THEATER 

from Latin theatrum, from Greek theatron, from theasthai to view, from the act of 
seeing; akin to Greek thauma miracle. 
An art concerned almost exclusively with live performances in which the action is precisely 
planned to create a coherent and significant sense of drama 

HISTORY OF THEATER 
 
GREEK THEATER (7th CENTURY B.C.) 
● Greek theatre was created to celebrate religious festivals 
● A chorus was used to either sing or chant the script 
● Thespis  has  been  credited  for  creating  the  first  actor  who  broke  away  from  the 
chorus  and  would  speak  to  the  chorus  as  an  individual  character.  This  is  why 
actors are also known as "Thespians” 
● Masks were used to allow the actors to play more than one character 
● This led to the creation of character. 
● The creation of character: 
- Aeschylus  introduced  the  idea  of  using  a  second  and  third  actor  which  allowed 
for interaction between characters. 
- Sophocles  continued  the  creation  of  character  by  using  the  chorus  less,  and 
creating more dialogue between characters. 
 
ROMAN THEATER (4th CENTURY B.C.) 
● The Romans were greatly influenced by Greek Theatre 
● The  word  "play  comes  from  the  Latin  word  "ludus"  which  means  recreation  or 
play. 
● The  Roman  playwright  Terence  introduced the concept of a subplot allowing the 
audience  to  contrast  the  reactions  of  different  characters  to  the  same  events  or 
circumstances 
● Roman Theatre was less influenced by religion than Greek theatre. 
● The audience was often loud and rude 
● The  audience  did  not  applaud,  but  rather  were  always  shouting  insults  and 
booing 
● Since  the  audience  was  so  loud,  much  of  the  plays  were  pantomimed  and 
repetitive 
● The  actors developed a code which would tell the audience about a character just 
by looking at them. 
 
MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN THEATER (5th CENTURY) 
● After  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  the  cities  were  abandoned,  and  Europe 
became increasingly more agricultural. 
● After several hundred years, towns re-emerged. 
● The  Roman  Catholic  Church  dominated  religion,  education  and  politics.  It  also 
had a strong influence on theatre. 
● Theatre  was  "reborn"  as  "liturgical  dramas"  which  were  written  in  Latin  and 
performed  by  priests  or  church  members.  The  plots  were  taken  from  the 
Christian Bible. 
● Performances also were held to celebrate religious festivals (as in Greek times). 
 
COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE ITALY’S CONTRIBUTION (14th CENTURY) 
● In Italy, a unique form of theatre was created for the common people  
● Commedia dell'Arte required few props and no sets 
● The  plays  did  not  come  from  scripts  bulby  "scenarios  which  were an outline of a 
plot. The actors improvised the dialogue with comedic stunts 
● Actors  wore  half  masks  which  indicated  to  the  audience  which  character  they 
were playing (Just like the Greeks) 
● A Commedia troupe typically consisted of 10 to 12 members, a few of which were 
women 
● Plays were based on stock characters 
 
RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION (15th CENTURY) 
● Further  contributions  to  Theatre  were  made  by  Italians  through  the 
development of the proscenium, or "picture frame stage" 
England's Contribution 
● In England "apron stages" were used which created a more open" stage. 
● Audience members surrounded the stage, and sometimes on the stage. 
● The  emphasis  in  plays  were  on  the  dialogue.  Plays  also  continued  to  have 
moralistic themes. 
● Later religious themes were replaced by themes of loyalty to the government 
● Performers  were organized into troupes or companies who developed a repertory 
of plays that they could perform 
 
 
 
18th CENTURY THEATER 
● In the 18th Century, Theatre became a popular pastime. 
● During the first half of the 18th century actors assumed poses and performed 
their lines in a 'sing song manner 
● Actors dressed in modern fashionable clothes 
● There was a rivalry between actresses asto who would wear the finest dress. 
● Pantomime was still popular and promoted the development of spectacular 
staging slapstick and special effects 
 
19th CENTURY THEATER 
● Gas lighting was first introduced in 1817 in London's Drury Lane Theatre. 
● By the end of the century, electrical lighting made its appearance on stage 
● Elaborate mechanisms for changing scenery were developed, including fly-lofts, 
elevators, and revolving stages 
 
20th CENTURY THEATER 
● During the 20th Century, the world changed forever (2 world wars, and much 
social and political upheaval) 
● The Realism movement in theatre and the creation a more naturalistic acting 
style continued to flourish in the 20th Century 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 BASIC ELEMENTS OF THEATER
1. Script/Text, Scenario, Plan 
The starting point of the theatrical performance. It is actually the 
blueprint of the production. 
2. The Process 
This is the coordination of effort usually by the director and where the 
whole production brings into reality. 
3. The Product 
This is the output where the audience will witness the result of all the 
labors to finish the script, scenario, and plan by the collaborations as they 
sit in the theater. 
4. The Audience 
Theater requires an audience. Audience have an impact on how the 
performance went, they may affect actors as they are being inspired, and 
also can create expectations. 

