Festival TheatreGreek, Roman, and Medieval Theatrical Experiences

COM 103 NCSU

JOHN T. HALL, JD

THEATRE ORIGINS

• RITUAL– A collective ceremony performed by members

of a society, normally for religious or cultural reasons

– Also celebrates important life events– Baptism, Bar Mitzvah, Weddings, Funerals– Robed judges, changing of the guard, lower ball

New Year’s Eve– “Uh-huh” vs “I do”

ORIGINS

• STORYTELLING– Human speech to recount daily events of selves

and others – more personal than collective rituals

– Ritual may attract an audience, but storytelling requires an audience – hearer-spectators

– Generates elements of character impersonation – voices, gestures, emotions, entertainment

Until the 16th century, Western Theatre:

• Performed primarily at festivals

• Financed by community

• Performed by community

• Occurred for brief periods each year

• Presented as offering to a god

• Presented for enjoyment of general public

• Flourished in Greece, Rome, medieval Europe

Festival TheatreGreek, Roman, and Medieval Theatrical Experiences

Theatre of Ancient Greece

• Origins of Western Theatre traced to Ancient Greece

• Ancient Greek Beliefs:

• Humans can make significant decisions

• Democracy

• Not all people are equal: Greeks kept slaves and denied women any public role in society

• Happiness depends upon harmony between human and supernatural forces

• Numerous gods: conceived of as immortal human beings with flaws

Theatre of Ancient Greece

• Greek Drama:

• Emphasizes attempts of humans to control own destinies

• Tragedies often focus on results of attempting to escape fate

• Presented exclusively at festivals honoring the god Dionysus

Dionysus = god of wine and fertility

• Festivals: By 5th century, Athens held 4 festivals per year in honor of Dionysus

• 3 of 4 festivals including theatrical performances

• Major Festival = City Dionysia

City Dionysia

• Religious and Civic celebration

• 534 B.C. = first recorded contest for Best Tragedy

• Winner = Thespis

• Competition =

• 3 dramatists compete• Each presents 3 tragedies and 1 satyr play

satyr play = short, comic play poking fun at a Greek myth using a chorus of satyrs (half-man/half-goat characters)

• 5 days of performances; started at dawn and probably lasted all day

• Plays open to everyone, but primary audience = men and boys

City Dionysia

• 3 tragedies x 3 playwrights = 9 tragedies per City Dionysia

• 9 tragedies x 100 years = 900 tragedies during 5th century B.C.

• 32 plays have survived

• All 32 plays written by 3 dramatists:

• Aeschylus (523-456 B.C.)

• Sophocles (496-406 B.C.)

• Euripides (480-406 B.C.)

• Sophocles’ Oedipus often considered the best

Theatre of Dionysus

• Location: slope of hill beneath Athenian Acropolis

• Theatron = “seeing place”

• Stadium-like stone seats

• Capacity = 14,000-17,000

• Orchestra = “dancing place”

• Main performance space

• Circular

• 65 ft. in diameter

THEATRE DIONYSIS

Theatre of Dionysus

• Thymele = alter to Dionysus

• Originally located at center of orchestra

• Scholars believe it was later moved to behind the skene

• Skene = hut or tent

• Located on side of orchestra, opposite the audience

• May have been used for costume changes

• Gradually developed into large structure

• 75-100 ft. long - Possibly 2 stories high

• Possibly had 3 doors

Thymele

THEATRE DIONYSIS:Orchestra, Skene

HIGH PRIEST’S SEAT[DIONYSIS]

Theatre of Dionysus

• Paradoi = spaces between skene and auditorium

• Used for choral entrances and exits

• Eccyclema = wheeled platform

• Used primarily since acts of violence could not be shown onstage

• Rolled or pushed into the performance space to show consequences of violent acts (such as slain characters)

• Machina = crane-like device

• Used to “fly” god characters into the performance space

• Visible to audience

Performers

Four Categories of Performers:

1. Actors

2. Chorus

3. Supernumeraries

4. Musicians

Performers: ACTORS

Actors:

• All performers were male

• By 430 B.C., only 3 speaking actors allowed in competition

• Actors played multiple roles

• Each playwright was assigned a Principal Actor

• Principal Actor eligible to win “Best Tragic Actor”

Performers: CHORUS

Chorus:

• Composed of 15 men

• Playwright was assigned a choregus

• choregus = wealthy citizen who paid for training and costuming; high civic honor; wealthy citizens required to take turns serving as choregus

• Chorus assigned approximately 11 months prior to festival

• Trained like athletes

Performers: CHORUS

Choral Conventions:

• Chorus as one of the distinctive features of Greek Theatre

• Usually performed in unison• Sometimes broke into 2 subgroups that

responded to each other• Chorus leader sometimes had solo lines• Chorus entered after Prologue• Chorus performed Choral Odes

Performers: CHORUS

Functions of the Chorus:

• Treated as a group “character” that expressed opinions, gave advice

• Seemed to express the playwright’s point of view

• Served as ideal spectator, reacting as the playwright wanted the audience to react

• Added color, movement and spectacle through singing and dancing

CHORUS - MODERN

Performers: MASKS

Masks:

