The highly abridged version!!!!!
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Drama festivals began in Athens Greece about
5th century B.C.
 Athens
▪ City-state
▪ Democracy
▪ Educated citizens
▪ Slave labour = leisure society
Ancient Greek Drama
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4 festivals honouring Dionysus-god of wine and vines
4th festival was a 6 day festival of
drama:
 1st two days—choral dance
 3rd day—five comedies (satirical and
obscene
 4th-6th days—three tragedies in
competition. Each tragedy involved
a trilogy and a satyr play.
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1st winner—Thespis 534 B.C.
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Each set of three tragedies was followed by
the performance of a satyr play, a short spoof
of a myth related to the theme of at least on
of the tragedies.
The ordinary human characters in these plays
wore tragic masks and costumes, but the
chorus of half-human satyrs wore pug-nosed,
pointy-eared, bearded masks, furry shorts,
and normal sized erect phalluses (probably
made of leather).
Ancient Greek Drama
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Satyrs danced a special kind of
dance called the sikinnis, in
which they pranced like horses.
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The illustration is take from the
Pronomos Vase, which shows
the entire cast of a satyr-play.
Ancient Greek Drama
The
Pronomos Vase
Ancient Greek Drama
The Theatre of
Dionysus in
Athens
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Greek playwrights wrote, performed in,
directed, and choreographed their plays
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The Chorus developed the action
 At first one actor performed all the roles and wore
masks to indicate character changes
 Chorus 12-15 young men about the neter military
service
▪ Dancing and singing part of Athenian education
▪ Effort of acting in three tragedies and a satyr play = the
competing in the Olympics
Three important playwrights
 Aeschylus
 Oresteia—the only surviving trilogy
▪ It is the story of Agamemnon’s murder by his wife,
Clytemnestra
▪ Clytemnestra’s murder by her children, Orestes and Electra
▪ Eumenides (Furies) decide on the fate of Orestes
▪ All characters are idealized
▪ The gods set things right.
▪ Introduced a second actor—allowed 2 actor to talk to chorus
or each other and allowed for more plot variation
 During the ten-year absence of Agamemnon,
Clytemnestra nursed her anger over the slaughter of
her daughter. She took as a lover Aegisthus, son of
Thyestes, and the two ruled the city and plotted
vengeance on Agamemnon. When the king returned
triumphant from Troy, bringing Cassandra with him as
a concubine, Clytemnestra waited until he was
unarmed in the bath, entangle him in a robe, and
struck him down with an axe. After killing Cassandra
as well, she gloated over the bodies, symbolically
characterizing herself as the matriarchal earth
goddess made fertile by the bloods of sacrifices.
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Many years later, Orestes (who had been sent away by
Clytemnestra to a foreign kingdom when he was a child), returned
in disguise with his companion Pylades to find Electra continually
mourning beside the tomb of her father.
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After a poignant recognition scene, Orestes told her of the
command to avenge the death of his father by the god Apollo.
Together, they formed a plan to catch Clytemnestra and Aegisthus
off guard and slay them.
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With the help fo Electra, Orestes stabbed Aegisthus before the
eyes of his mother and then caught and killed Clytemnestra.
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However, as soon as he appeared with the two corpses to justify
the killings, Orestes is driven off by the Furies—blood sucking
underworld goddesses who hunt down and destroy those who
shed kindred blood, especially matricides.
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Introduced a third actor
Closer to ordinary life
More of a psychological study
Oedipus Rex—Oedipus unknowingly kills his
father and marries his mother
Oedipus at Colonus—Oedipus and his
daughter, Antigone, live in the country after
Oedipus blinds himself
Antigone—Antigone struggles with uncle to
have her brother’s body properly buried.
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Where Aeschyulus and Sophocles emphasized the plot by adding an
actor each, Euripides added intrigue—an element complicated by the
omnipresent, know-it-all chorus.
He also created the love-drama.
New Comedy took over the more effective parts of Euripides’ technique.
During his lifetime, Euripides’ innovations met with hostility. To him,
traditional legends portrayed the more standards of the gods
unsuitably—as lower than those of virtuous men.