OTHER ELEMENTS OF THEATER 

1. Performers 
People who acts dramatically accordingly by the assigned character by 
them. 
2. Audience 
Theater requires an audience. Audience have an impact on how the 
performance went, they may affect actors as they are being inspired, and 
also can create expectations. 
3. Director 
The person who assigns and monitors the actors. The director also makes 
certain for the performer to deliver their assigned tasks accordingly. 
They are also responsible for the overall stage performance to make sure 
the production will work well. 
4. Space 
Space has an essential part whether on stage and on the seats of audience.  
It may give different values based on how the actors maximize or 
minimize their work space. 
5. Visual Aspect 
Visual Aspect: Costumes, lightning, and other form of scenic background 
Non Visual Aspect: sound and background music 
6. Script 
It is the blueprint of the theatrical performance. 
  
THEATER STYLES 

REALISM 

● It’s a general movement that started in France in the 1850s. 

● Theorists in that time wanted realistic situations, characters and dialogue (even 
grammatically incorrect dialogue) 
● This style of theater is in line with observable reality. 
● Realistic plays often see the protagonist rise up against the odds to assert 
him/herself against an injustice of some kind. 
● It quickly gained popularity because the everyday person in the audience could 
identify with the situations and characters on stage 
● Characters are usually in the middle class. 
● Supposed to move away from the sensationalism and moralism of melodrama.

“​..the ​artist should discover and to reveal to us that which we do not see in things we 
look at every day.”
Alexander Dumas fils ​is the first writer of realistic social plays.  
example work: La Dame Aux Camilles 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 NATURALISM 

● It’s a movement in Europe that started in the late 19th and 20th centuries. 
● It  exposed  the  dark  harshness  of  life,  including  poverty,  racism,  sex,  prejudice, 
disease,  prostitution,  and  filth.  As  a  result,  Naturalistic  writers  were  frequently 
criticized for being too blunt. 
● Characters  in  the  play  are  shaped  by  their  circumstances  and  controlled  by 
external  forces  such  as  hereditary  or  their  social  and  economic  environment 
(scientific determinism). 
● Stage  time  equals  real  time  –  eg.  three  hours  in  the  theatre  equals  three  hours 
for the characters in the world of the play. 
● Characters are often working class/lower class. 
● Supposed to move away from the sensationalism and moralism of melodrama. 
 
“​Theater should be a lab of human life. Experiments are on the inner conflicts of a 
group of characters.” 
Emile Zola ​is t​he big-time early adopter of evolution.  
example work: Therese Raquin 
 
 
NATURALISM AND REALISM tried to portray life, but life isn’t easy to stage. 
 EXPRESSIONISM

● It’s a modernist movement that developed in Germany in the early 20th century. 
● Its  atmosphere  was  often  vividly  dreamlike  and  nightmarish.  The  mood  was 
aided by shadowy, unrealistic lighting and visual distortions in the set. 
● Characters  lost  their  individuality  and  were  merely  identified  by  nameless 
designations,  like  The  Man,  The  Father,  The  Son.  Such  characteristics  were 
stereotypes  and  caricatures  rather  than  individual  personalities.  Their 
characteristics are emphasized by costume, masks or make-up. 
● The  style  of  acting  is  intense  and  violent,  and  expressed  tormented  emotions. 
Actors  might  erupt  in  sudden  passion  and  attack  each  other  physically.  Speech 
was  rapid,  breathless  and  staccato,  with  gestures  and  movement  urgent  and 
energetic–eyes  rolling,  teeth  bared,  fingers  and  hands  clutching  like  talons  and 
claws. 
● Avoiding  the  details  of  human  behaviour,  a  player  might  appear  to  be 
overacting, and adopting the broad, mechanical movements of a puppet. 

 
Ernst Toller ​was ​a dramatist, poet, and political activist, who was a prominent 
exponent of Marxism and pacifism in ​Germany​ in the 1920s. His Expressionist plays 
embodied his spirit of social protest. 
example work: Hoppla, We’re Alive! 
 
 ABSURDITY 

● Centered in Paris in the 1950s. 

● It’s  largely  based  on  the  philosophy  of  existentialism  where  man  starts  life with 
nothing.  His  life  is  made  up  of  acts;  through  the  process  of acting man becomes 
conscious of his original nothingness. 
● Characterised  by  a  deliberate  absence  of  the  cause  and  effect  relationship 
between scenes and loss of conflict. 
● The  characters  are  not  consistent,  mysteries  don’t  get  solved,  order  is  not 
restored. 

Jean Genet ​was ​a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. 
Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later took to writing. 
example work: The Maids 
 
 CLASSICAL 

● Centered in Paris in the 1950s. 

