Theatre History Midterm

Abydos Passion Play

Originated in ancient Egypt, oldest ritual theatre historians study (2500- 550 BC). Performed in Abydos, tells the story of Osiris ruling Egypt, getting killed by his brother in law, and his body getting scattered. His wife/sister recovered his bits and put him back together. He was buried in Abydos and his spirit judges people’s souls in the underworld.

Aeschylus

Considered the founder of Greek Drama (+ Western drama). Added a second actor to theatre (yay dialogue). First to develop drama into a form separate from singing, chanting, dancing, or storytelling. Reduced chorus to 12. Wrote The Suppliants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes (historical tragedy instead of mythological, Prometheus Bound, and The Oresteia. The Oresteia is a trilogy (Agamemnon, The Choephori, and The Eumenides). Competed in the City Dionysia and won first prize.

Agon

A scene with a debate between two opposing forces (social/political issues). Seen in Old Comedies from Classical Greece.

Anagnoresis

The point in the play where the main character recognizes another character’s true identity/true nature of their own circumstances. From Aristotle’s Poetics

Anti-theatrical Bias

Theatre can be seen as a corrupting influence and many groups distrust it. There are often religious prohibitions against theatre (ex

Archon

An appointed government official (Athens) who oversaw the staging of drama at the City Dionysia festival. Chose the plays (11 months before) and oversaw the judging of the awards. Appoints the choregos

Aristophanes

Best-known comic playwright from 5th century BCE. Wrote in Old Comedy style. Had bawdy wit in plays & involved in Athens life. Wrote The Acharnians, The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace, The Birds, Lysistrata, The Frogs, and Plutus (considered Middle Comedy).

Ars Poetica

AKA The Art of Poetry. Stresses unity in plot + character construction, stressed rules. Comedy and tragedy must never be combined. 5 acts, 3 speaking characters at a time, gods shouldn’t be brought in unless absolutely necessary to resolve a plot. Chorus should forward action, set high moral tone, give good counsel. Writers should both entertain and instruct the audience. Emphasized decorum.

Artists of Dionysus

A guild including actors, chorus members, playwrights + other theatre personnel. Local government had to hire for plays through them. Provided professional security.

Atellan Farce

Improvised farces that dealt with exaggerated family problems; also made fun of historical/mythological figures. Originally presented by touring actors, then Roman authors began to write the pieces down (1st century BCE). Featured recurring stereotyped characters w/ masks + stock costumes. Often satirized Roman people from the countryside and being motivated by base instincts (lust + greed).

Auleum

Roman, a front curtain that was raised/lowered on expandable poles from a trench in front of the stage. Concealed actors before they were revealed to the audience. Could not mask entire façade.

Aulos

A wind instrument used in ancient Greece. Associated with Dionysus. Frequently played at festivals

Bharata

(Muni), Ancient Indian sage credited with writing the Natyasastra. Gives us most of what we know about ancient Indian theatre. An encyclopedia. Just Bharata is an emperor from the Mahabharata.

Bujlud Festival

Translates to “master of skins.” One of the oldest types of performances. Takes place after a seasonal animal sacrifice, and the main character (a young man) wears the pelts of the animal as a costume. Oral script says the Bujlud (a monster) cavorts with others who mock religious piety + social conventions. Bujlud is reincorporated back into human society, and society watching decide to reinforce or loosen their cultural norms.

Byzantine Empire

The Eastern Empire (half of the Roman empire that split). Constantinople was the capital. Covered Alexandria (Egypt), Athens (Greece), and Jerusalem. Flourished until 1453 when Ottomans conquered Constantinople.

Choregos

The equivalent of a modern-day producer for each of the selected playwrights in the City Dionysia. Personally provided the money for the production and paid for all major expenses for the chorus. Strove to produce a winning play because that was prestigious.

Chorus

Sang, danced, spoke in unison, and recited. Integral to classical Greek drama. Provided exposition, commented on the action, interacted with other characters, and described offstage action. Often represented the common people of the setting in tragedies. In comedy, could be fantastical (like as birds in The Birds).

City Dionysia

Festival in Athens honoring the god Dionysus. Held towards the end of March for spring. Originally had dithyrambs presented, then tragedy added, then comedy and satyr plays were added. Lasted for several days, included parades, sacrifices, and awards were given at the end. One tetralogy each day for 3 days of the festival? Exact organization of each day is debated.

Climactic Drama

Greek dramatic structure for tragedies. The action begins near the climax. Very few characters, only one main action. Short span of time for the play, and usually takes place in one locale. Plot often ravels like a mystery. AKA crisis drama.

