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Part 2: Varieties of Theatrical Experience
Awareness of past theatrical practices:
Enriches current and future practices
Enlightens us to cultural assumptions and
values of various times and places
Chapter 4: Festival TheatreGreek, Roman, and Medieval Theatrical Experiences
Until the 16th century, Western Theatre: Performed primarily at festivals
Financed by community
Performed by community
Occurred for brief periods each year
Presented as offering to a god
Presented for enjoyment of general public
Flourished in Greece, Rome, medieval Europe
The Theatre of Ancient Greece
Origins of Western Theatre traced to Ancient Greece
Ancient Greek Beliefs:• Humans can make significant decisions• Democracy• Not all people are equal: Greeks kept slaves and
denied women any public role in society• Happiness depends upon harmony between human
and supernatural forces• Numerous gods: conceived of as immortal human
beings with flaws
The Theatre of Ancient Greece
Greek Drama:• Emphasizes attempts of humans to control own destinies• Tragedies often focus on results of attempting to escape
fate• Presented exclusively at festivals honoring the god
Dionysus = god of wine and fertility
Festivals:• By 5th century, Athens held 4 festivals per year in honor of
Dionysus• 3 of 4 festivals included theatrical performances• Major Festival = City Dionysia
City Dionysia Religious and Civic celebration
534 B.C. first recorded contest for Best Tragedy• Winner Thespis
Competition • 3 dramatists compete• Each presents 3 tragedies and 1 satyr play
• satyr play = short, comic play poking fun at a Greek myth using a chorus of satyrs (half-man/half-goat characters)
5 days of performances• Performances started at dawn and probably lasted all day• Plays open to everyone, but primary audience - men and boys
City Dionysia• 3 tragedies x 3 playwrights = 9 tragedies per City
Dionysia
• 9 tragedies x 100 years = 900 tragedies during 5th century B.C.
• 32 plays have survived• All 32 plays written by 3 dramatists:
• Aeschylus (523-456 B.C.)• Sophocles (496-406 B.C.)• Euripides (480-406 B.C.)
• Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex often considered the best
The Theatre of Dionysus
Location: slope of hill beneath Athenian Acropolis
Theatron = “seeing place” Stadium-like stone seats
Capacity = 14,000-17,000 Orchestra = “dancing place”
Main performance space Circular 65 ft. in diameter
The Theatre of Dionysus
Thymele = alter to Dionysus Originally located at center of orchestra Scholars believe it was later moved to behind the skene
Skene = hut or tent Located on side of orchestra, opposite the audience May have been used for costume changes Gradually developed into large structure
75-100 ft. long Possibly 2 stories high Possibly had 3 doors
The Theatre of Dionysus
Paradoi = spaces between skene and auditorium Used for choral entrances and exits
Eccyclema = wheeled platform Used because acts of violence could not be shown
onstage Rolled or pushed into the performance space to show
consequences of violent acts (such as slain characters) Machina = crane-like device
Used to “fly” gods into the performance space Deus ex Machina (God from the machine) = contrived
ending
The Performers
Actors:
• All performers were male
• By 430 B.C., only 3 speaking actors allowed in competition
• Actors played multiple roles
• Each playwright was assigned a Principal Actor
• Principal Actor eligible to win “Best Tragic Actor”
The Performers
The Chorus
• Composed of 15 men• Playwright applied to government official for a chorus• Playwright was assigned a choregus
• choregus = wealthy citizen who paid for training and costuming; high civic honor; wealthy citizens required to take turns serving as choregus
• Chorus assigned approximately 11 months prior to festival• Trained like athletes
The Performers
Choral Conventions:
• Chorus as one of the distinctive features of Greek Theatre• Usually performed in unison• Sometimes broke into 2 subgroups that responded to
each other• Chorus leader sometimes had solo lines• Chorus entered after Prologue• Chorus performed Choral Odes
The Performers