Although Euripides portrayed women sensitively, he had a reputation as
a woman hater.
The comic poet Aristophanes criticized Euripides for the following:
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Put beggars in rags on stage
Determined to make tragedy less lofty
Decadent, poetic innovator
Misogynist
Subverter of received morality
Unorthodox religious views.
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Roman plays
 Spectacles of blood and gore
 Imitation of Greeks
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Seneca—major roman playwright of tragedies
 Rewrote Oedipus Rex
▪ 5-act tragedy
▪ Violence
▪ Revenge
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Plautus and Terrence
 Major Roman playwrights of comedies
 Ancestor of sit-coms
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Medieval History
After the fall of Rome the 600’s A.D., came a
period known to us as the “dark ages.”
Much political turmoil—no reliable political
structure
The Church was the only stable “government”
The church exerted increasing influence. In the
4th Century, the Bishop of Rome, claiming to be
the successor to St. Peter, established
supremacy in church matters and in secular
concerns.
Feudalism—the manor was the chief non-church
political entity.
 The manor (large estate), headed by a
nobleman, had absolute authority over the sefs,
(peasants) who worked the land.
 Lords of manors were vassals, or subjects, of a
king. The king’s knights protected the lords and
their land.
 Serfs (servants)owed allegiance to their lord.
 There are many church edicts against mimi,
histriones, ioculatores—terms for secular
performers.
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Little is know about the theatre between 6001000 A.D.
 There are refereneces to actors (histriones), juggles,
rope dances in nomadic tribes, remnants of Roman
mimes, popular pagan festivals and rites.
 Teutonic minstrels or troubadours (scops [pronounced
shope]) became the primary preserver of tribal
histories, but the Teutonic tribes converted
Christianity after the 7th or 8th century, and the scops
were denounced, branded as bad as mimes.
 There was little written drama; none that survives,
and almost no other surviving references to it.
Hrosvitha of Gandersheim,, a nun, wrote religious
plays based on Terence’s plays, but they were
probably “closet dramas.”
 Christian ceremonies are where the theatre seems to
have been reborn.
 Between 925 and 975, drama becomes re-introdued
into the church services. Theatre was “reborn” within
the very institution that helped to shut it down.
 Perhaps the church had little choice—it couldn’t stop
the pagan rites—too popular—so many aspects of
pagan rites found their way into Christian ceremonies.
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Earliest extant drama from the middle ages:
 925 A.D. “Quem Quaeritis”
▪ A four-line dramatization of the resurrection, with
direction for its performance. Comes from an Easter
trope (interpolation into existing text, originally
lengthened musical passages with words eventually
added).
▪ Sung by a choir at first.
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“Whom seek ye in the tomb, O Christians?
Jesus of Nazereth, the crucified, O heavenly beings,
He is not here, he is risen as he foretold;
Go and announce that he is risen from the tomb.”
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The Three Marys (Mary, the mother of Jesus;
Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus of
Bethany; and Mary Magdalene) come to the
tomb of Jesus, and the angel asks them who
they are looking for.
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By 975, it had become a little drama within
the service, probably played by altar boys.
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The practiced blossomed—many playlets developed dealing with biblical
themes—mostly Easter, Christmas, the 12th Night (Feast of the
Epiphany).
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Usually serious, but at the Feast of Fools and the Feast of the Boy
Bishops, much dancing and foolishness and parodies of church practices.
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At first, the church had control of the drama outside of the church, but
then it gradually became more controlled by secular groups.
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The Guilds (tradesmen or Confraternities) took over in some cities, and it
was common for certain Guilds to retain control over certain
plays/stories, all of which were based in some way on the Bible or
religious teachings.
 For instance, the Bakers’ Guild would control the play about the Last Supper,
and the Shipwrights’ guild would get plays about Noah’s Ark, etc.
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Municipalities took over in some cities, but the church still needed to
approve the scripts, even when its role diminished.
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Before 1200, most were still being done
inside the church as part of the liturgy. Most
were probably still in Latin, the language of
the Church.
