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PART TWO
Varieties of Theatrical
Experience
I. Part Two – Varieties of Theatrical Experience
A. Since the very earliest times, some form of theatrical activity has existed
1. To appreciate the full range of possibilities we need to be aware of its multiple manifestations
and the transformations it has undergone
2. Creative artists do not repeat past forms so much as reshape them
B. Awareness of the past is important for other reasons as well
1. Many plays from the past are still performed today
2. Each of these plays are written with certain things in mind:
a. The existing theatre structures and performance conditions
b. The theatrical conventions in common practices
c. The Audience
3. Each play also reflects the cultural assumptions and values of its time
4. We can understand plays more fully if we understand the context within which they originated
a. Plays are among the best indicators of the culture out of which they come
C. Representative types of theatrical experience of several periods and cultures will be discussed in
this section
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CHAPTER 4: Festival Theatre
GREEK, ROMAN AND MEDIEVAL THEATRE
EXPERIENCES
Greek Terms
ARISTOTLE AND “POETICS”
CHORAL PASSAGES/ODES
CHOREGUS/CHOREGOI
CHORUS
CITY DIONYSIA
DEUS EX MACHINA
DIONYSUS
FESTIVAL THEATRE
OEDIPUS REX
ORCHESTRA
PARODOI/PARODOS
SATYR PLAY
SKENE
SOPHOCLES
SUPERNUMERARIES
THEATRE OF DIONYSUS
THEATRON
THESPIS/THESPIAN
THYMELE
Medieval Terms
ALLEGORIES
CORPUS CHRISTI FESTIVAL
CYCLE PLAYS
LITURGICAL DRAMA
MANSIONS
MEDIEVAL THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS
MYSTERY/RELIGIOUS PLAYS
PAGEANT WAGON
PLATEA
TIRING HOUSE
TRADE GUILDS
VERNACULAR DRAMA
Outline
During the first two thousand years of its existence, Western theatre was
markedly different from the professional and commercial theatre we know today
I.
A. Until the 16th century, theatre was performed primarily at festivals
B. Festival theatre flourished in ancient Greece, Rome and medieval Europe
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II. THE THEATRE OF ANCIENT GREECE
A. Theatre in the Western world can be traced back to ancient Greece (c. 500 B.C.)
B. The ancient Greeks believed that human beings were capable of making significant decisions
about their lives
1. Greek drama emphasized the attempts of human characters to control their own destinies
2. However, for the Greeks, happiness still depended on a harmony between human and
supernatural forces
3. Greek tragedy often shows the results of human attempts to escape fate
C. Greek drama was presented exclusively at festivals honoring Dionysus
1. Dionysus was the god of wine and fertility, his blessing was sought to ensure the fertility of
human beings and the land
D. By the 5th century B.C. Athens held 4 festivals in honor of Dionysus every year
1. At three of these festivals theatrical performances were held
2. The major festival was the City Dionysia
a. A religious and civic celebration in which theatrical performances were given as offerings
from the city to Dionysus
E. 534 B.C. - first recorded theatrical event – a contest for best tragedy
1. Thespis – 1st winner – the earliest known playwright and actor
a. The word “thespian,” derived from his name, is still used to refer to actors
2. Three dramatists competed at each City Dionysia
a. Each presented 3 tragedies followed by 1 satyr play
F. The satyr play was short, comic and poked fun at Greek myths using a chorus of satyrs
I. BOX – Greek Satyr Plays
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The Cyclops by Euripides is the only complete satyr play to survive
It satirizes an incident in The Odyssey in which Odysseus and his crew blind
Polyphemus, the cyclops who has captured them, and escape from his lair
Actors playing satyrs wore masks with shaggy hair, beards, pointed ears, and snub
noses as well as costumes complete with a tail and a prominent phallus (Satyrs are
half-man/half-goat). Their coarse behavior and appearance provided much of the
comedy
The satyr play provided comic relief after the tragedies
1. Nine tragedies and three satyr plays were presented at each City Dionysia
a. Only 32 tragedies have survived, all by 3 dramatists:
i. Aeschylus
ii. Sophocles
iii. Euripides
G. Of the surviving Greek tragedies, Oedipus the King by Sophocles is often considered the finest
1. First performed about 430 B.C., it continues to be produced frequently
III. THE THEATRE OF DIONYSUS
A. The theatre is on the slope of the hill just beneath the Athenian Acropolis
1. The slope of the hill served as the “theatron” (seeing place)
2. A flat terrace below the slope served as the “orchestra” (dancing place)
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3. In the middle of the orchestra was placed a “thymele” (altar)
B. This arrangement was gradually converted into a permanent structure
1. The slope was covered in a semi-circle with stadium-like stone seats
a. It held 14,000-17,000 people
2. The orchestra, or main performance space, was circular and 65 ft. in diameter
3. The “skene” (hut or tent) was on the side of the orchestra opposite the audience
a. Skene is the origin of our word “scene”
b. Perhaps it provided a place for the actors to retire or to change costume and masks
c. Eventually elaborated into a 75-100 ft. long structure, possibly two stories high
i. It may have had three doors – a large central door, and two small side doors
ii. The skene’s roof was also used as an acting area
iii. The “paradoi,” or spaces between the skene and the auditorium were used for
entrances and exits
iv. The original skene no longer exists
C. The skene, or scene house, probably provided a formalized architectural background for all of the
plays
1. This convention meant that dialogue probably established locale
2. The action in Greek plays usually takes place outdoors
3. The outcome of events that occur indoors is occasionally shown
a. The Greeks had a religious and legal prohibition against showing acts of violence on
stage, which meant that characters were always slain (or died) offstage
i. An “eccyclema” (a wheeled or pushed platform) rolled out to show the consequence
of violent acts
4. A god often appears in Greek plays
a. Sometime the god appeared on the roof of the skene
b. Sometimes the god had to be raised and lowered (in effect, “flying” in and out)
i. A “machina” (crane-like device) was used for this effect
1. The overuse of gods to resolve difficult dramatic situations led to any contrived
ending being labeled a “deus ex machina” (god from the machine) ending.
