+ HISTORY OF THEATRE EAST & WEST Chapter 15. + From Ritual to Theatre 6 th Century( BC) Greece –...
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Transcript of + HISTORY OF THEATRE EAST & WEST Chapter 15. + From Ritual to Theatre 6 th Century( BC) Greece –...
+
HISTORY OF THEATREEAST & WEST
Chapter 15
+From Ritual to Theatre
6th Century( BC) Greece – Theatre of Dionysus Ampitheatre in Athens Dionysus – god of wine & fertility
THEATRE’S BEGINNINGS Began as ritual dance honoring Dionysus
A rectangular area (orchestra) at the base of a hill Ritual became formalized in the 6th Century (BC) Women no longer allowed to attend or participate. Temple of Dionysus was added at the back of the
orchestra and a thymele (altar) Celebration began with the sacrifice of a Tragos (goat)
+ Greek Theatre
Temple of Dionysus
+From Ritual to Theatre
Continued
Consisted of a formally dressed chorus of up to 50 men. Sang with the accompaniment of the dithyramb (musicians) Danced with symbolic gesture related closely to the words being
sung.
5th Century (BC) – Known as the Golden Age of Athens Democratic discourse
All male citizens given a voice in State affairs.
Thespis - The "inventor of tragedy" was born in Attica, and was the first prize winner at the Great Dionysia in 534 BC. He was an important innovator for the theatre, since he introduced such things as the independent actor, as opposed to the chorus, as well as masks, make up and costumes. First actor
Created the first travelling theatre Used wagons which carried into the Middle Ages.
+From Ritual to Theatre
Continued
534 BC – City of Dionysia – Week long drama festival Held in March each year
Pompe (procession) Statue of Dionysus paraded around the city center Playwrights introduced
534 BC – First Tragedy Contest (plays announced) 508 BC – Dithyrambic Contest (battle of the bands) added 501 BC – Satyr Plays added 457 BC – Comedy (old) contest added 336 BC – Comedy (new) contest replaces Old Comedy
+ Phynichus Student of Thespis Introduced female characters into drama
Played by men in masks Introduced contemporary subjects Won the tragedy contest in 476 BC
Phoenissae (The Phoenitians)
• Chorus of Phoenitian women• Celebrated the defeat of the Persian king
Xerses at the battle of Salamis None of his works have survived
Festival becomes very popular in the 5th Century BC Temporary wooden benches were added around the orchestra Skene was erected behind the orchestra
Skene (tent or hut) – we get our word scene Represented location
Became a permanent stone structure in the 4th Century BC
+ The Greek Playwrightsand the Development of
Tragedy Of the hundreds if not thousands of plays written in the 5th
Century BC only 32 tragedies from 3 playwrights have survived.
Aeschylus (523 BC-456 BC) Diminished chorus from 50 men to 12 Innovated a second actor so that dialogue was possible
Multiple roles using masks Wrote about 80 plays but only 7 have survived Agamemnon
Most noted play One of a trilogy called The Oresteia Has been compared to Hamlet by William Shakespeare
+ Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) Out of the hundreds of plays written only 7 plays
survive Introduced a third speaking actor Brought dramatic plot closer to tragedy Advance scene painting using painted panels called pinakes Known as the father of Greek Tragedy Most noted work Oedipus Rex
Introduced more psychologically complex well motivated characters Introduced the Anagnorisis
meaning “from ignorance to knowledge”
Euripides (480 BC-406 BC) Only 18 complete plays survive Employed a more naturalistic and human approach versus
the conventional means of the other playwrights Not highly appreciated Introduced strong and intelligent female characters Most noted work Medea
+ Beyond TragedySatyr Plays and Comedy
501 BC – Satyr Plays Chorus made up of half man – half beast creatures Playwrights had to write one to go with their tragedy trilogy Drinking, dancing, and vulgar language
Cyclops (520 BC) written by Euripides
By the 4th Century BC only one satyr play was produced at the festival
407 BC – five comic writers would present a single play One on each day of the five days of the festival
+Comedy (Old)
Had the same structure as that of tragedy Chorus was made up of non-humans
Wasps Birds Frogs Clouds
Comedy (Old) presented caricatures rather than the realistic characters of Tragedy.
+Comedy (Old)Playwrights
Aristophanes (448-380 BC) Only surviving comic playwright Out of 40 plays only 11 survive Politically and socially based satire Criticized politics and policies of the time
Only time this could have happened Best known play: Lysistrata
Anti-war play Women withheld sex from the men until they stopped the
war
+Comedy
From Old to New
Tragedy was popular when Athens was at it height.
Comedy was popular when Athens’ government was at its lowest or in decline
404 BC – Peloponnesian War is lost to the Spartans
336 BC – Alexander the Great comes to power. Comedy loses its political undertones in favor of
more familial and societal relationships The theme of “Love” is introduced Chorus was diminished even further Only one “New” Comedy play exists today
Diskolus by Menander (342-291 BC)
After the 3rd Century BC – comedy began to decline
By the 1st Century AD – The City of Dionysia Festival ceased.