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Staging:
 Mansions—small scenic structures for indicating
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location (for instance, a throne might equal the palace
of Pilate).
In more complex plays, there were many mansions.
Machinery was also used to fly Christ up to heaven,
have angels come down, etc.
Costumes were probably ordinary church vestiments.
By 1200, soime of these plays were begin performed
outdoors.
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By 1350, plays were in the vernacular, rather
than Latin.
Laymen were the actors (male members of
the community, unpaid—though there were
some women on stage in France), no longer
clerics and priests.
The stories began to range even further than
when they were part of the liturgical services.
The church seemed to support these dramas.
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By 1350, plays were in the vernacular, rather
than Latin.
Laymen were the actors (male members of
the community, unpaid—though there were
some women on stage in France), no longer
clerics and priests.
Stories began to range even further than
when they were part of the liturgical services.
The Church seemed to support these dramas.
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With diminishing church control,
secularization lead to some changes.
Mastercopy of the script was call the Register
 sometimes the producing company/guild could
monopolize or censor it or band it
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The Keeper of the Register was an important
position and had much control.
The Master of Secrets was in charge of
machines (secrets)—the special effects.
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The special effects were often very intricate
17 people needed to operate the “Hell” machinery in
Belgium in 1501.
Flying was a major technique and used commonly—
angels, resurrection
Almost all scenes had Heaven on the right, Hell on the
left, and Earth on the middle.
Platforms covered with cotton (the “glories”) held the
angels.
Trap door—appearances and disappearances (Lot’s
wife turning into salt, etc.)
Fire—the hellmouth—a fire breathing monster
representing hell.
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Two major kinds of stages: Fixed and
Moveable
Technical tricks would be more extensive on
fixed stages.
Mansion and platea were borrowed from
liturgical drama
Simultaneous staging was a distinctive
characteristic of medieval theatre.
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Fixed Staging—on the Continent (except
Spain and parts of Italy)
Mansions set up in available spaces
(courtyards, town squares, etc.)
Moveable Staging—pageant wagons—like
parade floats—moved through the streets
The term “pageant” is used to refer to the
stage, the play itself, and the spectacle.
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The plays seem naïve if we don’t understand the
period.
 People had little sense of history—reflecting the
limited knowledge
 Anachronisms were very common
 Comic elements appeared in plays that were
otherwise very serious, and had, as their purpose, to
teach Bible stories and principles to the people.
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The medieval mind looked at the temporal world
(Earth) as transitory: Heaven and Hell were the
eternal realities.
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Performed in cycles
Three kinds:
 Mystery Plays—about Christ or from the Old
Testament—usually done in cycles. (Second
Shepherds’).
 Miracle Plays—lives of saints, historical and
legendary figures
 Morality Plays—didactic allegories, often of
common man’s struggle for salvation (Everyman—
only his good deeds accompany him in death.)
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Characteristics in common:
 Aimed to teach or reinforce Church doctrine
 Melodramatic: good rewarded, evil punished
 God and his plan were the driving forces, not the
characters.
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To us, these play seem to be episodic,
confusing sequences of time, and an odd
mixture of comic and serious—unnerving.
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Latin comedies and tragedies were studied in schools and universities.
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Farce—very popular, particularly in France where it is well-developed. Pierre
Patelin—15th centure—clever knaves outwitting each other.
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Moralities—secularized allegories based on classical gods and heroes, often with
some political content.
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Mummings and Disguisings—given at wealthy homes on holidays.—
pantomimes, danced and narrated stories.
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Interludes and Masques—between courses at a banquet, masques were
allegorical compliments to the guests—with intricate dances and spectacle.
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Town Staged Pageants—the plays were often put on in celebrations in honour of
dignitaries.
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Performed by professional actors attached to noble houses.
The Decline of
Medieval Theatre
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Increased interest in classical learning—
affected staging and playwriting.
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Social structure was changing—
destroyed feudalism and “corporate”
nature of communities.
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Dissention within the church led to
prohibition of religious plays in Europe.
