Theatre History I

Roman theatre

violence, relied more on comedy, tragedy and comedy were distinct (tragedy for royalty, comedy for common people), chorus was less important, ghosts and supernatural elements, drama should teach

Greek theatre

no violence on stage, relied more on tragedy, hillside theatres

Osiris

Egyptian god of the afterlife, killed by brother (Seth) and avenged by son and wife (Horus, Isis)

Abydos Passion Play

Egypt 2500 BCE, dramatized retelling of the slaying of Osiris, one of the earliest dramatic performances, evidence first discovered from a stone in 1887 BCE written by Ikhernofret

Ikhernofret

Egyptian, one of the only written recordings of Abydos Passion Play

Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides

3 greatest tragedians of Greek theatre

prologue, parados, episodes, exodus

stages of tragedy: exposition, entrance, 3-6 scenes separated by choral segments, exit chorus and actors

Aeschylus

Greek 525-455 BCE, “father of tragedy,” wrote Oresteia trilogy (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, Eumenides), added a second actor

Sophocles

Greek 497-406 BCE, wrote tragedies Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, wrote satyr play Trackers, added third actor, set precedent that writers are not actors, individual v individual rather than man v god, may have standardized scene painting, set chorus at 15, model dramatist of Aristotle

Euripides

Greek 480-406 BCE, not popular in his own day due to radical views on war and questioning traditional values, gods not portrayed as just, flawed characters, wrote Medea, The Bacchae, and Hecuba, accused of using ‘deus ex machina’ too much

Dionysus

Greek god of fruitfulness, vegetation, wine, and ecstasy, followers called Maenads (mad/demented), festivals held in his honor (Dionysia and Lenaia) included dithyramb competitions

Rural Dionysia

festival honoring Dionysus in settings that weren’t big enough for a Lenaia, traveling performers came through in late 5th century BCE

Lenaia

Greek Festival of the Winepress, occurred in early January in larger cities, comedy competition started in 442 BCE in which 5 writers submitted material to be judged

Aristotle

Greek philosopher 384-322 BCE who looked back on classical Greek tragedy, tried to contrast tragic and epic poetry, identified six poetic elements

Aristotle’s poetics

plot, character, thought/theme, diction, music, spectacle

Dithyramb

Greek 7th century BCE choral ode to Dionysus, “double birth,” would inspire the creation of tragedy later

Thespis

Greek 6th century BCE, known as first actor and inventor of Greek tragedy, origin of word “thespian”

Hypokrites

Greek word for actor, literally “interpreter/answerer from underneath”

satyr play

Greek style of play from 5th century BCE, played in between tragedies to lighten the mood, included orgiastic sequences and lewd gestures, made popular by Pratinas of Phlius, Euripides’ Cyclops is only one fully intact

Peisistratus

Greek 6th century, classical tyrant credited with organizing dramatic contests when Greece was still a collection of city-states, led property reallotment to curb disparities between classes, dithyramb and tragic drama were two new forms of poetry that arose under rule

Choregus

Greek 4/5th century position held by a wealthy citizen appointed to finance a play being created and performed for a festival, responsible for paying for costumes, musicians, props, etc, brought great prestige if their play won

Proagon

before Greek festivals began, playwrights would attend this to announce the subject of their play, followed by a reenactment of Dionysus coming to Athens, a procession to temple, and ritual sacrifices

Onkos

headdress/mask worn by Greek actors in tragedies, had lots of hair perhaps to make the actor look bigger so they could be seen from afar

Pollux

Greek lexicographer who detailed the stock characters in New Comedy, differentiated by masks: 9 types of old men, 4 young men, 7 slaves, 5 young women, various soldiers, parasities, etc

Vitruvius

Roman 1st century BCE writer of De Architectura, an examination of architecture and city-planning, including a chapter on how to lay out a theatre, especially in a city

Theatron

Greek “seeing-place,” auditorium or hill where audience sat to hear the play

Orchestra

Greek “dancing place,” the place where the chorus performed

Ikria

Greek, wooden benches that audience sat on

Skene

Greek, usually temporary tent or hut, tiring house for actors that could be used for mask changes or exits, facade with some sort of doorway

Proskenion

Greek, front of skene, often decorative or painted to signify place, allowed actors to change costumes, raised acting stage before the skene in Hellenic theatre

Parados

Greek, refers to either the dramatic unit in which the chorus enters a play after the prologue or the physical space coming off the orchestra that the chorus walked on to enter

Mechane

Greek 4-5th century, crane used in Greek theatre to fly/dangle an actor above the playing space to signify a god or other supernatural event

Deus ex machina

Literally “god from the machine,” refers to a plot device in which a god would appear at the end of a play and set everything right, perhaps comment on how brutally messed up humans can be or how fickle the gods are in intervening, now used more derogatively for modern plays that have hasty endings