2. The machina was visible to the audience and it illustrates the nonrepresentational conventions of the Greek theatre
D. One of the most remarkable things about the Theatre of Dionysus is its size
1. Today, we expect realistic visual effects and acting; we expect to see every detail
2. The Greeks had expectations far different from ours, and different supporting conventions
3. Today’s sports arenas most resemble ancient Greek theatres
a. Keeping this in mind will help us understand Greek theatrical conventions
IV. THE PERFORMERS
A. One may divide performers (all male) in the Greek theatre into four categories:
1. Actors
2. Chorus
3. Supernumeraries
4. Musicians
B. By around 430 B.C. the rules of the contests restricted the number of speaking actors to three for
each playwright
1. This rule did not restrict the number of roles to three because a single actor might play
several roles
2. The same three actors appeared in each of the three tragedies presented by a playwright
3. Supernumeraries (non-speaking extras) could be used
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D.
E.
F.
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4. Each playwright was assigned a principle actor
a. The principle actor was eligible to win a prize for best tragic actor
The tragic chorus was composed of 15 men
1. A playwright had to apply to the principle government official for a chorus
2. The playwright was also assigned a “choregus” - a wealthy citizen who paid to train and
costume the chorus and musicians
a. Wealthy Athenian citizens were required to take turns serving as “choregoi”, and most
considered this duty an honor
3. Choruses were assigned about 11 months prior to the next festival
a. They trained, emphasizing singing and dancing, for these performances like today’s
athletes
4. The chorus usually performed in unison, but sometimes as two subgroups that responded
alternately to each other
a. The chorus leader sometimes had solo lines
The chorus is one of the distinctive conventions of Greek theatre
1. They entered after the prologue
2. They performed choral odes (songs and dance) between the episodes
3. The chorus served several functions:
a. Treated as a group character, they expressed opinions, gave advice, and occasionally
threatened to interfere in the action
b. They often seemed to express the author’s point of view
c. They served as the ideal spectator, reacting as the author would want the audience to
react
d. They helped establish the mood and heighten dramatic effects
e. They added color, movement and spectacle
The principle musical accompaniment was a flute player who preceded the chorus and remained
onstage in view of the audience
Almost none of the music has survived along with the plays
1. Attempts to recreate Greek tragedy led to the development of Italian opera
2. Greek music had a great variety of musical modes
3. It may have functioned like modern film music – enhancing mood and emotion
BOX – Greek Tragic Dramatists
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Aeschylus (523-456 B.C.)
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He wrote 80 plays, of which 8 survive
Aeschylus’ plays generally show heroic figures wrestling with significant philosophical
issues in a formal dramatic style
Sophocles (495-406 B.C.)
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He wrote more than 120 plays, of which only seven survive, and won the best playwright
contest at the festival more than any other Greek dramatist (24 times)
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His plays evince masterful dramatic structure, complex characters, and beautiful poetry all
aimed at universal themes
Euripides (480-406 B.C.)