+ From Greek to Roman Theatre Pericles (495 BC-429 BC)
Reigned in the 4th Century BC Athens was rebuilt on a grand scale Theatre of Dionysus renovated
Orchestra is rounded off Hillside excavated and temporary wooden seating is
put in. Ten sections of seating, one for each of the ten tribes
of Greece Women may have been allowed to sit
in one of these sections The first permanent roofed European theatre
was built The Odeon of Pericles
Odeon of
Pericles
Odeon of
Pericles
+ Hellenistic Greece
Extended approximately from 336 BC to 30 BC
Under the leadership of Alexander the Great Greece went through numerous changes.
Greek culture began to mix with those of the near East A shift from “city-state” to a more Monarchic structure A move away from a “thought-based” society to one that began to
become more “faith-based” Many new theatres are built
Everyone was now allowed to attend the theatre including women Plays no longer played exclusively at the Dionysian Festival
Theatre of Dionysus is further renovated Wooden seating was replaced with stone seating
More like stadium seating The Skene was rebuilt in stone The logeion (speaking place) was added
during this time
+Hellenistic Theatre
+ Then Came the Romans“Veni! Vidi! Vici!”
146 BC – Mainland Greece becomes a Roman Provence Theatre Dionysus is renovated once again
By Emperor Nero (61 AD) Stage lowered Skene heightened and adorned with sculptures Orchestra surrounded by a stone barricade to
protect spectators from being injured during gladiatorial games.
After the 1st Century AD all existing Hellenistic Greek theatres were converted by the Romans
We know know theatre in Greece during this occupation as Greco-Roman Theatres Still have the Greek layout, but now we have the
architectural prowess of the Romans introduced with the ornate Skene and the ability to hold gladiatorial combat.
+Greco-Roman Theatre
Skene Proskenion
+The Romans
Permanent theatres were not allowed in Rome itself Theatre inspired a sense of Democracy among the people
that went against the Aristocratic form of Roman government.
75 BC – first permanent Roman theatre is built within the Roman Empire, in Pompeii. The people of Pompeii were well out of sight of the central
government in Rome
55 BC – Theatrum Pompeium First permanent theatre built within the city of Rome itself By Roman general Pompey (106 BC-48 BC) Used as an example for all other Roman theatres Had a retractable roof made of linen
+ The RomansContinued
Theatre as a business begins with the building of two more theatres by rivals of Pompey.
Built: 11 BCSeating: 20,000
Built: 13 BCSeating: 12,000
Built: 55 BCSeating: 28,000
+ Theatre as Crowd Control
Romans began to built more theatres throughout the Empire as a means of crowd control If the people are happy the Empire is happy. Roman theatres were free-standing
Roman theatre at Orange Roman Theatre Aspendos Roman Theatre at Bosra
+The Roman Theatre
+The Dark Ages
Spanned from the 6th Century AD to the 13th Century AD.
The fall of the Roman Empire 476 AD sent the world into chaos People relied on the central government in Rome to tell them
what to do With no one to tell them what to do the people lost their way
The Dark Ages Begin 5th Century AD Lack of contemporary written history General demographic decline (no expansion of territory) Limited building activity
No new theatres built Limited cultural achievements
No new plays written
+The Renaissance
Spanned from the 14th Century AD to the 17th Century AD
15th Century AD – First signs of theatre begin to emerge Terence Stages 1486 AD
Named after the Roman Comedy Playwright Pulius Terentius Afer (185 BC -159 BC)
Beginning of theatre in the Renaissance Polygonal building
Small gates with curtains May have been the beginnings of the
proscenium arch Painted scenes behind the building
+Innovators of The Renaissance
16th Century AD Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554)
Italian Architect Designed a typical Ancient Roman Theatre
Used mathematical perspective• Enlarged theatrical illusion• Was established from the seat of the
Monarch• L'œil du prince ("the prince's eye")
Was never built Built many temporary stages in palace halls His designs became known as Hall Theatres
From this position the Monarch
Could see everything perfectly
+ Innovators of The RenaissanceContinued
Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) 1579 – Designed the oldest, still remaining theatre in Europe
after the Roman era Teatro Olimpico
Located in Vincenza, Italy Founded by a literary society Perspective not set by the position of the Monarch
Miniature Roman theatre brought indoors Forced perspective scenery
cannot be acted in because of scale Lit by torches and oil lamps
The cause of many theatre fires in history This why you never yell “Fire!” in a theatre
1585 – Oedipus Rex opens at Teatro Olimpico Inscribed on the building:
“Hoc Opus Hic Labor Est” Meaning: “This is the task and this is the struggle”
+ Teatro Olimpico