The History of Theatre

I. Classic Greek Period- 500 B.C.

A. Origins

1. Theatre had its origins in religion

2. Honored Dionysus (God of wine) in a once-a-year competition

B. Architecture of the Greek Theatre

1. Actors performed in a circular space of hard packed dirt (Orchestra)

2. Scene House (Skene) was built behind the orchestra; was designed as a changing house

3. The Proscenium was the front wall of the skene; provided scenery; painted/decorated (limited)

4. Orchestra was laid out at the foot of a hill; uncomfortable wooden benches were built into the side of

the hill for the audience

5. Seating could hold between 14,000-17,000 people

6. The Athenians built the first Theatre of Dionysus; parts mentioned above=natural amphitheater

C. Greek Plays

1. Actors- wore masks so that the audience could see them better; there were only three actors in each performance

2. Chorus- commented on action; played minor parts; gave actors time to change between scenes

3. Example: Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (Greek tragedy)

II. Roman Theatre- 100 B.C.

A. Background Info.1. Religious; worshipped Bacchus-Roman god of wine2. 1st permanent playhouse built in 55 B.C.

(Pompey’s Theater)3. Tragedies- hero fails; Seneca (playwright)4. Comedies- hero succeeds; rough humor with sex,

swearing, insults (like an R-rated movie)

B. Roman Theatre Architecture

1. Based on Greek models

2. Huge, open-air theatres, which seated over 15,000

3. Actors stood on ground level or on stage, 5 feet above orchestra/ground level; orchestra = perfect ½ circle

4. Smallest stage = 100 ft. long X 20 ft. deep

Largest stage = 300 ft. X 40 ft.

C. Roman Theatre Amenities

1. Stage often had a roof and an awning (a cavea) that could be stretched over the auditorium to cover audience from sun, rain, etc.

2. Romans cooled the audience by blowing air over streams of cool water.

III. The Medieval Stage (Middle Ages)-1400 A.D. A. Plays in the Church

1. Catholic Church controlled the theatre; used drama to teach

2. Liturgical drama-plays performed in churches by clergy and choir boys for 300 years

a. morality- teaches lessons/moralsb. passion- acts out a story from the Bible

3. Symbols-anything simple used to represent a complex idea; Ex: rose

4. Allegory- simple story that represents a complex idea; Ex: Aesop’s fables

IV. Elizabethan Stage-1600 A.D.

A. First permanent theatres in England open-1576

1. The Theatre (public)- built by James Burbage

  2. Blackfriars Theatre (private)- main audience/ influence was Queen Elizabeth I and the Church 

B. Architecture  1. 1st theatres derived their shape from the inns

 a. stage at rear b. raised bleachers around perimeter of yard to provide seatingc. flat area in front of stage = 1 cent seating

2. Plays were performed in the afternoon (needed natural light); outside theaters with no roof 3. Thrust stage-audience on 3-4 sides of the stage

C. Actors and Audience

1. Boys played all of the parts; women were not allowed on stage because acting was not respected by the Puritans.

  2. Groundlings- people who stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the inner yard

 a. 800 at a time

 b. paid one penny to see the show

  c. would throw rotten food at the actors if they didn’t like the show

D. William Shakespeare 1. Globe Theatre: rich sat in gallery around stage, poor stood in pits

a. stage represented Earthb. understage was Hell

c. balcony was Heaven 2. Wrote to make money: 14-line love poems called sonnets  3. 37 Plays, none published while he was alive

a. tragedy- Romeo and Juliet (hero fails/dies)  b. comedy- Midsummer Night’s Dream (hero   succeeds/gets married)

c. history King Henry VIII (history of the English kings)

 

4. Wrote in Modern English; we can still understand the   language today

 5. Shakespeare’s Company = King’s Men

V. Modern Theatre A. The Proscenium-Arch Stage

1. Has an invisible division between the auditorium (audience) and  stage (actors)

2. Proscenium - area of modern theatre located between the curtain  and orchestra pit

3. Origin is open to debate (probably somewhere around the 1800s)

 B. Two ways the proscenium-arch separates the audience from the actors (the real from fantasy)

  1. Curtain/proscenium- action had to be placed behind the opening; before, action took place in the midst of the audience.

  2. Modern lighting- for the first time, audience in the dark, actors in  light.

  3. Note: No matter how physically close the spectators might be to  the action, a psychological barrier was set up.

C. Emphasis on realism

  1. Audience wanted a realistic spectacle;

 proscenium-arch provided a practical curtain that

 could be drawn to hide the changing of scenery.

  2. Technology/special effects

D. Birth of the musical, combination of:

  1. play

 2. ballet

 3. opera

  4. First musical = Oklahoma!

VI. Things to RememberA. The play/dramatic ritual existed before special

structures were built to house them. B. Playing areas (with at least some attendant

scenery and props) were developed early in theatre prehistory based on content of dramas.