Logeion

Greek, raised playing space in front of the skene used by the speaking actors in Hellenistic theatre

Theologeion

Greek, the roof of the skene, may have been used as a playing space for actors, such as gods or watchmen on roofs

Pinakes

painted flats, temporary sceney slotted into the thyromata of the skene

Periaktoi

triangular prism-shaped, used to change scenery

Theyromata

openings in the skene that could be used for entrances, exits, or moving scenery

Emmeleia

means harmony, tragic dancing of Greek chorus, slow and symbolic

Livius Andronicus

Roman 280-204 BCE, translated/adapted Greek plays into Latin with heavy focus on tragedies, founder of Roman epic poetry and drama, invented Fabula palliata (Roman versions of Greek style plays)

Titus Maccius Plautus

Roman 254-184 BCE, may have originally arrived in Rome as a performer, 130 plays attributed to him all based on Greek New Comedy, no chorus, very witty with varied meters and alliteration, fond of stock character, occasionally poked fun at Roman civic life

Publius Terentius Afer (Terrence)

African-Roman 2nd century BCE playwright, slave from Carthage, educated in Latin, less popular but finer writer than Plautus, sentimental comedies with tighter characters

Lucius Anneaus Seneca

Roman 4 BCE-65 CE tutor to Emperor Nero, may have written plays for small elite audiences, writings often very violent and horrifying reworkings of Greek myths, leader of Stoicism school of philosophy with the central tenet ‘you can’t stop death so stop worrying about it,’ heavily influenced later-Renaissance drama with 5-act structure, characters motivated by a single desire, violence onstage, supernatural elements, confident v chorus, and soliloquies

Pantomime

Roman, also called fabula saltica, started out as a dance form for a solo performer of myths or historical events, often performed in proper theatre spaces, legitimate companies were all men, largely replaces tragedy as entertainment form

Venationes

Roman amphitheaters used for staged animal fights or hutns

Theatre of Pompey

first stone theatre built in Rome, 55 BCE, sat 15k spectators

Circus Maximus

6th century BCE, one of the most famous outdoor public spaces in Rome, large racetrack used for chariot races, running competitions, and other sporting events

Cavea

Roman word for enclosure, auditorium of a Roman theatre

Vomitoria

Roman theatre tunnels that allowed the audience to enter and exit the theatre easily

Velum

thin curtains used to shade the audience in a Roman theatre from the sun; awning

Atellan farce

four stock characters: Bucco, Maccus, Pappus, Dossennus

Bucco

Atellan Farce stock character, stupid loquacious braggart

Maccus

Atellan Farce stock character, stupid glutton, clown, greedy country bumpkin

Pappus

Atellan Farce stock character, stupid/foolish/naive old man

Dossennus

Atellan Farce stock character, clever crafty crook/hunchback

Fabula Palliata

Roman comedy based on Greek model, urban settings, stock characters

Aristophanes

Greek 446-386 BCE, considered old and middle comedy, writing tended to be political about Athens, loved to ridicule other theatre and writers, plots often included a ‘happy idea’ which was an outrageous idea that required an outrageous solution, majority of extant comedies are his

Sikinnis

Greek dancing associated with satyr chorus, very springy with lots of leaping, included lewd/obscene gestures

Histriones

Latin word for actor

Menander

Greek 392-291 BCE writer of Greek New Comedy, plays concerned with domestic affairs (not just political ones), loved utilizing stock characters, won at Lenania 8 times

Parabasis

direct audience address in Greek or Roman comedy

Old Comedy

Greek 5th century BCE style, all written in Athens during the Peloponnesian War, focused more on parodying public figures and events (political satire), larger chorus than in tragedy (24 vs 12-15)

Mime

Greek and Roman, also known as fabula riciniata, tended to be short comedic sketches that could’ve included music and acrobatics, initially were improvised but later some scripts were written, not normally masked, women were in companies, performed outside, disliked by early Christians

Chorodidaskalos

actor-playwrites in Greek festivals were expected to be “teachers of the Chorus” until Sophocles set the precedent of the writer only writing

Domini

Roman version of the Choregus, during Roman festivals magistrates had a certain amount of money to hire performance group and would hire this person to manage the group

Ludi Romani

“Roman games” festival that traditionally would have some performances, dedicated to the god Jupiter, held in September

Fabula Atellana

Atellan Farce, possible influence on Roman comedy, somewhat of a Roman satyr play, some were written down but most were improvised scenarios with a collection of stock characters

Fescennine Verses

earliest form of Roman poetry in Latin, obscene verses improvised by Etruscan clowns, inspired the Saturae verses (Roman sketches of silly nature)