the first actor’s union and
an ancient precursor to the modern acting
unions of today.
Greek Comedy
• New Comedy: Greek comedy plays written
after 404 B.C. More generic and sitcomlike than old comedy, but highly influential;
Menander wrote over 100 but only 1
survives intact.
• Old Comedy: Greek comedy plays written
prior to 404 B.C. Often sociopolitical in
nature. Aristophanes wrote most of these
plays.
HISTORY
• Hellenistic Period: The period of 200 years
between the death of Alexander and the
Roman conquest of Greece. Hellenistic
means “of or relating to Greek history,
culture, or art and was a time when Creek
culture spread all around the
Mediterranean and beyond.
Time for the Romans
• Roman Mimes: one of the most popular
form of ancient Roman entertainment. The
mime shows were extremely vulgar and
dealt with topics such as adultery and
drunkenness. Though not originally silent
performers, the mimes became silent as a
means of communicating to the diverse
audiences who attended their shows.
Leave it to the Romans…
• Vomitories: in Roman theatres, these were
aisle through the audience which drunken
spectators could vomit into.
Rome’s Not So Memorable
Playwrights:
-Livius Andronicus (284-204
B.C.): introduced tragedy to
Rome in 240 B.C. Only
fragments of his works
survive.
Rome’s Not So Memorable
Playwrights:
-Plautus (254-184 B.C.): one of
the most popular comic
playwrights. Plays contained
little substance, but popular
with the masses (sight gags,
puns, slapstick).
-
Rome’s Not So Memorable
Playwrights:
Terence (195-159 B.C.):
Considered the more
artistic of Rome’s two
famous playwrights.
Rome’s Not So Memorable
Playwrights:
-Seneca (4 B.C. – 65 A.D.)
considered to be Rome’s
greatest tragic playwright.
Took many of the Greek
tragedies and reworked them
with much more violence
meant to be done on stage.
Many believe his plays were
meant to be read rather than
staged.