Ancient Greek Theater

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Ancient Greek Theater
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This is where it all began the Theatre of
Dionysus in Athens.
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Scope of Influence

• The comedy and tragedy that developed in Athens
  and flourished in the fifth and fourth centuries
  BCE have influenced nearly all subsequent Western
  drama, starting with that of the Romans.
• When the Romans conquered Greece they brought
  Greek literature back to Italy and set about
  making it their own.

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• The Romans, with their love of spectacle, soon
  took over the existing theatres in Greece and
  began renovating and rebuilding them for their
  own spectacles, which included everything from
  pantomime (closer to ballet than to the
  children's 'panto') to mock naval battles. Most
  of the remains of the theatre of Dionysus which
  we can see in Athens today date to Roman times
  and not the fifth century BCE.

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The tragedies and comedies of the fifth and
fourth centuries BCE that remain to us today were
almost all written for performance in the Theatre
of Dionysus at Athens. The Theatre of Dionysus
was first dug out of the slope beneath the south
side of the Acropolis in the late 6th century
BCE, possibly while Athens was still under the
rule of the Peisistratid dynasty. It was rebuilt
and expanded many times, and so it is difficult
to tell exactly what its original shape was.
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• Theater is a ritualistic art form which
  celebrates the Olympian gods who often appeared
  as characters.
• Dionysus, god of wine and procreation, was
  honored at the dramatic festivals.
• Legendary kings and heroes were often portrayed
  as well.

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Theater and the Common Man

• Business and activities were suspended during the
  week-long festivals held three times per year.
• It was considered a CIVIC DUTY for people to
  participate in the productions in some way.
• The plays were to give a lesson to the people -
  DIADACTIC PURPOSE

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The Physical Structure of the Greek Theater
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• The theatron held benches on which the audience
  sat. The semi-circular theatron was specifically
  built in to a hillside to provide good views of
  the action.
• The orchestra was the circular dancing place for
  the chorus.
• The parados were two broad aisles which allowed
  the chorus to enter the theater. Parados is also
  the term for the entrance song of the chorus.
• The skene was a rectangular building with three
  doors which provided a generic backdrop for
  entrances and exits of the characters.
• The proskenion was a small platform in front of
  the skene to give actors more visibility to the
  audience.

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The Physical Structure of the Greek Theater

• Approx. 15,000 people fit in the Theater of
  Dionysus in Athens.
• No sets, props, etc.
• Actors lines marked the passage of time and the
  setting.
• Design of theatron was important for acoustics
  no microphones.

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The Players

• Because Greek tragedy and comedy originated with
  the chorus, the most important part of the
  performance space was the orchestra, which means
  'a place for dancing' (orchesis).
• A tragic chorus consisted of 12 or 15 dancers
  (choreuts), who may have been young men just
  about to enter military service after some years
  of training.
• Athenians were taught to sing and dance from a
  very early age. The effort of dancing and singing
  through three tragedies and a satyr play was
  likened to that of competing in the Olympic Games.

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Performance Characteristics

• Plays were initially held with just the chorus
  singing/chanting the lines.
• In 534 BCE Thespis was credited with creating the
  first actor (thespians). The character spoke
  lines as a god.
• This begins the concept of DIALOGUE the
  character interacts with chorus.

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The Role of the Actor

• Aeschylus earliest Greek tragedy writer brought
  idea of second actor.
• Sophocles brought third actor no more than
  three actors on stage ever in a Greek tragedy.
• Euripedes also used three actors after
  Sophocles.
• Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripedes each wrote a
  version of the Oedipus tragedy, but Sophocles
  version is the most famous.

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• Actors needed to be LARGER THAN LIFE and thus
  easy to see.
• Size was symbolic of their social status.
• Chiton a long, flowing robe, padded at the
  shoulders for width, selected in symbolic colors
• Cothurni platform shoes for added height

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The Greek Actor

• Participation is a civic duty many volunteered
  for the chorus.
• Experienced speakers became actors (often govt.
  officials or imp. businessmen)
• Actors were revered and exempt from military
  duty.
• Women were excluded from acting and had to sit in
  the higher seats in the theatron.

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Masks

• The large size of the theatre (in its final form
  it seated 20,000 people) and the distance of even
  the nearest spectators from the performers (more
  than 10 meters) dictated a non-naturalistic
  approach to acting.
• All gestures had to be large and definite so as
  to 'read' from the back rows. Facial expression
  would have been invisible to all but the closest
  members of the audience.
• The masks worn by the actors looked more
  'natural' than bare faces in the Theatre of
  Dionysus. The masks of tragedy were of an
  ordinary, face-fitting size, with wigs attached,
  and open mouths to allow clear speech.
• Contrary to some later theories, there were no
  'megaphones' in the masks, and their decoration
  and expression was quite subtle, as vase
  paintings from the 5th and 4th centuries attest.

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• Theatrical masks were made of wood (like the
  masks of Japanese Noh drama), leather (like the
  masks of the Commedia dell' arte, or cloth and
  flour paste (like many of the masks used at the
  Carnevale of Venice, and many masks made for
  modern productions today). Various theories are
  advanced in favor of each material, but no
  originals remain, only stone carvings which may
  have been used as mask-molds and the paintings on
  pottery.

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Declamatory Acting Style

• Actors could not move easily, so lines were
  delivered in a speech style.
• Broad sweeping gestures.
• General movements to express emotions Bowed
  head grief beating chest mourning
  stretching arms prayer.
• Minor props scepter king, spear warrior,
  elderly cane.

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Greek Theater Masks
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Paradox of the Mask

• The most distinctive feature of the mask was its
  ability to limit and broaden at the same time.
• It identified a specific character, but it also
  had generalized features which gave an Everyman
  quality. This allowed the audience to get the
  personal message intended for each member of the
  audience.

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Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King)

• Written by Sophocles in 430 B.C.E.
• Based on a great legend of western culture from
  Ancient Greece.
• Greatest Greek tragedy drama of extreme tension
  one person rules action
• Sophocles version deals with the discovery of
  Oedipus fate.

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• Tragedy lies in Oed. learning of his guilty deeds
  rather than the committing of them.
• Shows Oed. at war with himself
• Tension lies in the first realization of outcome
  and his push for full truth and proof.
• Free will cannot blame fate.
• Reason is mans greatest possession and power.
  Sophocles.

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• Oedipus shows how mans strength becomes his
  weakness
• Loss of eyesight is symbolic regarding Oed.s
  abuse of Teresias, Oed.s own blindness to his
  fate, and our blindness to our own calamities.