Functions of the Chorus:
• Formed a collective character who expressed opinions, gave advice, and occasionally threatened to interfere in the action
• Often seemed to express the author’s point of view• Served as the ideal spectator, reacting as the author
wanted the audience to react• Helped to establish mood and to heighten dramatic
effects• Added color, movement and spectacle through singing
and dancing
The Performers
Musicians:
• Principal musician = flute player• Entered before chorus and remained onstage
throughout performance• Used a clapper on one sandal to keep time• Was likely the composer of the music
• Virtually no music has survived
The Performers
Masks:• All performers except musicians wore masks• Distinctive convention of Greek Theatre• Masks covered entire head and included hair/headdress• Function of Masks:
• Facilitated rapid change of roles• Enabled male performers to embody female characters
more easily• Helped actors to assume different types of roles• Assisted communication by capturing and emphasizing
essential character qualities
The Performers
Costumes:
• Variety of clothing used• Costume likely determined by
appropriateness to role• Use of chiton = ankle-length
or knee-length garment that served as usual dress in Greece
• Soft, flexible, high-topped boots
Formalized Conventions of Greek Theatre
• Group of performers formed chorus
• One actor often played multiple roles within same play
• Men played both male and female roles
• Performers wore masks and character appropriate dress
• Performers sang, chanted and danced much of the text
• Theatre’s scale prevented small details from being seen
Oedipus Rex and its Performance
Play Structure:• Prologue: devoted to exposition• Parados: chorus enters• 4 Episodes: move forward in present, while continuing
to reveal elements of exposition• Choral Odes: used to separate episodes• 5th Episode: divided into 2 parts
• Messenger Scene• Final Scene
Actor #1
Oedipus
Actor #2
Creon
1st Messenger
Actor #3
Priest
Tiresias
Jocasta
Shepherd
2nd Messenger
Oedipus Rex and its Performance
Characterization & Acting:• Concerned primarily with Psychological and Ethical
aspects of character• Characterization drawn with a few bold strokes All speaking roles performed by 3 actors
• Probable distribution of roles:
Oedipus Rex and its Performance
Characterization & Acting:• 3 speaking actors • Chorus size = 15• Many supernumeraries
required• Total cast size = 35
minimum
Oedipus Rex and its Performance
Themes: Themes of the play have universal relevance
• Uncertainty of human destiny
• Limited ability of humans to control their fate
• Blindness versus sight (physical sight and inner sight)
• Finding a scapegoat
Concern with moral taboos: incest, patricide
Greek Comedy
• Became official part of festivals about 50 years after tragedy
• Performed at 2 festivals: City Dionysia and Lenaia
• 5 playwrights competed annually at Lenaia, each presenting 1 play
Greek Comedy
Conventions:• Usually concerned with current issues• Sometimes used mythological material• Chorus size = 24
• Not always identical in appearance• Sometimes depicted as citizens, sometimes as
nonhumans• Male characters made to appear ridiculous
• Costume suggested partial nakedness• Wore large phallus• Wore masks
Greek Comedy
Plays:• Only 11 Old Comedy plays have survived• All surviving plays by Aristophanes• Old Comedy plots revolve around a “happy idea”• Time and place may change frequently• Unity through idea rather than through causally related
events• Characters may speak to or about the audience
Greek Comedy
Play Structure:• Prologue: introduction of “happy idea”
• Parados: entrance of chorus
• Agon: debate over merits of the “happy idea”
• Parabasis: choral passages
• Episodes: showing “happy idea” put into practice
• Komos: exit to feasting and revelry
The Roman Theatre Experience
Ludi = “games”• Religious festivals that included theatrical performances
• Theatrical performances honored several gods• Theatrical performances considered diversions, like sports• Borrowed from Greek drama, but adapted it to Roman tastes• Romans preferred variety entertainments
