theatre history review until the 16 th century, western theatre: performed primarily at festivals...
TRANSCRIPT
Theatre History Review
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
The Theatre of Ancient Greece
Origins of Western Theatre traced to Ancient Greece
Ancient Greek Beliefs:• Humans can make significant decisions• 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
The 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 = god of wine and fertility
Festivals:• By 5th century, Athens held 4 festivals per year in honor
of Dionysus, god of fertility and wine—the ONLY Greek God for whom plays were presented
City Dionysia
Religious and Civic celebration
Tragedy Competition • 3 dramatists competed• 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)
Plays open to everyone, but primary audience - men and boys
• All 32 plays that have survived written by 3 dramatists:• Aeschylus (523-456 B.C.)• Sophocles (496-406 B.C.)• Euripides (480-406 B.C.)
• Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex often considered the best
The Performers
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”
The Performers
The 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
The Performers
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 members were all costumed and masked alike• Chorus would act as the ideal spectator—reacting the way
the playwright wanted the audience to react• The chorus would sometimes threaten to intervene in the
action
The Performers
Functions of the Chorus:
• Formed a collective character who expressed opinions, gave advice, and occasionally threatened to interfere in the action
• Often seemed to express the author’s point of view• Served as the ideal spectator, reacting as the author
wanted the audience to react• Helped to establish mood and to heighten dramatic
effects• Added color, movement and spectacle through singing
and dancing
The Performers
Masks:• All performers except musicians wore masks• Distinctive convention of Greek Theatre• 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
Formalized Conventions of Greek Theatre
• Group of performers formed chorus
• One actor often played multiple roles within same play
• Men played both male and female roles
• Performers wore masks and character appropriate dress
• Performers sang, chanted and danced much of the text
• Theatre’s scale prevented small details from being seen
Greek Comedy
• Became official part of festivals about 50 years after tragedy
• Performed at 2 festivals: City Dionysia and Lenaia
• 5 playwrights competed annually at Lenaia, each presenting 1 play
Greek Comedy
Conventions:• Usually concerned with current issues• Sometimes used mythological material• Chorus size = 24
• Not always identical in appearance• Sometimes depicted as citizens, sometimes as
nonhumans• Male characters made to appear ridiculous
• Costume suggested partial nakedness• Wore large phallus• Wore masks
Greek Comedy
Plays:• Only 11 Old Comedy plays have survived• All surviving plays by Aristophanes• Old Comedy plots revolve around a “happy idea”• Time and place may change frequently• Unity through idea rather than through causally related
events• Characters may speak to or about the audience
The Roman Theatre Experience
Ludi = “games”• Religious festivals that included theatrical performances
• 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
The Roman Theatrical Context
Production Expenses: paid by state Performance Spaces:
• Tiered seating, capacity of several thousand• Semicircular orchestra, not used by performers• Stage enclosed by scaenae frons = façade
• 3 doors on back wall; 1 door at either end• Open seating, free admission• Costumes: Greek costumes and masks; color symbolism• Performers: all male
Roman Comedy
Plays:• Surviving comedies = 26
• All surviving plays by Plautus and Terence
• Deal with everyday domestic affairs
• Plots turn on misunderstandings
• Most famous character = “clever slave”
• Include music; some characters sing
Other Roman Drama and Theatre
Roman Tragedy:• Surviving tragedies = 9• All surviving plays by Seneca
Mime:• Favorite form of entertainment• First time women were permitted to perform• No masks• Dramatic action centered on sexual encounters
Blood Sports:• Gladiatorial contests
The Revival of Drama in the Middle Ages
Liturgical Drama (Church Drama)• 2 Types:
Performed primarily in churches or monasteries• Dramatizes Biblical episodes• Text sung in Latin• Financed by church
Religious plays performed outside of church = A.D. 1200
The Revival of Drama in the Middle Ages
Vernacular Drama • Religious drama independent of church = A.D.