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Queen Elizabeth, the Council of Trent,
1545-1563—religious plays outlawed.
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By the late 16th century, drama of
medieval period lost its force.
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Results of the decline:
 Professional actors still needed, but not amateurs.
 Professional theatre rose, became commercial (no
longer a community venture).
 No longer religious plays—returned to the classics
for new ideas for stories.
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The Renaissance/Neoclassical was less binding in
England than the rest of Europe.
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Classics gradually went to England, as is reflected in
some of the early English Renaissance plays:
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Ralph Roister Doister—Nicholas Udall, a headmaster
at Eton Academy (1505-1556)
 Plot—about a boastful coward—indebted to Plautus’s The
Braggart Warrior—foolishness of boastful coward and his
courtship of a widow. This play advanced the dramatic
construction.
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Gammer Gurtons’ Needle—written at
Cambridge University by Mr. “S.” (some
believe Thomas Sackville) between 1552
and 1563.
 Plot—two households disagree/misunderstand
about the loss of a needle.
 Fuses subject matter and characters similar to
medieval farce with the technique of Roman
Comedy.
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Inns of Court—residences and training for
lawyers produced plays for self and important
guests, like schools.
Gorbuduc—Thomas Sackville and Thomas
Norton—1561—The “first English Tragedy”—
with a “political” statement to make (about
leaving the order of succession of the throne
unknown—support for Elizabeth’s reign)—
Queen Elizabeth attended.
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Religious and political
controversies
 Henry VIII, Mary Queen
of Scots, Puritans.
 Queen Elizabeth
granted NO religious
dissention.
 1588 defeat of Spanish
Armada—gradual
supremacy of English as
major world power.
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Medieval influences
 Dramas and interludes
 Before, during, and after Elizabethan theatre—a
sometime bizarre mixture of classics and native
drama (of “sophisticated” and “simple” theatre).
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Acting became a legal profession in 1570’s
 English theatre was under control of the
government.
 Acting companies had to have a license, AND
the patronage of a noble.
 Provincial troupes were deprived of legal status,
so theatre was concentrated around London.
 Merchant class disliked the theatre (most were
part of growing Puritan population), while the
aristocracy liked it.
 Until 1608, theatre
buildings were illegal in
the city limits of
London, so theatres
were built outside of the
city limits.
 The first theatre—build
by James Burbage,
head of the first
important troupe, the
Earl of Leicester’s men,
license in 1574—was
called “The Theatre.”
 By 1580, two or more
companies were playing
around London.
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The Renaissance had its beginnings in the
1200’s but really took hold around 1300 in
Italy.
Renaissance = Rebirth
There were new ideas, based on classical
teachings.
By the 16th century, the Renaissance had
permeated most of European thought.
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Weakening of the Church influence
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The Papacy was moved to Avignon, France,
in 1305. In 1405, Constantinople (presentday Istabul, Turkey) fell to the Turks.
Scholares fled West with valuable
manuscripts, including some Greek Drama.
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1465—the Printing Press is invented.
The Bible and some manuscripts were
printed (classical plays, ancient
architecture, Aristotle’s works, Horace,
etc.)
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1467-1470, the printing press and printed
manuscripts get to Italy, and classical
plays become staged at Universities and
Courst or Academies (club-like learning
organizations).
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In Italy, the nobility patronized the arts;
playwrights were often under noble
patronage
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Neoclassical ideal in
playwriting and criticism
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Italianate Staging and
Architecture.
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Commedia dell’Arte
 Pantalone – the old man, a fool
 Dottore – the doctor, a drunk
or glutton
 Capitano – braggart soldier
 Inamorati – the young lovers –
the only "normal" characters
 "zanni" -- foolish servants;
Harlequin (or Arlecchino) was
the most popular
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Interest in the ancient "rediscovered" classics – based more
on Roman (where Italy now stood) than on Greek
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Central concepts of neoclassicism:
 Verisimilitude: "truth seeming" – what is truth?