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He wrote approximately 90 plays, of which 18 have survived (one of these is a satyr play)
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Denounced for writing about subjects unfit for the stage, Euripides raised doubts about
many of the values that Aeschylus had earlier championed
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G. All of the performers, except the musician, wore masks, another distinctive convention
1. The masks served several purposes:
a. Facilitated the rapid change of roles
b. Made it easier for male actors to play female characters
c. Helped the actor in assuming roles of differing types
d. Assisted communication by capturing and emphasizing the essential qualities of each
character
H. A variety of clothing was used for stage purposes
1. Costume was probably determined by appropriateness to role
2. The usual dress in Greece was a “chiton”, which most of the actors wore
3. The actors wore soft, flexible boots
I. These conventions suggest that performance in the Greek theatre was highly formalized
V. THE ROMAN THEATRE EXPERIENCE
A. Around 200 years after the first performance of Oedipus the King, Rome became a major power,
eventually ruling over an extensive empire for hundreds of years
B. Theatre was still part of religious festivals, or “ludi” (games), though in honor of any of several
gods
1. The Romans placed theatrical performance in the same category as sports and other forms
of diversion
C. The Romans were great assimilators
1. They imported the Greek writer Livius Andronicus to adapt Greek drama to Roman tastes
D. The Romans favored games, variety entertainments, and short comic plays over full-length
drama. As the popularity of full-length drama declined, the demand for theatrical entertainment
steadily increased
E. Accounts of Roman theatre typically concentrate on theatrical production between 205 and 159
B.C.
1. Playwrights Plautus and Terence wrote the 26 surviving Roman comedies
VI. THE REVIVAL OF DRAMA IN THE MIDDLE AGES
A. Historians usually divide the Middle Ages into three phases
1. During the first two of these phases drama was performed primarily within churches or
monasteries – “liturgical drama”
2. During the third phase drama flourished in outdoor productions using the common language
– “vernacular religious drama”
B. The earliest know example of a liturgical play dates from about 970
1. It was a short, dramatized bible episode, sung in Latin
C. Around 1200, some religious plays began to be performed outside the church
1. By 1375 a religious drama had developed independent of the church which was:
a. Written in the vernacular language (as opposed to Latin)
b. Spoken, not sung
c. Financed by the community, not the church
2. In some ways this resembled the theatre of Greece and Rome which was performed at
religious festivals
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3. However, it differed from Greece and Rome in the details of its organization, financing, and
presentation
VII.
TRADE GUILDS AND THE CORPUS CHRISTI FESTIVAL
A. The production of the outdoor religious dramas in England is usually associated with trade guilds
B. The church began to incorporate ordinary people into its activities
1. The church created a new feast day, Corpus Christi
2. Any biblical events could be dramatized and related to this festival
C. The central feature of the festival was a procession through the town with the consecrated bread
and wine
1. The procession included representatives from every rank and profession
D. In the British Isles, about 125 towns produced plays, but only a few have survived
1. Cycle plays dramatize the Bible from Creation to Doomsday
2. Surviving cycles are from four towns, dating from about 1375:
a. York – 48 plays
b. Chester – 24 plays
c. Wakefield – 32 plays
d. Unknown town – 42 plays
VIII.
CONVENTIONS OF MEDIEVAL THEATRE
A. A major convention of medieval drama involves the way time is handled
1. Eternal time vs. earthly time
2. The stage depicted heaven at one end and hell at the other
B. The fluidity of time is also reflected in the structure of the cycles
1. Both time and space were telescoped or expanded as needed
C. Staging also involved a number of conventions
1. Theatrical space was improvised and stages could be fixed or mobile
a. Fixed stage – set against a building, or in the middle of a square
b. Movable stage - a wagon that could move from one location to another
D. Regardless of the type of stage or location, the staging conventions were the same everywhere
1. Stage space had two parts:
a. “Mansion” – a scenic structure that indicated a specific place or location
b. “Platea” – undifferentiated stage space adjacent to the mansion
i. The same space might change its identity merely by being associated with a different
mansion
2. The overall setting symbolized human and earthly existence framed by Heaven and Hell
E. Costumes were used to distinguish between the inhabitants of Earth, Heaven and Hell
1. Earthly characters wore contemporary clothes - no attempts were made for historical
accuracy
2. Eternal characters wore church garments
a. Saints and biblical personages were associated with specific symbols
3. The most imaginative costumes were those of the devils
F. There were frequently a number of spectacular special effects
1. Hell was made as gruesome as possible – the “hell mouth”
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2. Miracles were staged as convincingly as possible to reinforce faith in God’s power
IX. COMPARING GREEK, ROMAN AND MEDIEVAL
A. The Greek, Roman and medieval theatre experiences were alike in some ways
1. Occasional (performed in association with festivals and religious calendars)
2. Ceremonial
3. Financed by the state, religious or secular organizations, or wealthy citizens
4. Admission was open to all
5. Used many similar conventions
a. Male performers only
b. Musical accompaniment
c. Large audience spaces
d. Formalized scenic backgrounds
e. Masks (used by at least some character types)
B. However, there were many differences
1. Music
a. Greek – Chorus sang and danced
b. Roman – Music throughout the play and associated with the actors
c. Medieval – Music, but no fixed plan
2. The actual structure of the stages
3. Basic values were the most important differences
a. Greek – moral values and significant issues
b. Roman – popular entertainment
c. Medieval – Christian teaching