The History of Western Drama

Beginning Acting

Resource: Robert Cohen. Theatre, 8th edition.

Greek Drama534 BCE - 336 BCE

Greek Theater Dithyrambs

Thespis

Ritual festivals feature

competition of plays

Tetralogy

Singing and dancing

chorus

1 – 3 actors

Use of masks to

portray a variety of

characters

Aristotle’s Poetics

Dramatic Genres Tragedy

From the Greek word “tragos,” meaning goat song.

Serious portrayal of human suffering, through protagonist’s hamartia and decline.

Concluded with catharsis

Satyr Play

Bawdy comedy that satirized accompanying trilogy.

One complete satyr play survived: The Cyclops, by Euripides

Comedy

Humorous handling of political issues, sexuality, and the gods.

Often included nudity, animalistic characters

Performed separately from tetralogy

Greek Playwrights Aeschylus – Orestia, Prometheus Bound

Sophocles – Oedipus Tyrannos, Antigone

Euripides – The Trojan Women, The Cyclops,

Medea

Aristophanes – Lysistrata, The Birds Greek Theatron

Orchestra

Thymele

Skene

Eisodoi (or

parados)

Ekklyklema

Deus ex

machina

Hellenistic Period Period spans the rule of Alexander the Great to

the rise of the Roman Empire.

Greek culture extended into Europe and Asia, due

to military conquests.

Drama included Greek tragedies and new comedy

Chorus reduced in importance, and provided

music and dance, light entertainment.

Playwright

Menander - Dyskolos (The Grouch), Epitrepontes

(Men at Arbitration) Samia (Girl from Samos)

Roman Theatre240 BCE - AD 476

Roman Theater Adapted from Greek drama

Mainly comedies, performed for ruling classes during

festivals and holidays

Lacked religious and cultural meaning.

Performed alongside circuses and gladiatorial

competitions.

Chorus was removed from performance.

Persona

Roman Playwrights Plautus – The Menachmi Twins, Aulularia,

Pseudolus

Terence – The Eunuch, Andrian, The Brothers

Seneca – Hercules, Octavia, Phaedra

Roman Auditorium

Platae

Frons scaenae

Vomitorium

Orchestra

Roman Theater, Orange, France

The Middle AgesAD 900 - 1500

The Middle Ages Christian doctrine

dominated literature, culture

Rise of feudal system,

nobles and peasants, and

rural communities

Tropes – Quem Queritis

1210 AD, Pope removed

drama from the Mass

Cycle Plays – The York

Cycle

Morality plays – Everyman York Mystery Play, 2010

The Cycle Play First dramas written in

English

Playlets relating the stories of the Bible

Community guilds responsible for production of each playlet

Large scale productions lasted several days (40+) with large casts (300+)

No notable authors

Rolling procession

Performed at high religious events

Written in verse to elevate status of characters, subject matter

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Renaissance Theatre

1500 - 1660

The Renaissance Creative movement that

influenced all of Europe

Emphasis on discovery,

individual potential,

creativity, reasoning

Rediscovery of Greek and

Roman ideas, including

humanism: “man is the

measure of all things”

Decline of feudal system,

religious dogma

England – Shakespearean Era 1559 – Queen Elizabeth I bans religious cycle

plays

Drama written in verse, prose, and doggerel

Included foreign locales, complex stories, historical reference

Travelling players

Named after sponsor: Lord Admiral’s Men, Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Skilled actors, musicians, acrobats writers

All male troupes; boy companies

Public Theater

Enclosed yard, with 3-story gallery for viewing

Raised stage, backed by tiring house

The Rose, The Globe

England – (con’t.)

