Greek Theatre Slideshow

The Theatre of Ancient Greece

Early Athens

Early Athens

The City DionysiaHeld between December and April, often in March.Festival lasted 5 days.Began with parades and celebrations, sacrifices and tributes to the Gods.Especially Dionyssus.A celebration of all things primal.Originally, the ceremonies incorporated performances of DITHYRAMBS.A system was developed with high profile members of the society to ‘judge’ the performances of the dithyrambs.

The City DionysiaThe popularity of the festival and the prominence of the winners led to an expansion of this part of the festival.The theme of the festival and of Dionyssus allowed for a retrospection of the city-state.Great thinkers and philosophers took advantage of this and began to perform specific dithyrambs about Athenian legends and history.This expanded into the performance of tragedies. They became so popular that the state began to fund them directly.

The City DionysiaEach year, the ARCHON, or magistrate of the city-state would select wealthy, prominent individuals to sponsor a new tragedy. This was a great honour.The financiers were called the CHOREGOS, and they were responsible for:- Commissioning and paying the playwright.- Hiring the chorus.- Hiring the musicians.- Paying for the costumes.

They were the early PRODUCERS.

The City DionysiaThe prize for the best play in the festival was shared between the playwright and the Choregos. (much like the best picture oscar today.)The original prize for the best play was a GOAT, which may be why Tragedy became the name for the plays.The popularity of the tragedies grew and grew, as did their relevance and complexity.

The City DionysiaThe plays were originally performed in the AGORA, which was the public marketplace at the time. AGORA actually means ‘large open space’.However, the popularity and prominence of the performances led the the creation and construction of a specific performance venue.

The City DionysiaThe theatres developed by the Athenians were AMPHITHEATRES.They were designed as such to best make use of natural SIGHTLINES and ACCOUSTICS.They sat between 10 and 15 thousand patrons, and were dug into hills to create tiered seating.

Here is a reconstruction ofthe THEATRE OF

DIONYSSUS.

Originally, the plays were made up solely of a chorus.The ACTOR was introduced as a sort of Prompter, asking questions of the chorus,

or replying to their statements.The was reflective of and important to the style of life in Athenian society.

The individual and the group were constantly striving for some sort of co-existence.

The first playwright to introduce an actor to the performance, in mid 6th century BC (around 534), was THESPIS. He also played the first part.

In the 460s, the playwright Aeschylus introduced the first performance with 2 actors. He played one of the parts.

Sophocles later introduced the first plays with three actors.

All the roles were played by men, most of them between the ages of 17 and 21.They sang and danced as a unit, and were judged on criteria of uniformity, grace and

precision.CHOREOGRAPHY is, literally, the mapping of the chorus.

All the players wore large masks made of linen or lightweight wood.The chorus masks were all identical, but the masks for the individual actors were

more unique.In comedies, the masks were more grotesque, like caricatures, often portraying

animals.

The Dominant PlaywrightsAeschylus

AgammemnonThe Libation BearersThe PersiansThe Oresteia

Sophocles

AntigoneOedipusElectra

Euripides

FrogsHippolytusThe Trojan Women

Structure of the Plays1. PROLOGUE (intro)2. PARODOS (entrance of the chorus)3. EPISODES (series of odes)4. CATASTROPHE (reversal of the hero’s situation)5. EXODOS (final song and exit of the chorus)