Theater

History

Take notes now.

No really, this will be on a

test.

Seriously,
I know there was no test last
year
but this year there will be a
test.

Okay, I warned you.

Greek and
Roman
Theater
Dramaan imitation of action
not the action itself.
-Aristotle

The role of drama in the ancient

Greek culture was a specific one: it
played a significant part in the
religious rites of the period.

How do we know about the Greeks?

While the Greeks were great at

writing plays, they were not so
great at keeping them for future
reading, most of the early great
works were lost.
Thank you to Lycurgus who, aside from
giving us that great name which I will
probably give to my first born son, also
established a library in 330BC, which was
the only way in which we have any record
of any of these early Greek works.

I am a Thespian
Thespis, was the earliest recorded
theater practitioner. He was the first
recorded winner of the competition for
the performance of tragic plays. It is
unclear whether he was an actor, a
playwright, a priest, or all or some of
these.

His name lives on in the word

Thespian, which is the name for
someone who practices the art of the
theater.

Greek Theater

DIAGRAM OF AN ANCIENT GREEK

THEATER SPACE

You might wish to copy this down, this looks strikingly similar to the
diagram that you will be drawing and labeling on the test. Only if you
wantI dont want to bother you

The Ancient Greek Theatre Space

Skene: A building behind everything in which
the actors changed costumes

Orchestra: a circular area with an altar in the center

where the performances took place

Proskenion: a raised platform that supported

a small stage.
AMC FULLERTON MOVIE TIMES

WEDDING CRASHERS
2:00 4:15 6:45 7:05 8:45 10:00
WAR OF THE WORLDS
3:30 5:45 7:00 8:15 9:45
10:30 BEWITCHED
2:45 4:00 5:15 7:00 8:30
9:30
THE RED TIMES ARE ON THE CLASSIC SIDE
THE YELLOW TIMES ARE ON THE STADIUM-SEATING SIDE

Audience: Usually the theatre spaces were built

into hillsides and the seating was arranged in a
large semi-circle

The Ancient Greek Theatre Space

Periaktos: Triangle prisms which could be pivoted to
reveal three different backgrounds
Eccyclema: a platform on wheels used to display the
effects of violence within a play
Deus ex Machina: (god from the machine) a cranelike machine that was used to lower an actor, playing
the part of god, onto the stage in order to fix the
problems at hand

THE CHORUS
a group of actors onstage who often spoke in unison to
prepare the audience for what is about to happen or
what has just taken place

The Mask
The mask was designed to be oversized in order to
better convey the expressed emotion to an
audience in a large theater.
Some masks were designed with a megaphone-like
mouth-piece in order to help the actor project his
voice.
Masks also allowed for one actor to play many
different parts in the course of one play.

What does it mean to

project your voice?

The Ancient Greek Plays & Playwrights

THE TRILOGY
(OH AND A COMEDIC PLAY MEANT TO MAKE YOU FORGET WHAT YOU JUST SAW)

The Tragedy: A play in which the main character(s)

struggle against an outside force, and usually comes
to a disastrous conclusion. Most of the successful
surviving Greek plays were in the tragic form.

Tragedies were often presented in threes,

connected by a theme or storyline, and then
followed by a comic piece called a satyr play
The Satyr play: These plays were used to sugar the
pill of the tragedy and would often pick up the same
story-line and poke fun at it. Sometimes these would be
indecent or base.

The Ancient Greek Plays & Playwrights

Sophocles (496-406 BC)
A choric performer
Introduction of the third actor
His works became more actor-lead rather than
choric-lead characterization by action

Wrote over 100 plays 20 won him first prize

ONLY SEVEN TEXTS SURVIVED

Ajax, The Trachiniae, Philoctetes, Electra
THE THEBAN LEGEND: His only remaining
trilogy consists of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus
at Colonus, and Antigone.

What is the Oedipus Complex?

The Ancient Greek Plays & Playwrights

Euripedes (480-406 BC)
Late start studied philosophy and didnt
win a festival until age 40 (next at 54)

Developed the Prologue

Emphasis on personal life daily living
Wrote over 90 plays 5 won him first prize

18 TEXTS SURVIVED
His plays often dealt with serious,
controversial issues in society: roles of
women and illegitimate children.
Many of his plays deal with a central female
character that was shown as very strong

The Ancient Greek Plays & Playwrights

Aristophanes (445-380 BC)
Used pen-name (pseudonym) Kallistratos
He used his plays to poke fun at Euripedes
Old Comedy: poked fun at period-specific
events, people, and places

Wrote over 40 comedies

11 TEXTS SURVIVED
The Clouds (mockery of Socrates & philosophy)
The Frogs (mockery of Euripedes)
Many of his plays poke fun at the poor and
democracy. It is said that he was desperately trying
to fit in with high class people.

The Ancient Greek Influence

Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Philosopher and scientist
Cathartic Effect it allows the viewer to watch
the experience without being to involved

Aristotle Quotes:
The instinct for imitation is inherent in
man from his earliest days, he learns
earliest lessons by imitation.
Drama is an imitation of action not the
action itself.

ARISTOTILEAN CASE

Roman Theater

Ancient Roman Theater

ROMAN MASKS
The Roman masks were now more specific to
archetypal characters:
the handsome youth, the father, the
prostitute, the parasite, the miser, the mother,
the clever slave, and the braggart soldier
(you do need to know these archetypes)

The Ancient Roman Plays & Playwrights

Terence (190-159 BC)
A freed slave
All of his plays were re-workings of Greek plays

Four of his surviving plays are carbon-copies of

Meanders Greek comedies
Beginnings of stealing or borrowing works

His works were characterized as light and

witty with a sophisticated plot
ONLY SIX TEXTS SURVIVED
Andria, Hecyra, Heauton, Timorumenos,
Eunuchus, Phormio, Adelphi

The Ancient Roman Plays & Playwrights

Plautus (254-184 BC)
Roman comic actor
Plays based on Greek works
Plays included debauchery, songs, jokes,
and topical allusions
Wrote over 130 plays - 20 TEXTS SURVIVED

Seneca (4 BC 65 AD)
Only example of Roman tragedy to survive

His father was a famous rhetorician so he was

often referred to as Seneca the Younger

Became tutor to Nero (emperor of Rome) 65 AD he

was implicated in a plot to assassinate Nero and was
condemned to death but he took his own life