● It’s origins lie with the Greek theater. 
● A type of theater which relies upon imagination to convey the setting and 
atmosphere of the play. 
● Classical theater usually contains lofty, grand prose or free verse dialogue. 
● Involves singing 
● This is where masks and chorus was first used. 
● On-screen characters were all male and performed in veils; there were a couple 
of on-screen characters accessible for the dramatist’s utilization (two or three 
could be in front of an audience at once). 
● Classic Theaters were basically based on the religious contexts. 
● Good examples are the Elizabethan dramatists such as William Shakespeare and 
Christopher Marlowe. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE 

● It’s also known as "Italian comedy," was a humorous theatrical presentation 

performed by 8-12 professional actors who traveled in troupes throughout Italy 
in the 16th century. 
● This took place on temporary stages. 
● The general outline, the characters and their relationships, as well as the 
outcome of the situation were all decided before the performance began, using 
stock characters and tried and true plots.  
● The actors were required to employ their considerable talents in filling out the 
remaining details of the story and keep the attention of the audience.  
● The plots were mainly about love intrigues, with themes of adultery, jealousy, 
old age, and young love. 
● Involves rude physical comedies 
● The characters involve masters, servants and lovers.
 THEATER OF CRUELTY 

● It’s a philosophy and a discipline developed by Antonin Artaud, aimed to shock 

audiences through gesture, image, sound and lighting. 
● The ‘cruelty’ in Artaud’s thesis was sensory, it exists in the work’s capacity to 
shock and confront the audience, to go beyond words and connect with the 
emotions: to wake up the nerves and the heart. He believed gesture and 
movement to be more powerful than text. 
● The audience is surrounded by the play, placed at the center. 

SYMBOLISM 

● It began with a group of French poets in the late 19th Century and soon spread 
to the visual arts and theatre, finding its peak between about 1885 and 1910. 
● It’s a reaction against the plays that embodied naturalism and realism at the 
turn of the 20th Century. The dialogue and style of acting in symbolist plays was 
highly stylised and anti realistic/non-naturalistic. 
● Primary symbolist playwrights included Belgian Maurice Maeterlinck and 
Frenchmen Auguste Villiers de L’Isle-Adam and Paul Claudel. 
 THEATER GENRES 
 
COMEDY 
The word ‘Comedy’ has been derived from the French word comdie, which in turn is 
taken from the Greco-Latin word Comedia. The word comedia is made of two words 
komos, which means revel and aeidein means to sing. 
 
A comedy is a dramatic work that is light and often humorous and that usually contains a 
happy ending. A comedy is basically a dramatic work that makes its audience laugh. There 
are two basic types of comedy, which can be classified as high and low comedy. 
 
High Comedy 
- High  comedy  is  characterized  by  subtle  characterization,  witty  dialog,  irony and 
satire.  It  is  sophisticated  in  nature  and  focuses  on  the  inconsistencies  and 
incongruities  of  human  nature.  The  aim  of  this  type  of  comedy  is  not  just  to 
entertain  the  audience;  it  also  aims  to  act  as  a  social  criticism.  Satire  and 
comedy of manners are examples of high comedy. 
Low Comedy 
- Low  comedy  is  characterized  by  humorous  or  farcical  situations,  absurdities, 
physical  action,  and  often  bawdy  or  vulgar  jokes.  It  is  not  serious  in  nature  and 
does  not  appeal  to  the  intellect.  This  type  of  comedy  only  aims  to  entertain  the 
audience;  it  has  no  higher  purpose.  Farce,  parody  ,  and  burlesque  are  examples 
of low comedy. 
 
FARCE 
A ​FARCE​ is a literary genre and type of comedy that makes use of highly exaggerated 
and funny situations aimed at entertaining the audience . Farce is also a subcategory 
of dramatic comedy, which is different from other forms of comedy as it only aims at 
making the audience laugh. It uses elements like physical humor, deliberate 
absurdity, bawdy jokes, and drunkenness just to make people laugh. We often see 
one‑dimensional characters in ludicrous situations in farces. 
 
SATIRE 
Satire is a genre of literature, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are 
held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, into improvement. 
Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often 
constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon and as a tool to draw attention to 
both particular and wider issues in society. 
 
 
 
Types of Satire: 
● Menippean  ​is  similar  in  harshness  to  Juvenalian,  but  it  attacks  a  more  general 
target.  An  example  is  religious  satire,  which  attacks  sacred  figures  or  religious 
beliefs. 
● Horatian  ​makes fun of things in a soft or even loving manner. It’s usually a form 
of parody that is intended to make people think. 
 
TRAGEDY 
These plays contain darker themes such as death and disaster. Often the protagonist of 
the play has a tragic flaw , a trait which leads to their downfall. Tragic plays convey all 
emotions and have very dramatic conflicts. 
Tragedy was one of the two original play types of Ancient Greece. Some examples of 
tragedies include William Shakespeare's Hamlet, and also John Webster's play The 
Duchess of Malfi. 
 
HISTORICAL THEATER 
These plays focus on actual historical events. They can be tragedies or comedies, but 
are often neither of these. History as a separate genre was popularized by William 
Shakespeare. Examples of historical plays include Friedrich Schiller 's Demetrius and 
Shakespeare's King John .