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    Greek Theatre Research

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    DanielWright
    Greek theatre began as part of religious festivals honoring Dionysus. Plays were performed only at the City Dionysia festival in Athens. Originally, actors also wrote and directed plays, but roles were later limited to three actors. This led to a larger role for the chorus in plays. Tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were the main forms of Greek theatre. Comedies, like the plays of Aristophanes, often mocked tragedies through parody and dirty jokes. Theatre buildings consisted of the orchestra where plays took place, the skene which served as a backstage area, and rising seating for audiences of up to 14,000 people. Actors used masks and exaggerated costumes and gestures

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    Greek Theatre Research

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    DanielWright
    108 views2 pages
    Greek theatre began as part of religious festivals honoring Dionysus. Plays were performed only at the City Dionysia festival in Athens. Originally, actors also wrote and directed plays, but roles were later limited to three actors. This led to a larger role for the chorus in plays. Tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were the main forms of Greek theatre. Comedies, like the plays of Aristophanes, often mocked tragedies through parody and dirty jokes. Theatre buildings consisted of the orchestra where plays took place, the skene which served as a backstage area, and rising seating for audiences of up to 14,000 people. Actors used masks and exaggerated costumes and gestures

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    Greek theatre began as part of religious festivals honoring Dionysus. Plays were performed only at the City Dionysia festival in Athens. Originally, actors also wrote and directed plays, but roles were later limited to three actors. This led to a larger role for the chorus in plays. Tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were the main forms of Greek theatre. Comedies, like the plays of Aristophanes, often mocked tragedies through parody and dirty jokes. Theatre buildings consisted of the orchestra where plays took place, the skene which served as a backstage area, and rising seating for audiences of up to 14,000 people. Actors used masks and exaggerated costumes and gestures

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    108 views2 pages

    Greek Theatre Research

    Uploaded by

    DanielWright
    Greek theatre began as part of religious festivals honoring Dionysus. Plays were performed only at the City Dionysia festival in Athens. Originally, actors also wrote and directed plays, but roles were later limited to three actors. This led to a larger role for the chorus in plays. Tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays were the main forms of Greek theatre. Comedies, like the plays of Aristophanes, often mocked tragedies through parody and dirty jokes. Theatre buildings consisted of the orchestra where plays took place, the skene which served as a backstage area, and rising seating for audiences of up to 14,000 people. Actors used masks and exaggerated costumes and gestures

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    Greek Theatre Research

    Greek theatre & comedy


    The Greek theatre history began with festivals honouring their gods. A god, Dionysus, was
    honoured with a festival called by "City Dionysia". In Athens, during this festival, men used to
    perform songs to welcome Dionysus. Plays were only presented at City Dionysia festival.
    Athens was the main centre for these theatrical traditions. Athenians spread these festivals to its
    numerous allies in order to promote a common identity.
    At the early Greek festivals, the actors, directors, and dramatists were all the same person. After
    some time, only three actors were allowed to perform in each play. Later few non-speaking roles
    were allowed to perform on-stage. Due to limited number of actors allowed on-stage, the chorus
    evolved into a very active part of Greek theatre. Music was often played during the chorus'
    delivery of its lines.
    Tragedy, comedy, and satyr plays were the theatrical forms.
    Tragedy and comedy were viewed as completely separate genres. Satyr plays dealt with the
    mythological subject in comic manner. Aristotle's Poetics sets out a thesis about the perfect
    structure for tragedy.
    Comedy plays-Comedy was also an important part of ancient Greek theatre. Comedy plays were
    derived from imitation; there are no traces of its origin. Aristophanes wrote most of the comedy
    plays. Out of these 11 plays survived - Lysistrata, a humorous tale about a strong woman who
    leads a female coalition to end war in Greece. Often the plot gets pretty lost by the end of the
    play, lost in things that tragedy would never allow - attacks on contemporary figures, dirty jokes,
    slapstick and parody.
    Aristotle tends to dismiss comedy as being less serious than tragedy, which is certainly true, but
    comedy did tend to mock the grandeur of its more sombre cousin - it was not (just!) a more or
    less filthy romp.
    Greek Theatre- Theatre buildings were called a theatron. The theatres were large, open-air
    structures constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three main elements: the
    orchestra, the skene, and the audience.
    Orchestra: A large circular or rectangular area at the centre part of the theatre, where the play,
    dance, religious rites, acting used to take place.
    Skene: A large rectangular building situated behind the orchestra, used as a backstage. Actors
    could change their costumes and masks. Earlier the skene was a tent or hut, later it became a
    permanent stone structure. These structures were sometimes painted to serve as backdrops.
    Rising from the circle of the orchestra was the audience. The theatres were originally built on a
    very large scale to accommodate the large number of people on stage, as well as the large
    number of people in the audience, up to fourteen thousand.
    Acting- The cast of a Greek play in the Dionysia was comprised of amateurs, not professionals
    (all male).
    Ancient Greek actors had to gesture grandly so that the entire audience could see and hear the
    story. However most Greek theatres were cleverly constructed to transmit even the smallest

    sound to any seat.


    Costumes and Masks- The actors were so far away from the audience that without the aid of
    exaggerated costumes and masks.
    The masks were made of linen or cork, so none have survived. Tragic masks carried mournful or
    pained expressions, while comic masks were smiling or leering.
    The shape of the mask amplified the actor's voice, making his words easier for the audience to
    hear.

    Drama was the most important, because it could be massively public. The other forms were
    primarily private. Drama emerged mostly from necessity, but its ingredient forms were festival
    rituals where fundamental religious dialogues were played out. According to Aristotle, the comic
    form originated in the phallic processions at the festival of Dionysius. The phallic processions
    emphasized the procreative side of life. A tradition grew where the leaders of these processions
    had to write, among other things, a satyr play. The satyr play satirized a traditional story or
    legendary figure, often by depicting the protagonist as a monstrous figure, grotesque, with a
    large phallus attached. Thus, even though the action in the play might be quite serious, it
    became laughable.

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