Festival of Dionysus
theatre and arts celebration in Athens
Greek orchestra
also known as a dancing space
Aeschylus
Greek playwright, added formality to costumes and masks, wrote The Persians and Seven Against Thebes
Euripides
Greek playwright, famous for his tragic plays, wrote Medea and The Trojan Women
Sophocles
Greek playwright, added a third actor and abolished the trilogy form, wrote King Oedipus and Antigone.
Purpose of Roman theatre
to worship the gods
Titus Maccius Plautus
Roman playwright, wrote based on New Greek Comedies
Publius Terenius Afer
Roman playwright, slave, combined Greek stories to make more complex work, wrote The Brothers and Mother-in-Law
Roman stages
similar to Greeks, semi-cirlce shape with an orchestra and stage, weren't carved into hillsides
Medieval plays
heavily influenced by the church
example of Medieval play
The Service for Representing Adam
three Medieval tropes
mystery, miracle, morality
Hrotsvit
Medieval playwright, Europe's first female playwright, wrote plays about trials and salvation, wrote The Conversion of General Gallicanus
mystery plays
focused on the religious mystery of God’s influence on the world
miracle plays
much like a mystery play but with a larger focus on the lives of the saints and martyrs
morality plays
a play where different virtues and vices were personified and shown in competition for the soul
What was different about the Italian Renaissance?
it challenged people's ideas about religion, science, and other topics
Italian Renaissance stages
introduced the proscenium arch stage, painted-flat wings, and shutters
Ben Jonson
Italian Renaissance playwright, 2nd most famous English dramatist, wrote Every Man in His Humors, Volpone, and Epicoene or The Silent Woman
William Shakspeare
Italian Renaissance and Elizabethan playwright, most famous playwright in history, wrote Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Hamlet, and other famous plays
stock character
a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition
lazzi
stock comedic routines that are associated with Commedia dell'arte
Where does the Elizabethan period get its name from?
Queen Elizabeth I
Chirstopher Marlowe
Elizabethan playwright, could have easily rivaled Shakespeare, died in a bar fight, wrote Tamburlaine the Great
theatre during the Elizabethan period
rise of individual theatre companies, all plays were approved by the crown
characteristics of the English Restoration
drama and comedy were the most popular genres, comedy of manners used to mock the upper class, women were allowed to perform and write
Aphra Behn
English Restoration playwright, first woman to earn her living entirely from writing, encouraged other women to pursue theatre, wrote The Forc'd Marriage and The Rover
William Wycherley
wrote the famous play The Country Wife
Kabuki theatre
a highly stylized form of theatre from Japan that centers around visual and vocal performance rather than story line
common themes of kabuki theatre
punishing the wicked, rewarding the good, commentates on society, entertainment
Chikamatsu Monzaemon
kabuki playwright, tragedy writer, known for perfecting and popularizing the concepts Kabuki is now known for
Tsuruya Nanboku IV
wrote Yotsuya Kaidan, arguably the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time
kabuki costumes
used real silver and gold, extravagant, masks who's shape and color described the character
neoclassicism
the revival of a classical style or treatment in art, literature, architecture, or music
Moliere
17th century France playwright, cofounded the troupe known as the Ilustre Théâtre, wrote Tartuffe
Pierre Corneille
17th century France playwright, created the tragicomedy, wrote Médée and Le Cid
theatre rules of 17th century France
Stories had to be believable, morality, manners, and good taste, did not mix comedy and drama, comedies must end happily. Tragedies must end in death, comedic characters must be from the middle and lower classes. The hero in a tragedy must be of the noble class, plays had to provide good morale
realism
a movement that began in the late 19th century and sought to represent everyday life on stage as accurately as possible
Oscar Wilde
19th century playwright, challenged the hierarchy and lifestyle of the upper class, wrote A Flortine Tragedy
Victor Hugo
19th century playwright, one of the best French writers in history, wrote Les Misérables and Ruy Blas
box set
introduced in the 19th century, a set with a proscenium arch stage and three walls
fourth wall
introduced in the 19th century, a conceptual barrier between those presenting some kind of a communication and those receiving it
Theatre of the Absurd
used to communicate ideas about existential philosophy and the absurdist meaning of life
existential philosophy
a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on the subjective experience of thinking, feeling, and acting
Samuel Beckett
Absurdist playwright, father of the absurdist genre, wrote Waiting for Godot and Endgame
Arthur Adamov
Absurdist playwright, mostly followed surrealism, Wrote La Parodie, La Professeur Taranne, and Ping-Pong
Waiting for Godot
centers around a conversation between two characters as they wait for a mystery third character to arrive who never does, reduced theatre to nothing more than human interaction, still widely performed today
impacts of the Theatre of the Absurd
impacted the mood of the world around it at the time, contributed to the idea of metaphysical existence