WORLD THEATRE Ritual vs. Theatre Aristotle (paraphrased) A play is an imitation of an action. Theatre usually has a story with a conflict AFRICAN THEATRE • Ritual story-telling • Mythology and Folklore • Use of Masks, Dance, Music • Interactive with audience • Contemporary Theatre INDIAN THEATRE • Sanskrit Drama • Face Painting • Women Actors! • Always happy endings • Specificity of form • Epic stories • Contemporary Theatre CHINESE THEATRE • Peking Opera • Painted Faces: Dance, Music, Acrobatics • Colors have meaning • Communist Influence • Contemporary Theatre JAPANESE THEATRE • Bunraku • Noh: specificity in movement, gestures • Kabuki: rich showmanship Exaggerated actions Expressive make-up • Men Playing Women • Masks • Contemporary Theatre ISLAMIC THEATRE • Shadow Theatre • Ta’ziyeh: Historical Aspects • Concerns about portrayal of the human form • Excellence in Architecture, Literature, Sciences, Caligraphy • Contemporary Theatre EFFECTS OF COLONIALISM? Japanese Butoh Theatre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRsE9XF2uvY GREEK THEATRE Primary purpose was to educate the population and to placate the Gods Dionysus and The Dithyramb DEVELOPMENT OF THE DRAMA COMEDIES AND TRAGEDIES • Thespis: The First Actor-Playwright • Apollo vs Dionysus: Order vs. Chaos • Aeschylus: 524-456 BCE • Sophocles: 496-406 BCE • Euripides: 480-406 BCE • Aristophanes: 450-386 BCE • Menander: 342-291 BCE • Catharsis • Satyr Plays GREEK DRAMATIC STRUCTURE • Exposition • Point of Attack • Rising Action • Climax (Anagnorisis) • Falling Action • Catastrophe • Denouement (Closing Action) Hubris Catharsis Deus Ex Machina Old Comedy vs New Comedy Stock Characters Aristotle and The Poetics 384-322 BCE • Play must contain: plot, character, thought, diction, music, and spectacle. ROMAN THEATRE • 800 BCE – Etruscan Culture • Came to be known as Roman Republic: 509-27 BCE • Roman Empire followed: 27 BCE453 CE ROMAN ENGINEERING • Spectacles • Mimes • Pantomimes • Plautus: 254-184 BCE • Terence: 195-159 BCE • Seneca: 4 BCE-65 CE • Tragedy of Blood • Closet Dramas QUESTIONS? THOUGHTS?