• short comic plays• dancing, singing• juggling, acrobatics• gladiatorial contests
The Roman Theatrical Context
Production Expenses: paid by state Performance Spaces:
• Tiered seating, capacity of several thousand• Semicircular orchestra, not used by performers• Long, narrow stage, 5 ft. high• Stage enclosed by scaenae frons = façade
• 3 doors on back wall; 1 door at either end• Second story with windows• Open seating, free admission• Costumes: Greek costumes and masks; color symbolism• Performers: all male
Roman Comedy
Plays:• Surviving comedies = 26
• All surviving plays by Plautus and Terence
• Deal with everyday domestic affairs
• Plots turn on misunderstandings
• Most famous character = “clever slave”
• Include music; some characters sing
The Menaechmi
• Written by Plautus
• Perhaps most popular surviving Roman Comedy
• Basis for Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors
• Characters as types rather than individuals
• 10 roles, performed by 6 actors; doubling of roles was common
Other Roman Drama and Theatre
Roman Tragedy:• Surviving tragedies = 9• All surviving plays by Seneca
Mime:• Favorite form of entertainment• First time women were permitted to perform• No masks• Dramatic action centered on sexual encounters
Blood Sports:• Gladiatorial contests
liturgical drama
vernacular drama
The Revival of Drama in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages:
Early = A.D. 900-1050
High = A.D. 1050-1300
Late = A.D. 1300-1500
The Revival of Drama in the Middle Ages
Liturgical Drama• 2 Types:
Performed primarily in churches or monasteries• Earliest example = A.D. 970• Dramatizes Biblical episodes• Text sung in Latin• Financed by church
Religious plays performed outside of church = A.D. 1200
The Revival of Drama in the Middle Ages
Vernacular Drama• Religious drama independent of church = A.D.
1375• Written in vernacular language• Text spoken• Financed by community
Trade Guilds and the Corpus Christi Festival
• Outdoor religious dramas in England
• Connected to Trade Guilds
• Church created new feast day in 1311: Corpus Christi
• All Biblical events could be connected with this festival
Trade Guilds and the Corpus Christi Festival
• Central feature: procession through town, like parade= Processional Staging
• People of all ranks and professions involved
• Plays dramatizing the Bible from creation to doomsday = Cycle Plays
Conventions of Medieval Theatre
Time:• Contrast of eternal versus
earthly time Stage:
• Depicts heaven at one end and hell at the other end
• Could be fixed or mobile• Scenic structures to indicate
place = mansion• Undifferentiated space = platea
Conventions of Medieval Theatre
Costumes:• Distinguish inhabitants of Earth, Heaven, Hell• Earthly characters = contemporary clothes• Heavenly characters = church garments
Special Effects:• Gruesome hell mouth• Realistically staged miracles
The Wakefield Cycle
• Manuscript contains cycle of 32 plays: Creation through Last Judgment
• Playwrights: multiple, anonymous
• Production as community effort, involving: town council, church, trade guilds
• Processional staging, using pageant wagons that each carried one or more mansions
• All actors were male
• Guilds were assigned plays related loosely to their professions
The Wakefield Cycle
• Performance started at 5:00 am
• Performance required all daylight hours for completion
• All work suspended on performance day
• Most spectators stood to watch performance
• Atmosphere as festive but reverent
Noah and His Sons
• 3rd play in Wakefield Cycle• Story of Noah and the Ark• Action divided into 3 parts:
• Opening scene: exposition• Noah and wife bickering• Ship building and onboard
• 9 roles: 3 major, 6 minor• One mansion required: ship• Simple costumes
Other Medieval Theatre and Drama
Morality Plays:• Allegories of moral temptations• Most famous play: Everyman• Served as transition between medieval religious drama and
secular drama of Shakespeare’s time Farces:
• Secular comic drama: emerged 13th century• Not encouraged officially• Emphasized ridiculous aspects or human behavior • Example: Pierre Patelin
Interludes:• Nonreligious, serious or comic; performed between parts of
celebration