History of theatre

History Of Theatre

1/20/10
The Poetics by Aristotle
Aristotle- the first to propose what theatre is
Homer- The Illiad; The Odyssey; epic poetry
Mimetic -Imitation of Real life
Catharsis- Greek word - to cleanse and purge
Tragic- Bad things happening to good people
2/1/10
· Greek Theatre
· Hellenistic: Alexander the great
· Extant: Existing today
· Dionysus: God of Wine; Baccheus Roman name
· When people cut off their genitals, it was believed that it would take away their power
· Acropolis Athens theatre
2/10/10
Tragedy
· Superior to comedy
· Characters= gods, mythical figures, nobility
· Heightened language
· Well known tales and myths
· Value- how perfect tale is told
· Main character has tragic flaw –hubris
· Catharsis- pity and fear
Comedy
· Inferior form
· Everyday characters subjects and themes
· Use of vernacular
· Usually a “happy idea” that unifies play
· Ending usually happy
· GOAL: not to make people laugh but to teach by ridiculing bad behavior
· Lysistrata

2/15/10
· 27 BCE Beginning of Roman Empire
· Rome was a walled city
· Horace- Ars Poetica 24 BC
· Chamber play/ Closet Drama- plays not meant to be performed
· Stage completely enclosed to allow for acoustics
· Theatres had vaumitoriums-where the actors entered
· Theatres had a spot at the top of the theatre- was thought to have a place where the gods watched the performances
· Teatro Marcello
· Romans got rid of the chorus
· Ludus Festival
2/17/10
Greek
· Tragedy
· Comedy: old (Aristophanes), middle, new (Menander)
· No more chorus
Roman
· Fabulae, fable (story): Crepidata (decrepit, old); Praetexta (tragedy w/a roman twist); Palliate (based on greek comedy); Togata (based on roman comedy)
· Mime-Roman; similar to skits; parody
· Reason why early Christian church hated theatre
· Pantomime- one person entertainment; heavily based in movement
· Histrione (ic)- roman word for actor “melodramatic”
2/22/10
· Commedia dell’arte
· 1660 – Harlequin Changed costumes from patterns
· Punch and Judy
· Lazzi- lazzo heart of commedia
· Physical comedy bits similar
· Particular to character
· Cuckoldry


3/1/10
Medieval Theatre
· Cycle plays
· Second Shepherds play- a series of religious plays
· Mysteries
· Miracles
· Moralities
Dark Ages= Middle Ages
· 900- 1400
· Gothic period to renaissance
· Scops-shares the tales of the heroes and monsters, of epic battles, of kings and great warriors
· mummers
Dev. Of Medieval Theatre

· clerical- lay
· Latin – vernacular
· in church- outside church
· biblical stories-hybrid- secular
· Trope- earliest religious play
· “Quem Quearitis”- Whom do you seek?
· “Instead of just reading we will act it out”
· Hrosvitha- nun- head of a convent

3/3/10

· Tudor- Henry the 8th
· Lancaster vs. Yorks
· Early 1500’s to 1650
· The Reckoning- about Adam and eve; the fall of man
· 2 ways of staging: 1. Carton wheels 2. Fixed cart, continental
· Moralities: teach us with morals, Everyman
· Oberammergau Passion Play (german)

3/10/10

Non-Western Theatre

· Based on colors and kinetics

No Theatre

· Japanese
· Okina
· Principal form of Japanese theatre
· Based on tales form traditional literature
· Dance based performance

Bunraku

· Some narrative and puppetry
· Developed around 1600
· Dev. 3 puppeteer format in 1800

Kabuki

· Originated at beginning of 17th century
· Edo period
· Originally both men and women performed; now only men
· Historical events; mortal conflict; affairs of the heart

