EUROPEAN

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EUROPEAN
THEATRE HISTORY
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PART ONE
Greek, Roman, Medieval
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Greek (290 525 BC)

• Structured theater started in Greece
• Centered around the festival to honor the Greek
  god Dionysus the Greek god of wine
• Religious connection.

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PLAYWRIGHTS

• Thespis inventor of Greek Tragedy used one
  actor. Thespian (Actor) comes from his name
• Aeschylus used 2 actors
• Sophocles used three actors. Most famous play
  still performed today - Oedipus Rex
• Story of a man who kills his father and has
  children by his mother

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PLAYWRIGHTS

• Euripides First to focused on men women not
  gods
• Aristophanes first to write comedies parodies
  of great philosophers
• Menander wrote tragic comedies. Tragic Comedies
  were later tried by Romans

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ACTORS

• The actors where always men
• The actors would always wear masks
• Assumed their characters male or female

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GREEKCHORUS

• First dressed as goat like creatures sang a goat
  song or tragoatea this is where we get the word
  tragedy
• In tragic plays - originally made of 12 singing
  and dancing members.
• Increased to 15 when actors increased to three.

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GREEKCHORUS

• Leader of the chorus interacted with the
  characters in the play, spoke for the general
  population (the people / the play's public
  opinion).
• The chorus moved together - viewed as one entity
  rather than separate entities.
• Usually communicated in song form, but sometimes
  the message was spoken.

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GREEKCHORUS

• To Help the audience follow the performance
• Offered background and summary information
• Commented on main themes, and
• Showed how an ideal audience might react

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GREEK THEATRE

• Theatron where the audience sits
• Priest sat front and center in a special section
• Orchestra where the chorus stood
• Stage
• Skene behind the stage where the actors entered
  and exit
• Crane used to lift actors in the air

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Roman (240 BC 476 AD)

• Evolved from casual circus acts called Fescennine
  Verses
• early forms of poetry. Performed with acting,
  flute playing
• After the Punic Wars over Greek land, Roman
  soldiers brought back the concept of Greek
  theatre
• Plays were translated into Latin
• First plays where Greek comedies and tragedies
  that had been translated and mimicked Greeks in
  every way even costumes

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COSTUMES

• Costume and masks to denote status and sex very
  specific
• important in Roman Theatre.
• It help the audience understand the story
• Costume Specific
• Striped toga for boys
• Short cloak for a soldier
• Red toga for the poor
• Shot tunic for a slave
• Masks were worn to denote sex
• Brown for men white for women

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AUDIENCE

• Rowdy, lower class
• plays were bawdy and large
• No religious aspect that the Greek theatre did
• This would be Roman Theatres greatest
  contribution making theatre entertainment not
  connected with religion
• Roman actors did not hold the same esteem as did
  Greek actors. Roman actors were often times
  slaves
• Comedy and tragedy Theatre eventually dissolve
  into the spectacles of the Gladiators

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The Fall of Rome and DramaDARK AGES 467AD 600AD

• When the barbarians destroyed the Roman Empire
• Did not need such frivolous amenities such as
  drama
• Let the plays and poems burn with the Empire

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MIDDLE AGES (MEDIEVAL) 600AD 1300AD

• Most scripts landed with the church
• Church in power - band all theatrical activity
• No secular group was allowed to perform or write
  plays.

• The only touch of theatre was from jugglers or
  roaming mistrals which performed at occasional
  festivals

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NUNS AND MONKS

• Nuns and Monks - only access to ancient Greek and
  Roman scripts and were the only people educated
  enough to read them.
• Monks and nuns wrote their own plays - performed
  behind closed doors.
• Did not want the church to deem their behavior as
  blasphemous.
• These plays are referred to as Closet Plays

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CATHOLIC CHURCH

• Most of society was made of uneducated farmers
  and peasants
• use theatre to tell the bible stories.
• The trope was introduces short scene from the
  bible
• First a short tableu
• Pantomime
• Dialogue pieces
• Entire bible stories where performed.
• Scenes would be placed all around the church on
  raised platforms called stations
• actors would move from one station to the next.

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MARKET PLACE

• At first all of the Catholic plays done by the
  Guilds were all in Latin, the language of the
  Church
• Guilds started to use vernacular, a language
  unique to a specific area
• Due to the increase of popularity plays where
  moved outside to market place - to accommodate
  the crowds
• Performed on pageant wagons and would move from
  one town to another.

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GUILDS

• Guilds developed. Group of people, share common
  skill and interest and same economic standing.
• Specific stories assigned to different guilds.
• The last Supper - the Bakers guild.
• Noah - Shipwrights Guild

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TYPES OF PLAYS

• Passion Play
• Mystery Play, about Christ or from the Old
  Testament usually done in cycles
• Miracle Play, lives of saints, historical and
  legendary
• Morality Play - didactic allegories, often of
  common mans struggle for salvation

• Most popular Morality play known today Everyman
• Characters include Death, Good Deeds, Worldly
  Goods, and Friends

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END OF THE MIDDLES AGES

• The Medieval Era ended with the end of the
  Crusades.
• Allowed an opening in the trade route with the
  eastern world.
• Eastern world had preserved ancient text new
  growth of theatre began.