History of Theater

1
History of Theater

• Drama Unit
• Mrs. Bartel

The Acropolis in Athens, Greece
The Theater of Dionysus
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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)

3
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

4
www.aug.edu/cshotwel/2001.Greeks.htm
Reove frae    
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Greek amphitheater at Ephesus
http//www.ozturk.com.au/sultanitin1.html
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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.

7
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

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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)

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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

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Gluttony
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Mystery/Miracle
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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

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Renaissance TheaterThree important developments

• Secular themes (nonreligious)
• Rise of professionalism in acting and play
  writing
• Plays preformed in English rather than Latin

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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.

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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!

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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

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Romanticism

• 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

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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

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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

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Contemporary Theater

• Experimented with many styles (not one style
  exists today)
• Theater of the absurd-life viewed as meaningless
  and peoples strivings as absurd, since they
  cannot do anything to improve the human lot

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Theater of the Absurd

• Samuel Beckett-Waiting for Godot (1953)

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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