Ancient and G reek Theater

1. Ancient and Greek Theater By: Mrs. Bone

2. Origin of Theater • Dance • Storytelling • Ritual • Myth

3. Egyptian Theater • First recorded script • Came from the Egyptians • Memphite Drama • Abydos Passion Play • Pyramid Texts • Ikernofret- priest who recorded drama: known as the first stage manager

4. Greek Theater • Theater Types/Genres • Tragedy • Euripedes, Sophocles, Aeschylus • Comedy • Aristophanes • Satyr Plays- short comedic plays between tragedies • Our modern word for satire comes for these plays • Tragic Hero has a flaw that leads to their downfall

5. Greek Tragedy Festival • Held from sun up to sun down • The prize winner received a goat • Thespis- was the first recorded actor • Held in honor for the god of theater, Dionysus

6. Theater Structure • Theater Structure: • Raked audience • Round stage (orchestra) • Skene (back ground) • Deus ex machine- flying machine • Ekkyklema-wagon • Example: Acropolis

7. Costumes • Masks • Wigs • Oversize limbs and shoes • Chiton- like a Greek toga

8. Aristotle • Greek philosopher who classified Greek drama • In his book The Poetics

9. Greek Chorus • Started with 15- priests • In the later part of Greek Drama there were 50 chorus member • Spoke in unison, storytellers • The conscience of the show, they re-acted how the author wanted the audience to re-act • Beginnings of ensembles in theatre

10. Three Unities • All Greek plays use the 3 unities in their plot structure • Unity of TIME, ACTION, and PLACE • All action happened in real time and in one location • So if the action took an hour, the performance would last an hour • If a play took place during the day, there would not be a night scene • There were no scenes that took place the next day