▪ In drama – could represent only what could be reasonably expected
in real life
 Decorum: characters were expected to display traits normally held by
members of their class, or to suffer ridicule or punishment if not.
▪ Good was to be rewarded, and evil punished – there was an eternal
truth.
 Purity of Genres:
▪ Comedy and tragedy were not to be mixed – NO element of one
should be in the other.
▪ Tragedy was to have: characters of high station, deal with affairs of
state, have elevated language, have an unhappy ending.
▪ Comedy was to have: lower and middle-class characters, deal with
domestic affairs, use less elevated language, have a happy ending.
 The Three Unities: -- for verisimilitude.
▪ Neoclassicism focused on:
▪ Unity of Time: --required a reasonable time – no more than 24
hours – or actual time (This was to cause some disagreement: did
this mean that the play had to occur in actual time [just as Oedipus
Rex takes place in only an hour and a half – the actual length of the
play], or could it be extended to a full day [daylight, or a 24-hour
day?].
▪ Unity of Place: --no more than one room, place [as Oedipus took
place in front of the palace], or a town [or country, etc.]
▪ Unity of Action: --no sub-plots, counter-plots, secondary plots--not
as important an influence as the other two unities
 Five act form: --probably derived form Horace and Seneca
 Two-fold purpose: --to teach and to please.
▪ Moral precepts: a justification for theatre – partly in order to mollify
those who still thought theatre was immoral [such as the Church],
theatre took on an very important societal function—to teach as
well. Not just an art form. Perhaps Plato would have approved.
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By 1600, Renaissance thought had moved to other parts of
Europe.
Remained dominant for over 200 years, especially among
upper classes.
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Acting companies needed new
plays. Some of these new plays
came from The University Wits – an
informal group of scholars applying
classical standards to the needs of a
vigorous contemporary stage.
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Robert Green (1558-1592)
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Thomas Kyd (1558-1594)– The
Spanish Tragedy – c. 1587.Most
popular play of the 1500’s.
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John Lyly (c. 1554-1606) – prose
comedies
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Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) –
Dr. Faustus, Edward II
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The University Wits all helped develop:
 elegant prose
 romantic comedies
 complex protagonists
 humanism and neoclassicism combined
 blank verse – iambic pentameter, not rhymed
(called a "couplet" if rhymed)
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Christopher Marlowe
 the most critically acclaimed of the four
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– Cambridge educated.
focus is on the protagonist; episodic
story illuminating his complex
motivations
development of the "chronicle" play –
History Play – (i.e.: Edward II) –
rearranging, telescoping, and altering
events to create a causal sense...
helped perfect blank verse
Iambic pentameter, no rhyme.
"Couplets" were rhymed.
Tamburlaine parts I&II, 1587 & 1588
Dr. Faustus c. 1588
Edward II c. 1592
Marlowe died in a fight at 29.
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Many before 1570’s, but little known about them. Noblemen probably paid a fixed yearly sum, and
they probably did additional public performances for extra money.
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By 1570, government decrees made acting more secure, daily performances stimulated building
permanent theatres and assembling larger companies.
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First important troupe: Earl of Leicester’s Men, licensed in 1574, headed by James Burbage – builder of
the first theatre in London.
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Lord Chamberlain’s Men – with the Burbage family, Shakespeare’s troupe.
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A plague of 1592-3 forced many troupes to dissolve or combine.
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In 1603, Lord Chamberlain’s Men became the King’s Men, until 1642.
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Actors were paid by the court, yearly fee plus other expenses.
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Most troupes worked on a sharing plan – risk and profits shared. Democratic, self-governing,
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Some troupes or members of troupes owned theatre buildings—they were know as "householders.“
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Troupes were all male, men or young boys playing women’s roles, some specialized in particular types
of roles.
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Large repertories: a different bill each day.
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Two kinds:
 Outdoor or "public"
 Indoor or "private“
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Both were open to anyone who could pay, but the private
theatres cost more, were smaller, and had a more select
audience.
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Nine Public playhouses were built between 1576 and
1642.The three most important – were all outside the city
limits of London:
 The Globe (1599)
 The Fortune (1600)
 The Swan (?)
