GREEK DRAMAGREEK DRAMA

Public Ritual and Spectacle

from … SCHOLES from … SCHOLES

ROMANCE

SATIRE

COMEDY TRAGEDY

WHAT IS DRAMA?WHAT IS DRAMA?

Greek meaning: “to do” or “to act”

= poetry + prose + fictional narrative

No narrator to offer meaning or interpretation (limited views

Performance = play / text = play

No two productions are the same performance is dynamic

THE GREEKSTHE GREEKS

Drama’s roots in ancient religious festivals

Stories about the gods (ex: Dionysius)

Theatre festival: full day event with critical audiences. Thesis (“Thespians”) wins play competition in 534 BCE

Tragedy … from tragos = “goat” tragedy =“goat song”

THE GREEKS THE GREEKS cont’dcont’d

Only 3 speaking actors on stage at once protagonist, deuteragonist, tritagonist

3 unities: time, place, action 24 hours 1 setting 1 plot: no comic relief or sub-plot

Chorus reminds us that men do not have complete control Sometimes strophe and antistrophe

Choryphaeus chorus leader who delivers lines of spoken verse

on behalf of the chorus as a whole

THE GREEKSTHE GREEKS

Aristotle on tragedy drama should “imitate nature”

Hamartia (hero’s error of judgement due to ignorance or moral shortcoming) leads to

Peripeteia (reversal of fortune) leads to

Anagnorisis (moment of self recognition) leads to

Catharsis (audience purgation of emotions: “pity and fear”)

THE GREEK STAGETHE GREEK STAGE

Theatres (usually) situated on a hill (amphitheatre) outdoors

Skene (“scene”)= 1-storey structure used to store costumes and for entrances/exits Scenes painted on the side

Orchestra = Circular space (apprx 85 ‘ diameter) used as main acting space

THE GREEK STAGETHE GREEK STAGE

FINAL THOUGHTS…FINAL THOUGHTS…

Public spectacle and ritual

The stage becomes a place where our fears, anxieties and desires are acted out

Psychological functionality: theatre as therapy

Theatre critical: vehicle for social and political commentary