Playwrights William Shakespeare –

Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest

Christopher Marlowe – Tamburlaine the Great, The Tragedy of Dr. Faustus

Ben Jonson – Volpone, The Alchemist

1642 – Puritans named actors and drama “sinful,” banning all theatrical performances. Ended with the return of Charles II to the throne in 1660.The Globe Theater, London, England

Italy Renewed interest in Greek and Roman culture by

elite society Developments in architecture, painting,

literature: Filippo Brunelleschi, Leonard da Vinci, Petrarch Proscenium Arch

Travelling troupes were skilled actors, musicians, acrobats, female performers

Commedia dell’arte Stock characters Use of masks, costumes,

portable stages, slapstick Lazzi

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Spain – Spanish Golden Age

Spanish Inquisition (1480)

1400’s - Dramas were liturgical, religious in nature

1500’s – secular pasos performed by travelling

companies

Women permitted to perform in productions

Dramas included themes of personal honor,

chivalry, blended genres

Corrales de comedia

Playwrights

Lope de Vega – Fuenteovejuna

Pedro Calderon de la Barca – Life is a Dream

Miguel de Cervantes – Don Quixote, stage

adaptations

Restoration Theatre

1660 - 1700

Royalty became patrons of

theater, commissioning

plays and entertainment,

establishing aesthetic

standards

1600’s - Started in Spain,

and progressed to France,

then England.

Performances became social

gatherings for elite society

The Royal Theater

France French Neoclassicism

Established strict format for playwriting, limiting

creativity

Drama focused on social commentary, domestic

issues; lacked plot and action

Tennis court performances

Public theater - Parterre, proscenium arch, loges

Playwrights

Pierre Corneille – Le Cid, Medee

Moliere, (aka Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) – Tartuffe,

The Imaginary Invalid, The Bourgeois

Gentleman

Jean Racine – Phaedra, Alexander the Great,

Andromaque

England English Restoration (1660)

Restoration Comedy – aka “Comedy of Manners”

English Royal Patent of 1662 – allowed female

actresses at “legitimate” theaters

The Drury Lane

Covent Garden

Raked stage, proscenium arch, bench seating in

pit

Playwrights

William Wycherly – The Country Wife

William Congreve – The Way of the World

Aphra Behn – The Rover

John Dryden – A World Well Lost

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18th & 19th Century Theatre

1700 – 1880

Developed in reaction to elitist styles of French Neoclassicism and Restoration Comedy

Began as sentimental comedy

Appealed to the masses

Focused on appeals to emotion rather than intellect

Reflected the virtues of private life

Featured action, exotic locales and exaggerated passion

Evident in Opera and early musicals

Romanticism

Playwrights

Richard Steele – Conscious Lovers

Joseph Addison – Cato

George Aiken – Uncle Tom's Cabin, based on

novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Alexandre Dumas – Camille, The Three

Musketeers

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe – Faust

Edmond Rostand – Cyrano De Bergerac

Realism – likeness to life Influenced all facets of theater: playwriting,

direction, acting, and design Examined social, psychological and political

complexities of life Complex characters and relationships David Garrick – Actor-Producer of the Drury Lane

Theatre Fourth Wall Playwrights

Henrik Ibsen – A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts

George Bernard Shaw – Major Barbara, St. Joan Anton Chekhov – The Cherry Orchard, The Three

Sisters

Naturalism – a slice of life

Extreme form of realism where natural and social

environment override individual willpower

Character development versus plot development

Established in France by theorist, Emile Zola

Playwrights

August Strindberg – Miss Julie

Arthur Schnitzler – La Ronde

Modern Theatre1880 – Current

Antirealism – Began in Paris, 1880, by artists who saw Realism

as ordinary and mundane Plays explore the human condition; characters are

symbolic, facing universal conflicts, and withstanding adversity

No principles or formulas for aesthetics, but some with similar characteristics

Drama included verse, novelty, fantasy, superhuman abilities, extravagance

The Age of “Isms” Symbolism

Explored inner human reality not directly or literally perceived

Symbolic characters represent philosophical ideals or warring internal forces

August Strindberg – A Dream Play (1902)

French Avant Garde Abandoned conventions of Realism to create new

theatrical style Alfred Jarry – Ubu Roi (1896)

Expressionism Attacked senses with bright lights and color, abrasive

sound effects, and aggressive pace Eugene O’Neill – The Hairy Ape (1921)

