History of Theater
Drama Unit
Mrs. Bartel
The Acropolis in Athens, Greece
The Theater of Dionysus
What is Drama?

Drama is an art form in which a story
dealing with human conflict is acted out
on stage.
Formal theater: actors follow script
(school play)
 Informal theater: actors rely on their
imaginations
(mimes)

Greek Theater
Began as a religious celebration associated
with the worship of Dionysus, god of wine
 Festivals lasted 5-6 days
 534 B.C.-Thespis won first contest
 Word “thespian” comes from his name,
meaning “actor.”
 Presented in an amphitheater setting

www.aug.edu/~cshotwel/2001.Greeks.htm
Greek amphitheater at Ephesus
http://www.ozturk.com.au/sultanitin1.html
Principles of Greek Drama

Catharsis: release of emotions in the
audience
Main character: noble birth
 Main character: suffers fall from grace
 Written in poetic language
 Shakespeare follows all these principles.

Characteristics of a Tragic Hero
According to Aristotle:
1. Usually of noble birth
2.
Hamartia – a.k.a. the tragic flaw that eventually leads
to his downfall; often this leads to a mistake in
judgment.
3.
Peripeteia – a reversal of fortune brought about by
the hero’s tragic flaw; this is often also influenced by
“fate” or the gods.
4.
His actions result in an increase of self- awareness and
self-knowledge…though he may not choose to act on
this!
5.
The audience must feel pity and fear for this character
The “tragic flaw”


The “flaw” in the character is a defect which
keeps him/her from being aware of the situation
around him/her. The character does not
understand (for much of the story) his/her part
of creating the situation.
Ex: Pride (“Hubris”)
Skywalker thinks he is
so good, he can take on an
experienced Jedi all by himself

Examples of Flaws
Shakespearean Tragic Plot

Act I: Exposition
 This is where the setting,
characters, and conflicts are
introduced.

Act II: Rising Action (inciting incident)

Act III: Turning Point (Climax)
 This is where the reversal of fortune occurs and it all starts to go badly
for the tragic hero.

Act IV: Falling Action-downhill spiral (moment of final suspense)

Act V: Catastrophe/Resolution
 The conflicts are resolved (usually death); chaos returns to order.
Roman Theater
200 B.C. Rome overtook Athens as the
cultural center for drama
 Imitated Greek dramas-so considered
inferior
 Major contribution: modern elevated stage

Middle Ages
Formal theater disappeared for ages
 10th century-church took over
 Presentations dealt with biblical events
and parables (A simple story illustrating a
moral or religious lesson)
 Continued until 16th century
 Pageant wagons used (movable stages to
act out biblical stories)

Middle Ages
Miracle plays: dramatized events from the
bible
 Mystery plays: presented events from the
saints’ lives
 Morality plays: presented allegorical
stories in which characters personified
religious or moral abstractions (Seven
Deadly Sins) saved by Mercy, Justice,
Temperance, and Truth

Gluttony
Mystery/Miracle
Renaissance Theater
1300-1600
 “rebirth”-renewed interest in Greek and
Roman tragedies
 Original comedies, tragedies, and pastoral
plays were created and performed
 Commedia dell’ arte-popular comedy in
which professional actors improvised
 Shakespeare-YEA!-Scavenger Hunt

Renaissance Theater
Three important developments
Secular themes (nonreligious)
 Rise of professionalism in acting and play
writing
 Plays preformed in English rather than
Latin

French Theater-Renaissance
Moliere (1622-1673)
 Considered comic genius
 Plays ridiculed people, ideas, medicine,
forced marriage
 Raised status of comedy to level of
tragedy
 Quote: “The duty of comedy is to correct
men by amusing them.”

Restoration Theater
Restoration of Royal family of Stuart to
throne (1660-1700)
 Comedy of manners-satirizes social
customs.
 Women were allowed to act for the first
time in England!

Nineteenth Century Theater
Romanticism-the belief that humans
should be guided by feelings and emotions
 Freed artist from rules, lots of special
effects
 Experimentation in theater!
 operas

Romanticism

1.
2.
3.
4.
Three Main Types of American
Romantic Dramas
Quasi-historical characters interacting in a
scenically romantic distant locale (affection,
sorrow, and romantic longing)
Plays dealing with historical figures
Sinister gothic performances of mysterious and
supernatural adventures (horrify and amaze)
modern horror novels and women's romance
novels are both descendants of the Gothic
romance
Romanticism

Common Themes
Libertarianism: free from convention
and tyranny, the Democratic spirit
 Nature: unspoiled scenery
 Lure of the Exotic: picturesque,
romanticized view of the past, mystery,
superstition
 The Supernatural: folktales, connection
of identity of self

Nineteenth Century Theater
Late 19th century, modern drama was
born
 Henrick Ibsen (Norway)
 August Strindberg (Sweden)
 Anton Chekhov (Russia)
 John Galsworthy (Great Britain)
 Bernard Shaw (Great Britain)
 Realism-portray people and situations as
they really are in everyday life

Contemporary Theater

Experimented with many styles (not one
style exists today)

Theater of the absurd-life viewed as
meaningless and people’s strivings as
absurd, since they cannot do anything to
improve the human lot
Theater of the Absurd

Samuel Beckett-Waiting for Godot (1953)
Two types of Drama

Comedy-happy ending, exaggerated or
eccentric behavior, goal to entertain, to
make people laugh, or to be scornful

Tragedy-sad or disastrous ending, serious
story