Egyptian Roots c.2500 bce Ritual Enactment Abydos Passion Play re-enacted the story of the death and resurrection of Osiris

Greek Festivals Festivals honored Olympian gods Ritual Competitions Olympics: Apollo Athletics Lyric Poetry Drama: Dionysos Dithyrambic Choruses Tragedy Comedy

Greek Theatre 6th - 4th century bce Originated in festivals honoring DionysosThespis (6th c. bce)Tragedy:Aeschylus (524-456 bce)Sophocles (496-406 bce)Euripides (480-406 bce) Comedy: Aristophanes (c. 485- c.385 bce)Old Comedy: bawdy and satiricNew Comedy: social situations

Roman Theatre2nd c. bce - 4th c. ce Origins in Greek drama and Roman festivalsTragedy: Seneca5 act structureRevenge motif -- sensationalisticGhosts and supernatural Comedy:Terence and PlautusBoy meets girl, complications, boy gets girl: marriageBawdyStock characters

Roman SpectacleGladiatorial combatsNaval battles in a flooded ColiseumReal-life theatricalsDecadent, violent and immoralAll theatrical events banned by Church when Rome became Christianized

Medieval Drama: 13th-15th C.Arose from need to educate converted, illiterate Christians about ChristianityHrotsvita (10th c.), German nun, wrote plays about Christian matyrs using structure based on Terences Roman comediesLiturgical dramaMystery plays: Biblical talesMiracle plays: Saints livesMorality plays: Allegories

Italian Commedia dell ArteLa Commedia dell'Arte, "Artistic Comedy, began in the second half of the 16th century Based on set pieces, lazzi, that are improvised with stock charactersA distinct group of actors gave birth to the first nucleus of companies, and started doing their acts on simple stages set outdoorsThe mix of popular themes, complex stories, acrobatic jumps and mellow love scenes made it highly influential throughout Europe

Harlequino

Elizabethan Theatre: 16th-17th C. Protestant Reformation closed down religious drama Tudor love of spectacle and patronage of drama Elizabethan poetry -- love of language Influenced by Roman theatre, Renaissance ideas, medieval stagecraft and pagan remnants Important theatrical period even if Shakespeare had never lived

French Neoclassical Theatre, 17th-18th C. Modelled theatre on Greek and Roman examples Disdained English Elizabethan theatres messiness and eclecticism Neoclassical Conventions Decorum Verisimilitude Universal truths Poetic: Alexandrines 5 act structure 3 unities: time, place action

Tragedy and Comedy Rulers/nobility Affairs of state Unhappy ending Lofty poetic style Revealed the horrible results of mistakes and misdeeds committed from passion Racine Middle class/bourgeosie Domestic/private affairs Happy ending often deus ex machina Ordinary speech Ridicules behavior that should be avoided Moliere

German Romantic Theater: 18th-19th C. Strm und Drang Looked to Shakespeare for models Sweeping historical and tragic dramas Johann Goethe and Friedrich Schiller Began to emphasize historical accuracy in costumes and settings Improved theatrical effects -- footlights, revolving stages, theatrical machinery

Melodrama: 19th CenturyTheatre of sentimentality -- emotional appealHeroes and villains -- and lily-white heroinesWide popular appealSensationalisticMost widely performed play of the 19th C: Uncle Toms Cabin based on Harriet Beecher Stowes novel

Realism and Naturalism19th-20th C. Intellectual reaction against popular theatre Theatre of social problems Influenced by emerging disciplines of psychology and sociology Emerging importance of director Realistic stage conventions: Proscenium stage Audience as fourth wall Change in acting conventions Continued developments in stagecraft

Realism and NaturalismMiddle classPsychological How can the individual live within and influence society?Well-made playHenrik Ibsen, George Bernard ShawMiddle and Lower classesSociologicalHow does society/the environment impact individuals?Slice of lifeAugust Strindberg, Anton Chekhov, John Synge, Sean OCasey

20th Century Theatre:a hundred years of isms Symbolism Expressionism Futurism Surrealism Social Realism Epic Theatre Existentialism Absurdism Magic Realism Hyper-Realism Not to mention musicals, films, street theatre, etc., etc.

And so into the 21st CenturyAnna in the Tropics by Nilo CruzWinner of 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

*La Commedia dell'Arte literally means "Artistic Comedy", probably named as a contraposition to the standard way of making theater in that period. The Commedia dell'Arte had its start in the second half of the 16th century, in a period when theater plays were classic, stylish, cold and rigorous. Maybe as a reaction, here we go for the exact opposite: loud, colorful representations blossomed everywhere in Italy, and the rules of theater are subverted. The Commedia dell'Arte bases its charme on the free improvisation on stage. Free in the sense it is not codified, but of course it follows very precise rules, and it needs good actors to work. The time of amateur actors who learn by heart the dialogues an repeat them without expression on stage is over. A very distinct group of actors gives birth to the first nucleus of companies, and start doing their act on simple stages set outdoors, essential backgrounds (usually just a painting of streets and houses made on a canvas).The powerful mix of various elements goes strong impulse to the initiative: popular themes, complex stories with lots of climax, acrobatic jumps and mellow love scenes made it a success.