1 / 14

Greek Theatre

Greek Theatre. The origins of Western Theatre. Where is Greece?. Where is Greece? Greece is on the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe It also contains a chain of islands as well the largest of these being Crete. Greece is credited with being the birthplace of democracy and modern thought.

zarita
Download Presentation

Greek Theatre

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Greek Theatre The origins of Western Theatre

  2. Where is Greece? • Where is Greece? • Greece is on the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe • It also contains a chain of islands as well the largest of these being Crete. • Greece is credited with being the birthplace of democracy and modern thought.

  3. Greek Theatre and Religion • All Greek Theatre was religious in nature at first. • In the city of Athens a great contest developed around the Festival of Dionysus. • Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and fertility. • The Greeks held a festival each year that lasted a week.

  4. Theatre was performed during the day in between the religious rites. • It was performed in very large amphitheatres. • The stage was at the base of a hill and the seats were cut into the side rising upward. • There was little or no scenery or sets. • The hill faced the east so that the sun would be facing the actors most of the day and provide a dramatic backdrop at night

  5. Greek Theatres

  6. Dionysus

  7. Actors and Masks • All Actors were slaves and all actors were male. • Actors wore their normal dress and large masks. • These masks indicated several things about the characters they portrayed: • Age • Gender • Social status • Economic status • Tragedy or comedy

  8. Masks

  9. Now the masks have come to represent theatre world wide. • At first there were no actors as we think of actors. • The actors were a chorus of as few as 15 and as many as 150 people. • They would chant or sing the story. • The first actor to step away from the chorus and play one role was a slave named Thespis and that is why we call actors “Thespians”.

  10. Greek Theatre Notes Part 2 • The three main Greek playwrights that we have the majority of the remaining plays from are Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. • These playwrights were the most influential of their time and had the most lasting effect on theatre.

  11. Aeschylus – The Father of Tragedy • 525 – 456 BC • Reduced the size of the chorus to 12. • Introduced the 2nd actor. • Invented the trilogy. • Involved the chorus in the action more. • Example of his work is Promethus Bound.

  12. Sophocles • 496 – 405 BC • Introduced the 3rd and 4th actor • Created the plot as we know it • Gave us enduring classics such as Oedipus Rex and Antigone.

  13. Euripides • 480 – 406 BC • We have 18 remaining full plays of the 90 we know he wrote. • Not a fan of the Greek religion and his tragedies focused on the psychology and internal struggles of man. • He gave us the “dues ex machina” • Some examples of his work are Medea and The Trojan Women.

  14. Parts of the Greek Tragedy • Prologue – exposition • Parados – processional entrances • Episodes – individual scenes with actors • Statimon – lyrical sections involving music and dancing – chorus gives comment on action or issues • Exodus – summary of play, usually with a message and choral exit

More Related