Wayang

· Shadow puppetry
· Moral stories

Beijing Opera

· China
· All male performers
· A lot of dance

Kathakali

· India
· Dance theatre
· Very stylized
· Facial expression is key

Kuttiyattam

· Sanskrit
· Major headdresses


Ramilla

· India
· Song
· Recount ancient episodes
· Audience invited to join show

3/22/10

Elizabethan and Jacobean Theatre

· Shakespeare spans 2 monarchs: Queen Elizabeth and King James
· English Renaissance: 1600’s
· Birth day of professional theatre
· 2 times of the year when theatre isn’t produced: Lent, times of disease
· Elizabeth I- “no plays about religion, politics, or my family”
· Beginning of censorship
· 1574 Master of Revels- approved plays before they were performed; law didn’t end until 1968
· Canterbury Catherdral
· Shrine of St. Thomas of Becket

3/29/10

· Inns of Court: place where they(playwrights and lawyers) went to study
· Christopher Marlowe: original, legally trained, murdered, drunk and homosexual
· Shakespeare: perfected
· Refectory- where friars would eat
· Black Friars Theatre- indoor performance, indoor lighting
· Richard Burbage: actor; played nurse in Romeo and Juliet

3/31/10

· Folio- fold in 2
· Quarto- fold in 4
· Both stitched into books
· Prompter- only 1; sat with a prompt book; has the main copy of play

4/7/10

· Hamlet




4/14/10

· Dorset Gardens
· Shakespeare’s Tempest
· More of a spectacle
· Forestage-where the actors acted; not in the proscenium
· Proscenium- where scenery was
· Overtime forestage decreases until it is no more than an apron
· 1760- audience banned form being on stage with actors
· Standing pit gone
· The Country Wife -Wycherley

4/21/10

· Louis XIII at Theatre a Palais Royal 1770’s
· Moliere, Jean Baptiste Poquelin
· Pierre Corneille 1606-1684
· Le Cid- caused controversy
· Jean Racine; Tragedy; Neo-classical

Neo-Classical

· Has rules
· All rhymed couplets
· Good art= following the rules
· Based on interpretation of the classical/ancient definitions of art
Rules
· Verisimilitude
· Show life as it should be
· Decorum
Unties
· Time-take place in 1 day
· Place- only one location
· Action- only one plot
5/5/10

· Krumlov Castle
· Italy
· Carlo Gozzi and Carlo Goldoni; Re-invented commedia
· The Libertine

Annotated Resource Guide

Carlencia Woods
Project 5 History



1. Women’s lives surrounding late 18th century theatre
Pictures and descriptions of actresses in 1700’s
http://engl3621mgc.tripod.com/

This was the beginning of the Restoration period and it was the first time real women were seen on stage. This resource explains the lifestyle of female actors in the 1700’s. As a female actor, one needs to know about the way females were portrayed on stage and what it took to become one.

2. Acting- Rise of Acting Techniques
Acting styles
http://ezinearticles.com/?Acting---Rise-of-Acting-Techniques&id=216906

This article gives a brief overview of theatre in the 18th century. It touches on all aspects of the stage but it gives a good description of the new way to act. The beginning of a rehearsed actor. This way the actor showed some emotional depth while portraying a character.

3. History and Science of Acting
Theory
http://www.jinxdavis.com/history_and_science.htm

This site gives a good background of theatre and tells about the presentational acting style of this time period. Its is an analysis of The History and science of Acting and it uses the book as a resource for all of its information for acting styles. It has mostly a modern take on theatre but it also explains, by era, the way actors performed.

4. Life in the 18th Century
Time period
http://www.localhistories.org/18thcent.html

This site gives a brief history of the times in the 18th century. It mainly shows the society of Britain and the life of the average citizen in great Britain. This is good so that the actors get a feel for what was happening in the world around this time.

5. French Theatre
Time period
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Theatre/DF_theatre.shtml

This site give a little background on the life of French theatre. It gives many links to other sites about the history of French art. This resource taps on Moliere and his comedic style of writing. It also touches on French politics in that time period.

6. Moliere, Jean Baptiste Poquelin
History
http://www.theatredatabase.com/17th_century/moliere_001.html

This site gives a background of Moliere. It shows some history and maybe where he got some of his inspiration to write. It shows that he used a lot of different backgrounds to develop his style of comedic writing. This site is essential because an actor can see where inspiration for some of the characters come from for a better portrayal of that character.

