THE HISTORY OF THEATREThe beginning/Ancient Greece

Just to review…•Storytelling was a precursor to theatre•It probably dates back to the beginning of verbal communication

Just to review

Storytelling served three purposes1. To provide information2. To entertain3. To explain natural

phenomenonsThe last purpose gave rise

to myths and legends

Just to review

The earliest example of a theatrical event was in Egypt c. 2000 BC•The Festival of Osiris•Considered to be a passion play•Evidence comes from a stone tablet•Written by a man named Ikhernofret

The Greeks arrive

The Greek civilization began to create theatre around the 6th century BC•Its origins stem from the worship of the god Dionysis, the god of wine•The Diomysian festival was held every spring to bless the new grape crop•Shepherds brought goats to the temple of Dionysis to be sacrificed

The masks

The theatrical masks you see are representations of the muses of theatre

Melpomene-tragedy

Thalia-comedy

Come let us sing sad songs together

•The song that the goatherds would sing was known as the tragos•Groups of herdsmen would gather into groups known as the khouros•Eventually a contest was started to see who had the best tragos

The first actor•During the first competition at the Dionysian Festival (534 BC), one man from a khouros broke away•He leapt onto an altar and played the role of a god•This man was the first actor, Thespis•From his name, we get the term thespian, another name for an actor•From the group name khouros, we get the word “chorus”

TRAGEDY!•Tragedy comes from the Greek word tragos,meaning “goat song”•They were presented in a dayof three related plays, known asa trilogy•Three of the most famous tragedy playwrights of ancient Greece were Aeschylus (The Orestaia), Euripides (Medea), and Sophocles (Oedipus Rex)

Comedy tonight

•Comedy began as a play that made fun of the tragedies, known as a satyr play•Poked fun at the plays, playwrights, philosophers, politicians and priests•Eventually developed into comedy•Old Comedies were very bawdy and full of fantasy•The most famous early comic playwright was Aristophanes (Lysistrata)

Leave ‘em laughing•The Middle and New Comedy eras featured plays more reserved and coherent than their predecessors•Comedies in Roman and Renaissance times were heavily influences by New Comedy•Menander was considered one of

the greats of New Comedy•He wrote over a hundred plays, but only one – Dyskolos –survives today

Parts of the Greek theatreAmphitheatr

e

Theatron

OrchestraSkene

How to end a show (maybe)•In some Greek tragedies, the play ended when a god appeared on top of the skene•This was done with a type of primitive crane called a deus ex machina•The actor playing a god was lifted into place

and the play ended•This became overused when playwrights could not think of a good ending for their play•We still use the term today for any movie or play ending that comes out of nowhere

The little quiz at the end Greek drama began with the worship

of what god? The groups of goatherds who would

gather to chant songs we called what?

Tragedy comes from the word tragos, which means “______________”.

Who were the three great tragic playwrights?

Who do the theatre masks represent?

Little quiz continued

Who was the great playwright of the Old Comedy era?

How many of Menander’s plays survive today?

What was the acting area of the Greek theatre called?

What was the machine that lifted people to the top of the skene called?