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Varied in size – largest seated 2-3,000.
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Varying shapes: round, rectagonal, octagonal
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Had a "pit" or "yard" – where the "groundlings" were – un-roofed space,
surrounding the stage on three sides, enclosed by three tiers of roofed galleries. The
yard cost less (general admission), the Gallery cost more. There were probably some
private galleries.
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The stage was raised, 4-6 feet, extending to the center of the yard.
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A "Tiring house" at the rear of the raised platform – where the actors would wait
and change.
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The stage was roofed – called "the heavens"—supported by columns. Flying was
common, with cranes and ropes.
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Traps in the floor, for fire, smoke, other effects.
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Two doors in the tiring house—represented widely different locations (France or
England, for instance).
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A hut above the Tiring House, for equipment and machinery.
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Flag on top of hut – to signal performance day.
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Musicians’ gallery, below hut, third level.
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Perhaps: Two playing levels, upper and lower; maybe a third. Audience may have sat
on 2nd level..
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Perhaps: a discovery space (probably between the two doors, portable or
permanent, 1 or 3 curtains thrusting out.
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Less is known about the Elizabethan indoor theatres.
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Smaller, roofed.
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Troupes did shows in winter when it was too cold to be outside – suggesting that the staging was
probably similar.
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1576 – Blackfriar’s – a former monastery – was the first one – closed by 1584.
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The New Blackfriar’s opened in 1596 by James Burbage. Their company, the King’s Men, used it
after 1610 as their winter performance area.
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Children’s troupes had been popular for a while until 1610.
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By the time of Shakespeare (1595?), actors had achieved a satisfactory level of financial and social
stability.
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By 1642, there were six private theatres in London.
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Private theatre rose in popularity from 1610 to 1642. Public theatres were used only during the
five warm months.
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Size: about ¼ - ½ of the seating capacity of the public theatres.
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Spectators sat in the pit or in galleries or private boxes. The stages were probably similar.
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Between 1590 and 1613, he wrote 38 plays (although, for some, the
authorship is still in doubt), some written with others (John Fletcher, for
instance).
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Histories: (English history, like Marlowe’s Chronicle plays) such as Henry
IV, V, VI, VIII, Richard II, Richard III
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Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth –
generally considered to be his greatest works
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Comedies: Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors
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Little known about his life:

Actor and shareholder in Lord Chamberlain’s Company (Later the King’s
Men) by 1595.
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After 1599, a shareholder at the Globe Theatre.

Actor, playwright, and sometimes director.
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A fluid and flexible production style is needed:
 Small props, small set pieces maybe
 Costumes important – they were usually contemporary, except for
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supernatural characters and conventional costumes (for Turks,
Spaniards, animals), and with the addition of drapery to suggest
periods (Romans wearing toga-like sash).
Shakespeare’s plays seem to be accepted as the most dramatically
effective – he attempted all popular forms and subjects.
But his reputation during his lifetime was lower than Jonson or
Fletcher of Beaumont. His fame grew in the late 17th century and
reached its peak in the 19th. Has leveled now.
Survival of his plays depended on fellow actors (i.e.: Henry Condell and
John Heminges) – Original edition of his plays was in 1623, called the
First Folio.
His four greatest tragedies: Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Othello
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General characteristics of the plays:
 Early point of attack
 Several lines of action (subplots), independent at first, then somehow
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merge together – unity in apparent diversity (King Lear is a perfect
example).
Large number and variety of incidents; mixing of tears and laughter;
gentle and violent passions
Time and space used freely – a sense of ongoing life behind the scenes
Large range and number of characters; 30 is common; rich and poor,
all individuals.
Varied language: elegant, ribald, witty, prosaic; all to enhance
character and action
Subjects from many sources (mythology, history, legend, fiction,
plays) but reworked to become his own.
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Resource: Various,
Wilson/Goldfarb
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North Virginia
Community College
Introduction to Theatre-On line course
 http://novaonline.nvcc.edu
/eli/spd130et/LessIndex.ht
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