7. Courses in Drama Moliere’s Comedy
French drama history
http://www.coursesindrama.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=81

This site introduces The Age of Reason. It says that it was the major time for comedic and satiric writing. It says that Moliere was influenced by the Italian style of commedia dell’arte. This site also say that Moliere took his characters for Le Misanthrope from society.

8. English Restoration Theatre Movements
Acting Style
http://westerntheatrehistory.com/EnglishMovements.aspx

This resource gives very basic period style acting tips. It mostly shows the movement of actors and also reiterates the presentational style of acting. This site give a overall view of all aspects of theatre. It starts with the stage and design all the way until it reaches acting style.

9. The Drama in the 18th century
Drama
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc20w1.html

This site gives more history and talks about the development of Moliere’s Comedy of Manners. The site further explains how many writers after Moliere continued in his style and gives praise to his works as being very influential.

10. Costumes and Sets in Shakespearean Theatre
Performance
http://www.onlineshakespeare.com/performances.htm

This site gives insight on theatre in Shakespearean times. It will help the actor get a good grasp of what time times were like in England as well as France. It will help the actors get a feel of the kind of spaces that the actors performed in.

Medival and Elizabethan theatre

“The state of the world has marvelously changed.” This statement from Renaissance Drama: an anthology of plays and entertainments, perfectly describes the nature of the times that The Spanish Tragedy was written. The world was changing; theatre started to become professionally performed. Thomas Kyd used the period as inspiration to change the way plays were written. He portrayed a government that was self-indulgent and corrupt; which reflects the French and Spanish hatred toward each other.

Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, was the first major play of the English Renaissance. It was the first great tragedy before Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was the third most popular play between 1592 and 1599. It was also the first work to confront the fact of vengeance and the need for justice. In the play, every character feels the need to avenge something they have lost. The Spanish Tragedy focused on the “efficacy of the law, the desirability of vengeance and the possibility of equity.” Kyd was arrested and tortured in 1593 because of its premise of challenging the justice system and what constitutes it. This further proves his point that government should be questioned for its unjust treatment of its people.

During this time Elizabethan Europe is very stratified according to class, birth, and lineage. Kyd mixes it around in The Spanish Tragedy by depicting the main focus in the play as a Knight and not a Duke or a King. The play is centered on Horatio’s wrongful death and the actions that follow. Horatio is killed because he has fallen in love with Bel-Imperia, the Duke of Castile’s daughter, and is not of good lineage to do so. Her brother, Lorenzo believes that Balthazar, the Viceroy of Portingale’s son, is a better suitor. So they devise a plan and use the other players to help see it through. After his death, Lorenzo and Balthazar try to convince Bel-Imperia that they did it for her own good and, in their company, she agrees. This only makes her thirst for revenge greater and her malice more malevolent. The play is driven by her revenge and the revenge of Horatio’s father, Hieronimo, and the tragedy continues all the way to the end with the deaths of everyone and the King and Viceroy mourning their deaths.

The character that I chose to perform is Bel-Imperia. She is represented as a very strong-minded person which is contrary to what is happening in the world at that moment. In the monologue Bel-Imperia is upset with Hieronimo because of his casual interactions with his son’s murderers. She exclaims that she will finish the deed if need be and that she will not rest until it is.

If this show was a part of next years season, that would be great. The Spanish Tragedy is a show about the will of man, and its perversity, and the need to manipulate others for a personal agenda. I think that its themes revenge, manipulation and love would make a good classical piece for next year.

The Thesmophoriazusae

THE THESMOPHORIAZUSÆ

A monologue from the play by Aristophanes

NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from Aristophanes: The Eleven Comedies.
Trans. Anonymous. London: The Athenian Society, 1922.