Constantinople

Capital of Eastern Roman Empire, AKA Byzantine Empire. Hippodrome is used for performances. Also used it for political debates + executions + religious processions

Dan

Chinese theatre role, The female character

Jing

Chinese theatre role, the painted face

Chou

Chinese theatre role, the clown

Dance Dramas

Southeast Asian dramas. Early dances were part of religious or seasonal rituals. Some were trance dances about humans & spirits communicating with gods or the dead. Some told Indian epics. Many performed at court or at temple complexes. Ex

Decorum

The language and actions of characters must fit traditional ideas of suitable behavior for their age, gender, social status, and emotional state. Idea based on Horace (Roman -> Renaissance). Horace wanted writers to avoid extremes of emotion and attempt to be truthful. Keep overly offensive or overly marvelous (fantastical) offstage

Deus ex machina

Based on a Greek drama device where a deity would appear from the heavens and solve all the dramatic problems. Means “god from a machine” because a mechane/crane was used to have an actor (the god) enter.

Dionysus Dithyramb

A long hymn, sung and danced by a group of fifty men. Leader recited/sang an improvised story while other members sang a popular refrain. Eventually became a literary form.

Ekkyklema

Translates to “roll-out” machine. Characters who died offstage would be wheeled in to reveal them to the audience. It was a wagon that was wheeled from behind the skene.

Episkenion

Hellenistic Greece, the second story of the skene/scene house

Euripedes

One of the three great tragic playwrights of ancient Greece, considered the most “modern.” His characters behaved as people do normally, considered too realistic. Diminished chorus use, plays’ subjects were often sensational. Mixed comedy & tragedy. Portrayed gods as human & fallible. Not part of Athens political/social life. Wrote Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, The Children of Heracles, Andromache, Heracles, The Suppliants, Hecuba, The Trojan Women, Electra, Helen, Ion, Iphigenia in Tauris, The Phoenecian Women, Orestes, The Bacchae, and Iphigenia in Aulis. Wrote The Cyclops (satyr play).

Exodos

The final scene in classical Greek tragedy, when all characters exit from the stage.

Flower Wars

Aztec festival, carefully staged battles w/ combatants dressed in full war costumes. Had actual combat & warriors died. Meant for warriors to practice battle, obtain enemy bodies for sacrifice, and to demonstrate the empire’s might to spectators.

Gigaku

One of the first forms of theatre in Japan. A performance of comic skits and dramatic reenactments of the life of the Buddha or mythical figures. Mimashi (Korean) brought gigaku to Japan. Included statues of Buddha in processions, performers wore intricately carved masks.

Hamartia

In ancient Greece, a tragic flaw in the hero’s character. Literally translates to “missing the mark.” Some scholars say it is rather an error in judgement by the hero.

Hellenistic

Athens lessened in power, but theatre was still flourishing. Actors became more important. Alexander the Great started the era, ran til Rome conquered Greece. Wooden seats were added to theatres. New Comedy became a thing, was more about domestic life, used stock characters.

Hikayat

In the Arabic world, the stories that meddahs and hakawatis would perform during holidays. Would travel from town to town and perform in the middle of a circle. Evolved into written literature. Ex

Historiography

Historical writing and the study of historical writing. How it is written, interpreted, its methods, etc. Ex

Horace

Roman poet who wrote The Art of Poetry and some satires + lyric poetry. Surveyed the history and theory of dramatic poetry. Wanted writers to entertain and instruct their audience, stressed decorum.

Hypokrites

The ancient Greek word for actor. Translates to “answerer.” Had give-and-take of dialogue and interaction with chorus.

Kalidasa

Writer of Shakuntala (Sanskrit play). We know almost nothing about him. Story recounts romance of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala from the Mahabharata. Great lyricism. Wrote many poems, also wrote Malavike and Agnimitra & Vikrama and Urvashi

Karagoz

Shadow puppetry from Turkey, possible origin of Middle Eastern shadow puppetry. Named after the main puppet character. Had one performer that voiced all the characters and moved the puppets. Puppets were leather and brightly colored, about a foot high, put against canvas. Pieces were short and comedic, often criticized social norms.

Katharsis

A purgation/purification of emotions, produced from tragedy. Can occur in the audience or in the chorus. The drama can purge bad emotions, or it can purge the tragic character of the bad emotions.

Kordax

Comedic ancient Greek dance. Describes as obscene and ignoble. Involved suggestive movements like slapping one’s chest/thighs, suggestively rotating the body, etc.

Kothurni

AKA Kothornos, Thick-soled platform boots worn by Hellenistic Greek actors.

Kurraj

Hobby horse show. Part of Shamanistic and fertility rites pre-Islam. Players have decorated wooden horses draped in robes to make it look like the actor was riding it. Likely was a play that happened alongside music and dancing during feast days in Iraq. Reenacted battles during Islamic influence, caliphs would play in it

Lenaia

A festival celebrated at the end of January in Athens, theatre was performed. Comedy was more important than tragedy.