1375• Written in vernacular language• (language of the common people)• Text spoken• Financed by community
Trade Guilds and the Corpus Christi Festival
• Outdoor religious dramas connected to Trade Guilds
• Church created new feast day in 1311: Corpus Christi
• All Biblical events could be connected with this festival
Trade Guilds and the Corpus Christi Festival
• Central feature: procession through town, like parade= Processional Staging was most common in England
• People of all ranks and professions involved
• Plays dramatizing the Bible from creation to doomsday = Cycle Plays
Conventions of Medieval Theatre
Time:• Contrast of eternal versus
earthly time Stage:
• Depicts heaven at one end and hell at the other end
• Scenic structures to indicate place = mansion
• Undifferentiated space = platea
Conventions of Medieval Theatre
Costumes:• Distinguish inhabitants of Earth, Heaven, Hell• Earthly characters = contemporary clothes• Heavenly characters = church garments
Special Effects:• Gruesome hell mouth• Realistically staged miracles
Other Medieval Theatre and 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 Farces:
• Secular comic drama: emerged 13th century• Not encouraged officially• Emphasized ridiculous aspects or human behavior • Example: Pierre Patelin
Interludes:• Nonreligious, serious or comic; performed between parts of
celebration
Elizabethan England, Italian Commedia dell’Arte, and Seventeenth-Century France
Renaissance: revived interest in classical theatre of Greece and Rome
English Decree of 1558: plays on religious and political subjects banned
New subjects: classical literature, historical chronicles, legend
Patronage: church and state withdraw support; theatre becomes commercial enterprise
Elizabethan Theatre
Professional Groups: Had to perform often
Had to have a large stock of plays to sustain audience interest
Had to play in space large enough to accommodate sizeable paying audience; had to be able to control access to space
Had to control all production elements
Had to assemble company that could work full time
Elizabethan Theatre
Professional Groups: Acting was not considered an acceptable profession
Because acting did not fit into the guild system, actors were considered masterless men
Companies petitioned noblemen to serve as patrons
Patronage legitimized companies to an extent
Patrons provided little financial support
Companies had to be licensed and Plays approved
Elizabethan Theatre
Companies: Always 2 to 4 active companies in/around London
(1580s-1642)
Performed 6 days per week in the afternoon
Usually changed bill every day
Average life of play = 10 performances over a season or two
Writers sold plays to companies for one-time fee
The Globe Theatre
Used by Shakespeare’s company after 1599
3 levels of roofed galleries enclosing open space
The yard = open space enclosed by galleries
The stage = extended to middle of yard; viewed from 3 sides
Roof sheltered stage = the heavens or the shadows
Back of stage platform = multilevel façade with 2 doors
The Globe Theatre
Theatrical Conventions: Properties brought onto stage when needed (throne, bed)
Façade served as backdrop for all performances; location clarified by dialogue: spoken décor
Most characters were costumed in contemporary Elizabethan dress
The Globe Theatre
Theatrical Conventions: All roles played by men Performance style somewhat realistic No use of masks, except as disguises All lines spoken
The Globe Theatre
Theatrical Conventions: Admission fee determined viewing location
Cheapest = yard
Moderate = galleries
Expensive = boxes, “lord’s rooms”
No intermissions
Circulating vendors sold wine, beer, ale, nuts, playing cards
Atmosphere similar to modern sports event
English Theatre
English public theatres were closed in 1642 due to civil war, and did not reopen until 1660
The Theatre Experience in Renaissance Italy• The Renaissance, begun in the 14th century, revived interest in
classical theatre of Greece and Rome
• Early 16th century, plays imitating classical forms were written in Italian
• Performed at court festivals—in honor of a king or ruler
Principles of perspective drawing (developed in 15th century) added to scenery (in 16th century)• Signaled movement away from formal, architectural stage to
representational, pictorial stage• Picture painted on 3 separate scenic elements: side wings,
backdrops, overhead borders• Floor of stage raked upwards towards back• Introduction of proscenium arch, which framed the painted
elements • Resulted in need for mechanisms to shift scenery
The Theatre Experience in Renaissance Italy
Opera = combined drama, music, dance, spectacle, special effects
• Originated in the 1590s
Structured from the interludes performed between the acts of regular plays
• Suggested parallels between a mythological figure and the person being honored at the festival
• Major features = music and dance
• Elaborate special effects
Commedia dell’Arte
• Commedia dell’Arte = comedy of professional artists
• Actor as most essential element of form
• Adaptability: could perform in virtually any space, with or without scenery
• Scenario = summary of situations, complications, outcome; functioned as script
• Improvisation: distinguishing feature of commedia
• Lazzi: bits of comic business
Commedia dell’Arte
Stock Characters1. Lovers:
• Most realistic roles• Only characters that did not wear masks• Dressed fashionably
2. Masters: 3 recurred most often• Pantalone: elderly Venetian merchant• Dottore: lawyer or doctor• Capitano: braggart and coward
3. Servants = zanni• Minimum of 1 clever and 1 stupid• Most popular = Arlecchino (Harlequin)
• Acrobat, dancer, and used slapstick• Wore black mask and hat
Commedia dell’Arte
• Troupes averaged 10-12 members• Performers were both male and female• Troupes traveled frequently• Most popular from 1575 to 1650, but continued
into late 18th century• Numerous scenarios have survived
The French Neoclassical Ideal
• Firm genre restrictions: tragedy and comedy should not mix• Tragedy must be about royalty and nobles• Comedy should deal with middle and lower classes• Characters should exhibit decorum—character “types”
always behaved in certain “absolute” truthful ways• Neoclassical Unities:
Time: all play’s action should occur within 24 hour period
Place: all play’s action should occur in one location Action: there should be only one plot
• Ending of play should uphold poetic justice• Purpose of drama = to teach and to please
Molière and Seventeenth-Century French Theatre Practice
• Unlike Elizabethan Theatre, French companies included both male and female actors
• Each actor played a limited range of roles, eventually organized into lines of business
• Plays were set in one place; no scene changes; generalized scenery
• Plays performed indoors, using candles and oil lamps for lighting
• Moliere’s plays were written in verse, with each pair of adjacent lines rhyming
• Neoclassical unities of time and place are observed
Romanticism to Realism
Attitudes toward Neoclassicism began changing toward the end of the 18th century
Writers of the Sturm and Drang (Storm and Stress) school in Germany began writing serious plays that experimented both with bold subjects and dramatic form.