• Performers [except musicians] wore masks

• Masks covered entire head and included hair/headdress

• Function of Masks:

• Facilitated rapid change of roles - Enabled male performers to embody female characters more easily

• Helped actors to assume different types of roles

• Assisted communication by capturing and emphasizing essential character qualities Megaphone mouthpiece

OEDIPUS MASKS

CREON, OEDIPUSFAREWELL TO DAUGHTERS

OEDIPUS, JOCASTA, DAUGHTERS

Performers: COSTUMES

Costumes:

• Variety of clothing used – everyday wear

• Costume likely determined by appropriateness to role

• Use of chiton = ankle-length or knee-length garment that served as usual dress in Greece

• Soft, flexible, high-topped boots - Often with raised platform soles

CONVENTIONS OF GREEK DRAMA

• “CLASSICAL” UNITIES OBSERVED?– TIME = 24 HOURS– PLACE = ONE LOCATION– PLOT = ONE STORY TOLD

That’s what the French thought

OEDIPUS’ FAMILY TREE

Oedipus the King in Performance

Characterization & Acting:

• Concerned primarily with Psychological and Ethical aspects of character

• All speaking roles performed by three actors

• Chorus of 15 – 35 total performers

Actor #1

Oedipus

Actor #2

Creon

1st Messenger

Actor #3

Priest

Tiresias

Jocasta

Herdsman

2nd Messenger

Probable distribution of roles:

OEDIPUS IN PERFORMANCE

• All speaking roles performed by three actors

• ACTOR# 1:OEDIPUS

• ACTOR# 2:CREON; 1st MESSENGER

• ACTOR# 3: PRIEST; TIRESIAS; JOCASTS; HERDSMAN; 2nd MESSENGER

UNIT SET FOR “OEDIPUS”

• Ludi = “games” - religious festivals that included theatrical performances - honored several gods

• Theatrical performances considered diversions, like sports

• Borrowed from Greek drama, but adapted it to Roman tastes

• Romans preferred variety entertainments: short comic plays - dancing, singing - juggling, acrobatics - gladiatorial contests

Roman Theatre Experience

Roman Comedy

• Plays:

• 26 Surviving comedies

• All surviving plays by Plautus and Terence

• Deal with everyday domestic affairs

• Plots turn on misunderstandings

• Most famous character = “clever slave” [Think: “Servant of Two Masters”]

• Include music; some characters sing

Revival of Drama in Middle Ages

• Middle Ages:

• Early = A.D. 900-1050

• High = A.D. 1050-1300

• Late = A.D. 1300-1500

Early

900 950 1000

1050 1100 1200 1300

1400 1500

High Late

liturgical drama vernacular drama

Drama in Middle Ages

• Liturgical Drama:

• Performed in churches or monasteries

• Earliest example = A.D. 970

• Dramatizes Biblical episodes sung in Latin

• Financed by church

• Religious plays performed OUTSIDE of church = A.D. 1200

• Vernacular Drama:

• Religious drama independent of church = A.D. 1375

• Written in vernacular language - Text spoken

• Financed by community

Trade Guilds - Corpus Christi Festival

• Outdoor religious dramas in England• Connected to Trade Guilds• Church created new feast day in 1311:

Corpus Christi • All Biblical events could be connected with

this festival• Plays dramatizing the Bible from creation

to doomsday = Cycle Plays

Conventions of Medieval Theatre

STAGE:

• Depicts heaven at one end and hell at the other end

• Could be fixed or mobile = platform or wagons

• Scenic structures to indicate place = mansion

• Open, unspecified space = platea

COSTUMES:

• Distinguish between inhabitants of Earth, Hell - Earthly characters = contemporary clothes Heavenly characters = church garments

SPECIAL EFFECTS: Gruesome hell mouth - Realistic miracles [Water changed into “wine”]

The Wakefield Cycle

• Manuscript contains cycle of 32 plays: Creation through Last Judgment

• Playwrights: multiple, anonymous• Production as community effort, involving:

town council, church, trade guilds• Processional staging, using pageant wagons

that each carried one or more mansions• All actors were male• Guilds were assigned plays related loosely

to their professions

Other Medieval Drama

• MORALITY PLAYS:

• Allegories of moral temptations

• Most famous play = Everyman

• Served as transition between medieval religious drama and secular drama of Shakespeare’s time

• INTERLUDES:

• Nonreligious, serious or comic; performed between parts of celebration

CONNECTIONS:

COMPARE & CONTRAST

Similarities:

1. Occasional

2. Ceremonial

3. Financed by state, by organizations, or by wealthy citizens

4. Open to all audiences

5. All male performers

6. Use of musical accompaniment

7. Large audience spaces

8. Formalized scenic backgrounds

9. Masks

CONNECTIONS:

COMPARE & CONTRAST , continued:

Differences:

1. Music: Greek: chorus sang and danced - Roman: music throughout play, associated with actors - Medieval: music followed no fixed plan

2. Theatre Structures: Architecture and scenic components varied

3. Function: Greek: moral values and significant issues - Roman: popular entertainment - Medieval: Christian teaching