Ludi Romani

Honored the god Jupiter, was a Roman festival. First major Roman festival to incorporate theatre. There could be o errors with the religious elements of the festival or the entire festival would have to be redone

Luperci

Priests for the god Faunus (Pan), festival was the Lupercalia. The priests would dance naked through the streets, whipping spectators.

Mechane

Translates to “machine.” A crane hidden behind the upper level of the skene. Used to have actors enter when playing gods

Menander

Best known Greek New Comedy writer. Plays were written in five acts and used Aristotle’s classical structure. Chorus was greatly diminished. Dyskolos is a complete play we found, probably an early play of his

Methexis

“group sharing.” The audience participates with theatre, creating/improvising the action of ritual

Mime

Likely the earliest professional performers in Greece. Traveling players that presented a variety of entertainment (juggling, acrobatics, wordless dances, sketches with dialogue). Roman mimes performed short, risqué comedic skits

Mimesis

From Aristotle’s Poetics, roughly translates to “imitation.” It is central to drama. Something is not something else, and it does not pretend to be. Ex

Nanxi

Developed during Song Dynasty, AKA southern drama. Had complex storylines with characters that became the seven established role types in Chinese theatre. Few scripts and no author’s names survive. Had percussion, characters sang songs from popular tunes

Natyasastra

Gives us most of our ancient Indian theatre knowledge. Written by Bharata Muni. An encyclopedia of Sanskrit drama and ancient Indian theatre. Gives mythological origin of theatre in India and its connection to the gods. How-to on acting and dancing.

Naumachiae

Roman sea battles that were staged on lakes, artificial bodies of water, or in flooded arenas. Julius Caesar organized one. A type of popular entertainment

New Comedy

Subtle comedy about domestic life. More realistic, more down-to-earth. Comedy came from complication of everyday life. Plots are usually contrived, and involved stock characters like domineering parents, young lovers, etc. Written in 5 acts usually.

Ode

In classical Greek drama, it is the songs chanted by the chorus between episodes

Old Comedy

Classical Greek plays, only surviving ones are from Aristophanes. Makes fun of society, politics, or culture, frequently has recognizable contemporary personalities as characters (ex

Onkos

Large, exaggerated headdresses worn by tragic characters in Hellenistic Greek plays.

Orchestra

The playing area for the actors in Ancient Greek theatres. May have included an altar (scholars aren’t sure)

Pantomime

Roman stage presentation. Had a principal dancer, an assistant, and a chorus. Musical accompaniment played and the performer danced a mythological/historical/comical story while the chorus chanted the narrative and explained the action.

Parabasis

A scene where the chorus speaks directly to the audience, making fun of spectators and specific audience members, or satirizing other subjects. Chorus would often single out religious and political officials.

Parados

(Ancient Greek) The scene when the chorus enters and then the first episode of the play starts. Two or more characters will confront each other and the plot starts to develop. Also the entranceway for the chorus

Pear Garden

a music and performance school made in the Tang period in China. Primarily a Buddhist musical school.

Peloponnesian War

A conflict between Athens and Sparta. Sparta defeated Athens and Athens’ power in the region began to diminish. This war took place after Greece defeated the Persians invading.

Performance Studies

Studying areas of performance that theatre historians have largely ignored, like popular arts, everyday life performances, performance’s political impact, and the sociocultural relationship of performance to society. Mixes theatre with anthropology, sociology, political science, and cultural studies.

Periaktoi

A Classical Greek stage device. It was triangular and had three painted flats hinged together, each showing a different scene. It was rotated to reveal one new scene while hiding the other two

Peripeteia

A sudden reversal of fortune/change in circumstances, from Aristotle’s Poetics

Phylax

plural is phylakes. A comic form that satirized Greek tragedies and myths. Performed by mime troupes in southern Italy during 4th Century BCE

Pinake

A type of painted flat. A wooden frame covered with stretched fabric. Classical Greece. A scene-changing technique.

Plato

A respected Greek philosopher who tried to explain the world around him. Had an academy where other great Greek minds studied, like Aristotle. Was distrustful of actors because of their chameleon-like personalities

Plautus

The most popular of all Roman comic writers. His plays were written to entertain, and he combined song, dance, and native Italian farce with characters and plots from Hellenistic Greek New Comedy. His comedies were about the trials and tribulations of romance.

Postmodernism

A theory that says positivist narratives, rationality, objective reality, and absolute truths do not exist. The past cannot be retold in an objective and completely truthful fashion. Must analyze history in terms of who is empowered by history and who is not. Influenced feminist, identity, and LGBTQ+ historians.

Proedria

Front row seats in Greek theatres reserved for political and religious dignitaries.

Proskenion

The stage itself in Hellenistic theatres. It could be up to 13 feet high, and it was very long. It could be up to 14 feet deep. It had no side pieces.

Pulpitum

A large raised stage in Roman theatres. Was placed in front of the scaena and was about 5 ft. high. Could be 100x20 or up to 300x40.