Neoclassical ideals reversed almost completely by early 19th century, resulting in the development of Romanticism
Romanticism
The less a thing deviates from its natural state the more truthful it is
Shakespeare’s plays became an argument for ignoring the rules of neoclassicism
Mysterious and supernatural became common occurrences
Historical accuracy in settings and costumes was favored
Melodrama The popular-culture manifestation of Romanticism
• Melodrama = “music drama”
• Action accompanied by musical score that enhanced emotional tone
• Emphasized clear moral tone and suspenseful plots
• Set pattern of action: Good are rewarded and Evil are punished = poetic justice
• Characters were stereotypes (Good, Evil)
• Elaborately staged spectacle
Melodrama
Created variety through use of:• Exotic locales• Special effects• Latest inventions• Dramatizations of popular novels and
notorious crimes• Horses for “equestrian melodramas”• Water tanks for “aquatic melodramas”
Melodrama
• With advent of electricity (1880s), electric motors were used with treadmills to stage horse or chariot races
• Panoramas were rigged on spools and moved in time with the treadmills; panoramas = long cloths on which continuous scenes were painted
• Efforts to make action as realistic as possible by using machinery and special effects
The Advent of Realism
Darwin’s theories (1859)
1. All forms of life have developed gradually from a common ancestry
2. Evolution of species explained by “survival of the fittest”
Implications of Darwin’s theories1. Heredity and environment as primary causes for everything
humans are or do2. People cannot be held fully responsible for their actions since
heredity and environment cannot be fully controlled3. Progress4. Humans are like other animals; not separate from nature5. Change, rather than fixity, as the norm
The Advent of Realism
Freud’s theories
1. Basic human instincts = aggression and sexuality
2. Without intervention, humans would seek to satisfy own instincts without regard for others
3. Need for socialization: rewards and punishments teach acceptable behavior and develop a superego
• Superego = an interior, subconscious censor or judge
4. Right and wrong are not absolute; relative to individual, family, society
Realism and Naturalism
• Grounded in the need to understand human behavior in terms of natural cause and effect
• Pursuit of truth: knowledge that can be verified through the 5 senses
• The highest form of morality = truth
• Playwrights wrote primarily about contemporary subjects
• Introduced topics such as unsavory social conditions
Naturalism
• Unlike Realism, Naturalism was not successful in the theatre, possibly due to its extreme demands
• Naturalists believed that the dramatist should expose social ills so that their causes could be corrected
• Play as a slice of life = a segment of reality transferred to the stage
• Naturalism as short-lived movement that produced few plays of significance
The Independent Theatre Movement
• Throughout most of Europe, plays had to be approved by a censor prior to performance for public audiences
• Performances done by a group for its members only were considered private performances; not subject to censorship
The Independent Theatre Movement
By the late 1880s, a number of small independent theatres exploited this loophole
Products of the Independent Theatre Movement
• Playwright George Bernard Shaw (in England
• The Moscow Art Theatre (In Russia)
• Playwright Anton Chekhov
• Konstantin Stanislavsky and
• The Stanislavsky System of acting
Konstantin Stanislavsky and The Stanislavsky System
The most pervasive influence on acting during the 20th century
Contains basic premises of what is necessary for effective acting:• Body and voice must be trained and flexible• Be a skilled observer of human behavior• The “Magic If”• Understand each character’s motivations and
relationships• Concentrate moment by moment