The Age of “Isms” Theater of Cruelty

Explored the source of dreams, using cruelty, savagery, criminality

Employed language for its sounds rather than meaning

Theater of Alienation Use of theater to influence public issues and motivate

social action Bertolt Brecht – The Good Person of Szechuan, The

Caucasian Chalk Circle

Theater of the Absurd Themes based on the search for meaning or purpose

in life Samuel Beckett – Waiting for Godot, Endgame Harold Pinter – The Birthday Party, The

Homecoming

American Realism First major theatrical form in United States

Confronted impact of social issues on normal people

Enhanced by realistic acting style developed by theater companies

Popularized by American film industry

Playwrights

Eugene O’Neill – Beyond the Horizon, Mourning

Becomes Electra, Anna Christie

Clifford Odets – Waiting for Lefty, Awake and

Sing!

Arthur Miller – Death of a Salesman, The

Crucible, All My Sons

Tennessee Williams – The Glass Menagerie, A

Streetcar Named Desire

August Wilson – Fences, The Piano Lesson, Gem

of the Ocean

Postmodernism 1970’s – sexuality,

profanity, violence, used to

shock audience

1980’s – focused on

diversity to raise public

consciousness, global

awareness

21st Century – became a

platform to debate issues

of terroism, war, religious

rights, and political control

Theatrical styles Experimental theatre

Dadaism Nonlinear theater

David Auburn, Proof Harold Pinter, Betrayal

Open Theater Joseph Chaikin, Open Theatre Company

Diversity Feminist theatre ensembles Negro Ensemble Company Color blind, and cross gender casting Fusion theatre Macaroni theatre Exploration of sexual preferences – Tony Kushner,

Angels in America

Theatrical styles Spectacular Theatre

Advances in lighting, sound and computer technology

Apparent in cinema, performance art, musicals, music concerts

Verbatim Theatre Moises Kaufman – The Laramie Project (2002)

My Name is Rachel Corrie (2005)

Workers’ Theatre El Teatro Campesino, California (1965)

Free Southern Theater, Mississippi (1963)

Cornerstone Theater, California (1986)

Movement art and dance theatre Solo performance

William Luce – The Belle of Amherst (1976)

Jay Presson Allen – Tru (1989)

Asian Theatre

Asian Theater Developed in isolation from

Western culture

Emphasis on imagery and symbolism, rather than realism and literary merit

Drama includes dance, song, chant, mime, acrobatics, puppetry

Centered around folk history, cultural myths, ancient religion

Drama featured multiple authors, improvisation, and adaptations

India Sanskrit Dance-Theater

Documented in treatise Natyasatra, detailing play structure, stage buildings, performance, etc.

Died out in 10th century due to Mongol conquests and fragmented culture

Kathakali – “story play” Developed in 17th century Based on stories from the Mahabharata

China Shadow Plays Xiqu – “tuneful theater”

Performers must be skilled in all: singing, speech, acting, movement, acrobatics, martial arts

Teahouse performances Included both humorous and serious elements Beijing Opera 100 Words Festival

Japan No

Ceremonial drama, retelling myths and supernatural events

Characters include shite, waki, and chorus

Comic interlude called the kyogen

Bunraku

Developed in 6th century, using life-like puppetry

All-male puppeteers, musicians, and chanters

Three puppeteers per character, cloaked in black

Kabuki

Originated in 17th Century

Multi-act play, utilizing stylized costumes, face

paint, scenery, movement

Notable Asian Playwrights Rabindrinath Tagore (1861 – 1941) - India

Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for poetry Challenged classical sanskrit, and wrote poetic, political,

and personal works

Ts’ao Yu (1910-1996) - China Influenced by Greek and Western drama, wrote “spoken

theater”

Kuan Han Ch’ing (1241 – 1320) - China wrote in zaju style, The Injustice of Dou E

Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653 – 1725) – Japan Domestic dramas, usually ended with suicide of one or

both lovers