TheaterChapter 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). 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.

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 sitcom-like 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.

-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).

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Rome’s Not So Memorable Playwrights:

Terrence (195-159 B.C.): Considered the more artistic of Rome’s two famous 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,