Athenian Theatre & Society
The Theatre
Costuming and Masks
Theatron - opened aired structures
- on sloped hills
- usually built near sanctuaries
- comical play masks usually more funny looking, tragic play masks more realistic
- were more visable to audience in distance and mask shape allowed for voice projection
Three main components - orchestra
- skene
- audience
Dionysia Festival
Comedy
Orchestra - the centre part of the theatre, where the plac of the play and the dance was taken place.
- Masks had several important purposes
- Costumes helped show social status, gender and age.
- tragic actors wore raised shoes to show superiority, comic actors wore plain socks
- when acting as women, men would wear corset-like structure to appear more feminine
Skene - is the stage building. It was a covered structure, where the actors stored their masks and costumes. As well as performing quick changes hidden from the audience.
- Comedy was a important part in Greek theater, it shaped many of our modern plays
- The plays were derived from imatation, so there was no traces of the plays origin
- Athenian comedy was divided into 3 periods: - Old Comedy - Middle Comedy - New comedy
- Old Comedy being the main surving type of comedy today.
- Theater was named after the Good of wine.
- Religious festival in honour of the gods.
- The clelbrations consited of either 3 Tragedy plays or comedies by a short satyr farce.
- Costumes consisted of large maksks and elaborate decorating.
- Actors were all men.
- How Greek theater began.......
Tragedy
The Theatre
Greek Theatre
Audience - were on semi - circular rows of benches. Stairs mounting to the highest levels divide the sections of seats into wegdes, which allowed large audiences. For the sight, the people at the top, the actors of the play, looked small. Although for sound the word that had been spoken softly could still be heard if the audience around you were quiet.
- tragedy was possibly the most popular of the genres
- the plays were derived from songs sung in praise of Dionysis
- Greek poet Arion is credited for first adpating these songs into narratives to be performed in the festival
- there were 3 well known greek tragedy playwrights; Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus
- Plas included songs and dancing be the chorus
- only 3 actors perfromed in the plays, supported by the chorus.
- Athens was a popular centre for Greek theatre
- western theatre originates from ancient greek theatre
- There were three genres of plays; tragedy, comedy and satyr.