First to perform drama in 3000 B.C. Plays concerned topic of life after death and were performed in tombs or temples.

Egyptian Theatre

1. Pyramid plays- written on tomb walls and included plot/characters/stage directions. Were religious,enacted by priests.

2. Coronation plays- performed at festivals when new pharos were crowned.

3. Medicinal plays- stories concerned goddess Isis curing/healing others.

4. Passion plays-has a resurrection theme, life after death.

Greek theatre (500-400 B.C.)

A.Dionysian festivals- began with singing of hymns & dancing. Choral groups were organized and tragedy developed.

1. Of 4 Dionysian festivals held, the one in march, the City of Dionysia, which took place in Athens, developed into a festival with prizes being awarded for the best plays. The festivals lasted 5-6 days.

2. Plays were performed in outdoor theatres seating as many as 20,000 people.

Floor plan of a Greek theater

3. Plays were rhetorical (focused on words not action) and used poetry.

4. Actors were men

5. Costumes-standard Greek attire: sleeveless (tunic) draped around right shoulder (a cloak)

6. Staging-used painted scenery which was placed against skene or triangular prisms that were painted with scenes. A few props were used. All violence took place offstage.

Elements of Classic Greek Tragedy

1. Must provide a catharsis (a purgation of sin) the audience feels pity and terror from what they see on stage.

2. Hero must be in a high social position (king or god)

3. Hero has a tragic flaw (a failure in character or judgment) which brings about disaster. DOES NOT KNOW

4. Must be a change in the character involving either reversal (characters efforts boomerang)or discovery( the character moves from ignorance to knowledge)

5. Plays must be written in poetry form.

6. Plots conform to 3 unities:

Action: a series of closely related events Time: action takes place within 24 hours Place: action occurs in one location

7. Format for play

Prologue: introduces play Parados: song that brought on the chorus Epeisodion: any “episode” of dialogue that alternated with choral songs Exodus- exit of chorus and end of play

Skene: a booth or hut sometimes painted to suggest a setting

Orchestra: the circular area where the chorus performed

Deus ex machina: a winch which lowered the gods to the stage

Dionysus:the greek god of wine in whose honor the festivals were held

Dionysian Festivals: 3 Playwrights compete and perform 3 plays: comedy, tragedy, satire

Tragedy: a tragic hero struggles with a problem he can not control and has no knowledge of;

Tragic Hero: Main character (protagonist) in a tragedy;

Thespis: invented the monologue and dramatic masks;

Aeschylus: the “father” of classical Greek drama. He added the 2nd actor thus creating dialogue, plot, and conflict

Mime: combined song, verse and pantomine;

Naumachia: forms of entertainment featuring seaBattles. Sometimes held at the water’s edge (river/lake/sea) or in flooded theatres;

Minstrels: strolling troupes of street entertainers who provided street entertainment after the fall of Rome and the end of the patronage of Rome

Mystery and Miracle Plays: religious plays of the Medieval theatre. Stories involved the Bible and the lives of the saints. Usually presented in the town square or near a church during religious holidays.

Pageant Wagons: the movable stages used by the performers of Mystery and Miracle Plays;

Tournaments: Medieval form of entertainment featuring jousting, sword fighting and archery;

Serlio: an architect who designed perspective scenery of 3 types:

1. Tragic- involved societies most influential people (monarchs/princes). Stage was very ornate and featured elaborate buildings resembling a palace grounds;

2. Comedy: involved common people and the Stage resembled a town square;3. Pastoral: background was a forest/woodland or other representation of the outdoors.

COMMEDIA DELL’ARTEStock characters of the Commedia

Arlecchino- the clever servant who is in love with ColumbinaColumbina- the heroine of the storyPantelone- the husband miserCapitano- the father figure

Lazzi- set speeches, scripts, and actions of the Commedia dell’Arte