Drama Ancient Greek and the Origins of theatre 2011
Essay
“How has the use of masks and study of Ancient Greek plays enhanced
your understanding of the origins of theatre?”
The origins of theatre are a very widely asked question within the drama scene. Through the Ancient Greek
plays that we have been looking at in class and the activities that we have covered and the my perform of
Oedipus the King and the study around the use of masks, that my understanding on the origins of theatre has
been widened.
Throughout the time that we have been looking at Ancient Greek plays in class there are certain important
parts that are required in Ancient Greek theatre, these parts include, characterization, forms of theatre,
space, acting styles and of course masks. Through our study in class I have learnt that the Ancient Greek
theatre all started due to religious festivals and worshipping. Greek theatre originated around 600 B.C to 250
B.C due to religious festivals and worshipping of the Gods. One of the Gods that was usually at the center of
these festivals was Dionysus, who is referred to as the god of wine and fertility.
There were two genres in which the plays were performed in theatre, they were Comedy and Tragedy.
Tragedies from Greek theatre all had of one thing in common, the plays were scripted about the life and
legends of Greek Gods and the audience were presumed to have knowledge of them they also included
hamartia, which an injury has been done to another person and a hubris, which is the arrogance of a
character. Comedy likewise was about mocking the Gods using crude humour and mythical, imaginary
creatures. Comedies, at these times used the crude, vulgar humour with that every lingering sexualinnuendo along with Tragedies which use the idea of telling legends and sad occurrences.
The actors that took part in Ancient Greek plays were called thespians. The word thespian derives from the
word Thespis, which is the name of one of the original and first “actors” in Greek Theatre. Through this I
have learnt that there are specific acting styles in Ancient Greek theatre. Actors in Ancient Greek theatre
have to make sure that what they are saying and their voice projection is not only clear and can be heard by
everyone and can be easily understood. This is due to the fact that the Ancient Greek theatre were played
out in the open in different settings and the audience were often positioned quiet a distance from the stage.
Ancient Greek theatre it was all about the over exaggeration of actions and movements to try and get the
idea and plot of the play to the audience so that they can understand what is going on, while still trying to
add a comedic or tragic element. The play that we performed Oedipus the King , we did have to exaggerate
the actions as, Oedipus the King is a tragedy actions that have been over exaggerated as it adds and help to
audience to understand what is going on, but we did not have to do as much as the audience was sitting
quite close, but due to the use of the mask we had to also make sure that our voice projection were clear and
loud and understandable. This gives me an understanding at how the in the origins of theatre the Over
exaggeration and expression of actions were so important for the crowd to understand what is happening in
that scene or play.
Masks may have provided many benefits to the origins of theatre and the performances they were used in.
Masks were able to bring the characters face and emotions closer to the audience, this is because masks
often have over exaggerated facial features and are showing the emotion which has been exaggerated.
Masks also allow an actor to play several different roles and appear and reappear in different scenes without
Mackinley Barnesby 10V 2011
04.05.11
Drama Ancient Greek and the Origins of theatre 2011
Essay
realising that it is the same actor playing different roles. Masks also allow the audience to be able to tell the
sex of the character, age and social status. This allowed the male actors, who were the only actors that were
allowed on stage to play a female role and females and men of different ages to them. Masks also allow the
audience to be able to tell what type of play is being performed for them. In the study for Ancient Greek
plays we learnt the parts of the mask that either determines them to be a tragedy mask or a comedy mask. A
tragedy mask we usually large and serious and plain colours for a tragedy mask while a comedy mask were
usually somewhat more life-size and grotesque to add to the comedic element. In the play that I performed
Oedipus the King, I was required to wear a mask as I was playing Oedipus the mask that I was wearing was a
half mask with some serious expression, with over pronounced big eyebrows and droopy eyes all in white
with the eyebrows is black to add to the serious look of the King and in this scene he finds out that he has
killed his father and married his mother. This allowed me to have an idea on what it was like to wear a mask
and to perform with a mask on and how it affects you voice projection and the difficulties in speaking when
wearing a mask. This gave me and first hand understanding of the origins of theatre and what it would have
been like for them and how they would have to make sure that the mask did not interfere with their acting
but compliment it.
The stage in which the play is performed is a very important past in the origins of theatre and in the Ancient
Greek theatre. The site on which the play is performed, the amphitheatre, is very important as from the
study into Ancient Greek plays they were often performed on the hillsides or at the bottom of hills. The
audience would then be seating on the hillside, to allow all to see. The stage or (Orchestra) the part in which
the acting took place was the main focus of the amphitheatre. Then took accommodate quicker scene
changes a Skene was built behind the stage for the actors to change and for storage. Then in front of the
Skene, over time painted set pieces were placed in front to represent scenery, in which the Proskenion was
added to merge the background with the stage, and now where most of the acting would take place. Due to
the large size of the amphitheatres the actors had to move with big and huge exaggerations and emotions
and the voice projection had to be excellent, as the audience had to know what was happening in each
scene. In our performance of Oedipus the King we did not have to worry about the size of the theatre as it
was quiet small, but we still got off the stage and got closer with the audience as they could see the acting infront of them, always making sure that our voice projection was good and that the movements that we did
we exaggerated movement for tragedy. This helped me to see how hard it would have been for the actors in
the origins of theatre as the stages would have been bigger and so would the crowds therefore the use of
stage would have helped a lot for the audience to be entertained and to understanding what is happening in
the play or scene.
The study of Masks and Ancient Greek theatre have improved and enhanced my understanding of the origins
of theatre. I have a new found appraisal for the early actors who had to make sure that their voice projection
was clear and easy to be understood and show emotion, how the movements had to over exaggerated to
allow for the crowds to see. How the use of the stage was important to show what was happening in the
plays, how it was so important that they really got into the character that they were playing so the audience
were able to see what is happening in the story and to that character and what that character is like and to
be able to act in different style of acting such as tragedies and comedies and play men and women. They
were the real actors. Looking at the origins of theatre it really shows how theatre has progressed over time, I
wonder what it will be like in the future.
Mackinley Barnesby 10V 2011
04.05.11