Rabinal Achi (Xapoj Tun)

Translates to “Dance of the Wooden Drum.” A Maya performance from pre-colonization. A dance-drama that acts out the victory of Rabinal Achi against Man of K’iche.

Revisionism

History has usually been told from the social elite’s POV. It suggests that significant mainstream phenomena have been ignored because historians focus on what is revolutionary. Challenges us to revise our usual analysis of historical docs/sources, want to check our cultural/social biases

Ritual

The acting out of an established, prescribed behavior. Usually involves bodily movement, words, or interactions with object to affect a community. Many are efficacious.

Ritual Origin Theory

Theatre originated from ritual??? Idk

Roman Empire

Rome became an empire after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Rome was ruled by one supreme ruler, and Rome had most of western Europe under it’s rule for many centuries.

Roman Republic

After 200ish years of kings ruling, Rome overthrew them and established a republic. The upper class ruled throught the Senate, plebians used people’s assembly to have their voice heard. Used representative government. The Republic spread and had problems with political checks/balances as well as ruling such a large area. Eventually Julius Caesar became a dictator, was assassinated, and the Republic turned into an empire

Sanskrit Drama

Based on Aryan Sanskrit works. Plays are based on the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Performed in various court circles. Ex

Satyr Play

A comical play involving a chorus of satyrs. Structured like a Greek tragedy but parodied the mythological and heroic tales that tragedies treated seriously. Satyrs poked fun at honored Greek institutions (religion, folk heros, etc.) Often had vulgar elements.

Scaena frons

The façade of the scaena (the storage/dressing space), and was elaborate and ornate, had 3-5 entrances, the façade represented a typical Roman street scene and could represent a palace. Had statuary, columns, recesses, etc.

Seneca

The main Roman tragic writer whose plays have survived. Big fan of Stoicism. All nine of his surviving plays (The Trojan Women, Medea, Oedipus, Paedra, Agamemnon, etc) are all based on Greek myths. Used a chorus but it wasn’t integral to the dramatic action. Emphasized violent spectacle. Relates violence to his themes/circumstances of his characters. Characters are obsessed by an overwhelming emotion instead of having a tragic flaw. Basis for 5-act tragedy. Used soliloquies and asides.

Skene

The scene building in ancient Greek theatres. Sits behind the Orchestra. However, not actually connected architecturally to the Orchestra.

Sophocles

Known for his plot construction. Characters/info are introduced skillfully and story builds quickly to a climax. Increased the tragic chorus from 12 to 15 members. Introduced a 3rd actor to Greek tragedy. Told his stories in a single drama instead of the traditional trilogy.

Stock Characters

Stereotypical characters, usually not fully developed as unique individuals. Ex

Sun Dance

One of the most famous dances of the Indigenous Plains people. Usually carried out by a warrior, it is a supplication to the deities for power and success in war. Dancers would be cut and a skewer inserted into their flesh. It would be tethered to the center pole and the warriors would dance, staring into the sun, until the flesh being held on was torn loose/the skewer pulled through

Technitai

Translates to artists in Greek, refers to the Artists of Dionysus.

Terence

The most important Roman comic writer. Stressed characterization, subtlety of expression, and elegant language. Plots/prologues are more politically and culturally engaged. Based most of his work on Greek models (common practice), combined plot elements from two Greek plays to create one new work. Used a double plot, placing two characters in similar romantic situations and examining their different reactions. In Phormio, two cousins try to overcome their fathers’ objections to their lovers and are aided by a parasite (Phormio). It is less farcical and less slapstick, more verbal humor. Less musical accompaniment. Possibly first Black playwright.

The Poetics

Written by Aristotle, discusses classical Greek tragedies. Drama has six elements, ranked

Theatre at Epidaurus

The best surviving Hellenistic theatre. Could seat 14,000. Has amazing acoustics. Originally had a simple one-story skene called a thyromata, which has been eventually made more elaborate.

Theatre of Dionysius

All the early Greek dramatists including Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were performed here. Semicircular seating cut into a hillside. Had a circular orchestra and a wooden stage area in the back. Remnants of a later version of the theatre still stand in Athens.

Theatre of Pompey

A stone theatre, the first permanent Roman theatre. Justified the building by saying it was a religious edifice instead of a theatre because it had a religious shrine placed near the top. Built by Pompey the Great.

Theatron

Means “viewing place.” The Greek name for the seating area for the audience in their theatres.

Thespis

The first actor. He stepped out of the dithyrambic chorus. He delivered a prologue and presented dialogue, impersonating a character. Is said to have also been the first tragedy writer.

Thymele

An alter. Generally it’s in the center of the orchestra in Greek theatres. It may have been used as a scenic element, but it may not have been used in dramas at all. Greek drama was part of religious rituals.