1. History of Theatre Arts: Part 1

2. Drama Greek word meaning “to do” or “to act”
Born out of the dance ceremonies of primitive people before Greek civilization

3. Egyptian Theatre Ritualistic rites = our idea of a play 3000 B.C.
Egyptian people were concerned about life after death, which was illustrated in their dramas
Plays were written for important events (coronation of a new pharaoh)

4. Hebrew Theatre No substantial evidence of definite theatre in Judea.
Biblical literature has theatrical elements:
Job= 5 act play with prologue and epilogue
Song of Solomon= chanting/ poetic dialogue

5. Greek Theatre Unsurpassed legacy of theatre
The Classic (Golden Age) of Greece brought the greatest tragedies of all time
B.C.
Religious homage to Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility
Ritual dancing and singing developed tragedy (tragos- “goat song”)
Greek Festivals lasted for days

6. Greek Theatre
Comedies komos meaning “a band of revelers” and tragedies took place during festival
Plays were performed outdoors
Sloping hill – amphitheatre
Held up to 20,000 people
Far away from audience:
Rhetorical
Platform shoes
Masks
Megaphones

7. Greek Theatre Costumes Simple staging – scenery painted on boards
Mantels
Simple staging – scenery painted on boards
Greek tragedies were based on ancient myths (well known to audience)
Modeled many elements of Aristotle
Playwriting contests

8. Greek Playwrights First tragedian to win prize: Thespis
First to add a leader to the “chorus”
Leader became first Greek actor
Thespian- another word for actor
Aeschylus ( B.C.)
Father of Tragedy
Greatest tragic poet of all time
Invented the trilogy and added a second actor to the plays
Character : Prometheus

9. Greek Playwrights Sophocles (496-406 B.C.)
Great writer of tragedies
Handsome, well-educated, multi-talented
Wrote more than 100 scripts and won 18 festivals
Electra, Oedipus Rex, and Antigone

10. Greek Playwrights Euripides (480-406 B.C.)
Boxing and painting
Retired to a cave overlooking the sea
Unorthodox thinker who questioned religious ideas
First to humanize drama by appealing to the emotions
Medea

11. Greek Comedies Aristophanes (448-380 B.C.) Menander (342-291 B.C.)
The finest comic writer of ancient Greece
Satire
Wrote about public life
The Birds, the Frogs, and the Clouds
Menander ( B.C.)
Wrote about domestic or private life
In 1957 his complete work The Curmudgeon was discovered.

12. Greek to Roman
Caesar’s armies marched over the land  Greek drama begin to deteriorate.
Romans established their theatre from the seeds of Greek drama.

13. Roman Theatre Began with crude, native drama…
Replaced with adaptations and translations of Greek plays.
Aristocracy frowned upon theatre
Audiences were lower class
Scoffed intellectuals and artists; demanded spectacle and vulgarity
Greek theatre became decadent & hollow

14. Roman Theatre Playhouses were portable wooden platforms
61B.C.: Pompey built auditorium
Caesar ordered playhouse to be built
The Romans were first to use a front curtain
2 Roman playwrights to note:
Seneca (4BC-65AD): gory dramatist who wrote closet drama
Plautus ( BC): plays influenced Shakespeare and others

15. Roman Theatre
Production of plays were soon overshadowed by spectacles:
Gladiatorial contests
Killing of Christians and slaves
When Rome fell, the Christian church banned all theatrical activity

16. Chinese Theatre
2000 BC
Interpretative dance
Dance that tells a story
Religious rituals
Eventually a school for actors was founded- Ming Huang
Drama was highly formal
Ancestor worship, military glory, and faithfulness to a husband

17. Chinese Theatre When Mongols invaded drama changed
Demanded action, acrobatic stunts, songs and dances
These dramas came to be known as “traditional theatre”
Most acting is done by men
Acting is regarded as a life study
Graceful movements
Symbolic props

18. Japanese Theatre- Noh Based on ritualistic dance of Shinto religion
Noh plays appeared in the 14th century
Written in a formal, classical language
Meant for aristocrats
Short, serious, philosophical studies combined with poetry, dance and music
Scenery in Noh consists of one tapestry hung on back wall

19. Japanese Theatre- Bunraku
17th century
Doll Theatre
Wooden marionettes
Elaborately costumed

20. Japanese Theatre- Kabuki
Japanese drama of the common man
Incorporates song and dance
More melodramatic and sensational than Noh drama
Actors enter from flowerway
Ramp that extends through audience
Colorful, extravagant
Acting skill is all-important

21. Hindu Theatre 1500 B.C. Dialogue was used in religious hymns
Brahma invented theatre
Plays were composed in high class language
Scenery was a decorated wall with doors leading to the greenroom
Hindu theatre is very intimate, delicate and retrained
First to permit women to act on stage