I am doing Classical Theatre as one of my units at college. In this I will include research and information on different Classical Theatre. I also have to produce and perform a Monologue, a scene and a presentation; I will also include research and staging for these.
Classical Theatre started with Greek Theatre then moved on through Medieval Theatre, Renaissance Theatre and then Restoration Theatre. (year classical theatre is pre to)
Greek Theatre was very sexual based and was influenced by this. Greeks regularly got together in groups and had orgies. During their orgies they would drink lots of alcohol and even most of the time when they weren’t. Greeks are very orientated around their Gods, they felt and believed in them a great amount, so it was obvious that they would influence and be involved in theatre at that time. This was all then portrayed through their theatre for entertainment and a way to show what was happening at the time.
Playwrights during the Greek Theatre period were Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides and Sophocles.
Aeschylus- He was a Greek Dramatist, the earliest of the Greek tragedy poets. He was the first to introduce a second actor and this was a major step for drama as traditionally Greek theatre started off as one person telling the play and then moved on to telling it through action and gesture. His tragedies were first performed around 500 BC and were originally performed as trilogies, or groups of three bound together by a common theme.
Aristophanes- He was a Greek comedic writer and most of his plays were political satires highlighting the difficulties in Athens at the time. Many of his plays were performed at festivals and were watched and voted for by the people. Aristophanes wrote 40 plays but sadly only 11 of them survive today. For my group performance I am performing a scene from Aristophanes, Lysistarta and play Lampito.
Euripides- He was the youngest of the three principle tragic poets, his work was popular in his own time, and had a great influence on roman drama. More recently his work has influenced English and German drama. His work represented the new moral, social and political movements that were happening in Athens towards the end of the 5th century BC.
Sophocles- He was to become one of the great playwrights of the golden age. Sophocles wrote more than 100 plays, which seven complete tragedies are preserved. He was the first to add a third actor. Also he abolished the trilogic form and chose to make each tragedy a complete individual. He also effected a transformation in the spirit and significance a tragedy.
This is a panoramic view of the Greek Theatre at Epidaurus.
This youtube clip provides information on Epidaurus, such as why it was built how many it holds and trivial information, like how the sounds and acoustics work in such a large outdoor space.
Picture courtesy of Google images.
This is a basic diagram of a Greek Theatre.
Theatron- this is where the audience would sit. It would usually be built into the hillside and surrounded most of the orchestra.
Orchestra- this was normally circular. This is where the chorus would sing, dance and interact with the actors on the stage near the skene.
Skene- the skene was directly behind the stage, usually decorated as a temple, palace or a building. The skene had at least one set of doors so that the actors could make entrances and exits through them. There was also access to the roof so that actors could make appearances on the roof as Gods.
Parodos- a pathway which the chorus and some actors use to make entrances and exits from. The audience also use them to enter and exit the theatre before and after the performance.
Lysistrata
This is a youtube clip of the scene were doing from Lysistrata, I looked at this to help with some ideas as to how we can stage our scene.
This is some research I found on Lysistrata, to help me to develop more of an understanding for the play. However I had already come up with my own ideas and understanding as to what I felt the play was about, from reading the scene we will be performing.
From reading through the scene I feel that Lysistrata has called for the women to come together to try and end the Peloponnesian war. She tries to convince them by speaking about how their husbands are far away from them, and that a woman should not sleep alone without a strong male in her bed. After telling them this they all agree to second her and ask how they will end it, she tells them that they will have to refrain from the male altogether, until a peace treaty had been signed to end the war and bring the men home.
