Theater 1 Theatre styles

Greek theatre Why it started

Dionysus ritual for God's.

Greek theatre key points

Chorus Big theatres

Greek theatre themes

Fate and moral lessons

Elizabeth Theatre Audience

Strict social class Audience stood or sat based on set wealth

Elizabeth theatre key points

Open air theatre outside strong government control ruled by Queen Elizabethan

Commedila de art purpose

Entertain large crowds

make people laugh

Commedia de art performances

Stock characters basic plot outlnes

Commedia de Arte key points

masks and characters showed personality social status

Commedia dell'arte type of character

Masters (Older, wealthy, powerful)

Servants (Clever,foolish,mischievous)

Commedia de A’Arte reflecting society

Mocked the wealthy

Made fun of authority

Showed class differences

Realism theatre purpose

Reacted against fantasy and romance show real-life stuff happening in the world

Why realism started

ocial & Historical Context

• Industrial Revolution

• Growing cities

• Poverty & class struggles

• New ideas about science & psychology

Theatre responded to real social change.

How realism looked

• Detailed, real-looking sets

• Natural dialogue

• Everyday costumes

• No exaggeration

Characters in Realism who appeared in stage

• Working class

• Families

• People with moral struggles

• People facing social pressure

Realism showed the “invisible”

Realism & Social Problems

Issues Realism Explored

• Gender roles

• Marriage

• Poverty

• Power & control

• Hypocrisy

Theatre bec

Famous Realist
Playwrights

Key Names

• Henrik Ibsen

• Anton Chekhov

They wrote about:

• Family tension

• Hidden secrets

• Emotional truth

Realism vs Earlier Theatre

Big Shift

Earlier Theatre → Symbolic/exaggerated

Realism → Subtle/natural

The audience became observers of life.

Turn & Talk:

Which style do you think is harder for

actors?

Realism’s Impact Today

Modern Influence

• TV dramas

• Movies

• Sitcoms

• Reality-based stories

Realism shaped how we tell stories now.

What is
Kabuki?

Originated in Japan 1600s

Performed education + entertainment

focuses on motion and beauty

Purpose of Kabuki

Entertain large public audiences reverse stories and history

show moral lessons

Celebrate Japanese identity

Kabuki

Visual

Style

Kumadori

Bright Colors

Red= bravery/ Hero

Blue= villain/ evil

Black= power/mystery

Kabuki acting style

Slow controlled movement

frozen dramatic poses

Kabuki stage and space

Raised stage

Hanamichi = Walkway though the audience

Actors enter dramatically

Audience is part of the experinece

Who performed Kabuki

Orginally women

Later banned= men played all roles

Onnagata= men trained to play women

Kabuki and cultural values

Respect

Loyalty

Honor

Duty

Kabuki Vs realism

Symbolic

Stylized

Emotional

Ritual like

Why Kabuki still exists today

Still performed in japan

preserved in Japan

passed Down through families

considered a national treasure

What is modernism

Late 1800s- early 1900s

Reaction against realism

Artists rejected normal storytelling

Why modernism happened

Industrialization

world war 1

Technology

Loss of faith in old system

How modernists theatres looked

Strange sets

non realistic costumes

unusual lighting

dreamlike scenes

Charcters in modernism

Symbols instead of real people

Characters with no name

Inner thoughts shown physically

Lanaguge in Modernsits

Short broken lines

reptititon

silence

confusing moments

Characters in Modernism

• Symbols instead of “real” people

• Characters with no names

• Inner thoughts shown physically