GREEK

THEATRE
A presentation by Shamiso Chiza
Drama, form 3
SOURCES
(IF ANYONE NEEDS TO REFER
TO THEM)
 www.ancient.eu
 www.britannica.com
 Wikipedia
 www.getty.edu
WHAT IS GREEK THEATRE
 Greek Theatre is believed to be the origin of tragic theatre. A belief that is associated with Greek religion and
the belief in the Greek gods. Theatre itself was believed to have a direct link with Dionysos, the god of wine
and entertainment and as a result, the god of theatre.
 Plays were performed in an open-air theatre (theatron) and was open to all the populace. From the mid-5th
century BCE entrance was free.
 It is believed that women were not allowed to be a part of the performance and that men had to play the roles of
women (although the participation of women is contested)
 The plot of a tragedy was almost always inspired by episodes from Greek mythology, a part of Greek religion.
As a consequence of this serious subject matter, which often dealt with moral right and wrongs and tragic no-
win dilemmas, violence was not permitted on the stage, and the death of a character had to be heard from
offstage and not seen.
 at least in the early stages of the genre, the poet could not make comments or political statements through his
play.
 Greek theatre is among the earliest forms of theatre to ever exist
WHO MADE IT FAMOUS?
 The people who made this form of theatre successful and famous are the Greek playwrights
whom wrote very popular tragedies.
 These include Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides
 Aeschylus was known for his innovation, adding a second actor and more dialogue, and even
creating sequels.
 Sophocles was extremely popular and added a third actor to the performance (which usually had
one or two actors only!) as well as painted scenery.
 Euripides was celebrated for his clever dialogues, realism, and habit of posing awkward questions
to the audience with his thought-provoking treatment of common themes. (this was later made
famous by…Brecht!)
 The plays of these three were re-performed and even copied into scripts for ‘mass’ publication
and study as part of every child’s education. This was when theatre was first taught in schools.
GREEK COMEDY!
(EVERYTHING’S BETTA WITH
A LITTLE FETTA)
 The precise origins of Greek comedy plays aren’t very known, but the activity of men dressing
as and mimicking others goes back a long way before written records.
 actors dressed as horses, satyrs (a mythical greek creature which was half goat half man.
Imagine!) , and dancers in exaggerated costumes
 The most famous comedy playwrights were Aristophanes and Menander
 Their works frequently poked fun at politicians, philosophers, and fellow artists, some of
whom were sometimes even in the audience!
 Menander was also credited with helping to create a different version of comedy plays known
as New Comedy (so that previous plays became known as Old Comedy). He introduced a
young romantic lead to plays
TRAGEDY PLAYS
 Thespis is considered to be the first Greek "actor" and originator of tragedy (which means
"goat song", perhaps referring to goats sacrificed to Dionysus before performances, or to goat-
skins worn by the performers. This also could be referring to the satyrs we spoke about
earlier…you know, the half goat half man)
 Aristotle's Poetics contain the earliest known theory about the origins of Greek theatre. He
says that tragedy evolved from dithyrambs, (songs sung in praise of Dionysus at the Dionysia
festival each year.
 Three well-known Greek tragedy playwrights of the fifth century are the ones we named in the
beginning. namely Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. (refer to slide 4)
THE THEATRE…WHAT
EXACTLY IS A THEATRE
 Theatre buildings were called a theatron. The theatres were large, open-air structures
constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three main elements: the orchestra, the
skene, and the audience among other things
 They were always outside
 A large circular or rectangular area at the centre part of the
theatre, where the play, dance, religious rites, acting used to
take place.
 It is different from modern theatre as now there is barely ever
an actual live orchestra and if there is, the acting space and
orchestra is at a different location than the stage where the
ORCHESTRA
acting takes place.
THE DIFFERENCE…
Modern ‘orchestra’ Greek orchestra
 A large rectangular building situated behind the orchestra,
used as a backstage. Actors could change their costumes and
masks. Earlier the skene was a tent or hut, later it became a
permanent stone structure. These structures were sometimes
painted to serve as backdrops.
SKENE
 Rising from the circle of the orchestra was the audience. The
theatres were originally built on a very large scale to
accommodate the large number of people on stage, as well as
the large number of people in the audience, up to fourteen
thousand.
 The word skene is believed to have been the origin of the
word scene (because actors would go behind this to change
for a new scene)
SKENE VERSUS STAGE
Modern stage and backstage Greek skene
 The cast of a Greek play in the Dionysia was comprised of
amateurs, not professionals (and they were all male).

 Ancient Greek actors had to gesture grandly so that the entire

audience could see and hear the story. (because of the open ACTING
air concept)
 However most Greek theatres were cleverly constructed to
transmit even the smallest sound to any seat.
ACTING OVER TIME
Modern acting Greek acting
 in theatre, the frame or arch separating the stage from the
auditorium, through which the action of a play is viewed is
called a proscenium
 In the ancient Greek theatre, the proscenium (Greek:
proskēnion) originally referred to a row of colonnades,
supporting a raised acting platform (logeion), and afterward
PROSCENIUM
to the entire acting area.
A proscenium in the modern sense was first installed in a
permanent theatre in 1618–19 at the Farnese Theatre built in
Parma, Italy!
 A parodos in the theatre of ancient Greece, is a side-entrance
to the stage, or the first song that is sung by the chorus at the
beginning of a Greek tragedy.
 a large passageway affording access either to the stage (for
actors) or to the orchestra (for the chorus) of the ancient
Greek theatre.
PARADOS
 The parodoi can be distinguished from the entrances to the
stage from the skene, or stage building, as the two parodoi are
located on either side of the stage, between the skene and the
theatron, or audience seating area.
Modern stage entrance greek parados
KERKIDES
kerkides: wedge-shaped seating section
in Greek seating area (theatron).
PROHEDRIA
Seat of honour directly or around
orchestra
GREEK
CHORUS
A Greek chorus, or simply chorus in
Ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr
plays, and modern works inspired by
them, is a homogeneous, non-
individualised group of performers, who
comment with a collective voice on the
dramatic action.
A Greek chorus was often led by a
coryphaeus. They also served as the
ancient equivalent for a curtain, as their
parodos (entering procession) signified
the beginnings of a play and their exodos
(exit procession) served as the curtains
closing.
SO WHY DOES IT ALL STILL
MATTER?
 Greek theatre is still one of the most important and long-lasting theatrical influences in the
world, dating from around 700 BC and with some Greek plays still being performed to this
day. But why?
 The events portrayed in Greek theatre (specifically tragedies) are painful and disastrous, and
the Olympian gods are constantly present. Yet tragedies are accepted as true, and we watch
and sympathize with the keenest interest. In tragedies we observe the spectacle of human life
being exalted by the high rank and, still more, the high utterance, of the characters. They
articulate our pain as we cannot, but they are still recognizable as a version of our own world
and our own problems and sufferings.
 We learn a lot from these plays and thus they are still relevant today.