FIRST WOMAN: If I have asked to speak, may the goddesses bear me witness, it was not for sake of ostentation. But I have long been pained to see us women insulted by this Euripides, this son of the grocer-woman, who loads us with every kind of indignity. Has he not hit us enough, columniated us sufficiently, wherever there are spectators, tragedians, and a chorus? Does he not style us lecherous, drunken, traitorous, boastful? Does he not repeat that we are all vice, that we are the curse of our husbands? So that, directly they come back from the theatre, they look at us doubtfully and go searching every nook, fearing there may be some hidden lover. We can do nothing as we used to, so many are the false ideas which he has instilled into our husbands. Is a woman weaving a garland for herself? 'Tis because she is in love. Does she let some vase drop while going or returning to the house? Her husband asks her in whose honour she has broken it, "It can only be for that Corinthian stranger." Is a maiden unwell? Straightway her brother says, "That is a colour that does not please me." And if a childless woman wishes to substitute one, the deceit can no longer be a secret, for the neighbors will insist on being present at her delivery. Formerly the old men married young girls, but they have been so columniated that none of think of them now, thanks to the verse: "A woman is the tyrant of the old man who marries her." Again, it is because of Euripides that we are incessantly watched, that we are shut up behind bolts and bars, and that dogs are kept to frighten off the gallants. Let that pass; but formerly it was we who had the care of the food, who fetched the flour from the storeroom, the oil and the wine; we can do it no more. Our husbands no carry little Spartan keys on their persons, made with three notches and full of malice and spite. Formerly it sufficed to purchase a ring marked with the same sign for three obols, to open the most securely sealed-up door; but now this pestilent Euripides has taught men to hang seals of worm-eaten wood about their necks. My opinion, therefore, is that we should rid ourselves of our enemy by poison or by any other means, provided he dies. That is what I announce publicly; as to certain points, which I wish to keep secret, I propose to record them on the secretary's minutes.

RESPONSE:

The monologue that I am performing is from Aristophanes’ The Thesmophoriazusae. This play is about the women’s festival or Thesmophoriazusae, in which only women were allowed. The festival celebrated the goddesses Demeter and Persephone. The festival gave praise to the goddesses for hearth, fertility and the sanctity of marriage. This is ironic to know because at the festival in the show, the women are upset because Euripides continues to show their husbands how unfaithful and untrustworthy women can be. The play is set around 412 BC, a time when women were completely submissive to the wills of men. This comedy is a reflection of sex and gender roles in ancient Greece. The play pokes fun at and chastises Euripides for the way he depicts women in his writings. In the play, Euripides, angered by the fact that the women are speaking ill of him, sends one of his men, Mnesilochus, to go to the festival and spy on the women. While Mnesilochus is there, he completely degrades the women and in turn gets found to be in the disguise of a woman. The play is full of twists and turns which add to the comedic nature of the text. The monologue is from the start of the festival, I chose the part of “Micca” or in some translations “The First Woman”. She is outraged at the “indignity” that women receive from Euripides and suggests getting rid of him all together. The rehearsal process for this was a little difficult. The main problem came when I was looking for the background of the character. There are not many resources that include The Thesmophoriazusae as one of Aristophanes’ complete works. I saw that the play is supposed to be comedic; so much of my time was spent looking for the comedy in what Micca was saying. I want to play her as an older woman so that took some time as well. It took me a while to get the memorization down. Because of the way the monologue is translated, I found myself mixing up words and stumbling over the lines. As a whole, the process posed some difficulty but there was not anything major. It would be nice to do this play next season. It has a lot of roles for women and, like Lysistrata; it has a sexual and gender roles theme.

Famous Performances of Antigone from "Antigone" by Sophocles

The 10 Actresses Who portrayed her:



1.Methchild Johannsen 1953
http://www.mechthildharkness.net/page/Antigone

2. Genvieve Bujold 1972

3.Julien Beck 1977

4.Mira Furlan 1995
She won the Dramalogue Theatre Award for Best Actress for "Antigone" (which also won Best Production, and Best Director for her husband Goran Gajic) staged at the Hudson Guild Theatre in Los Angeles.
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/alt.fan.mira-furlan/The_alt.fan.mira-furlan_Frequently_Asked_Questions_List/#ixzz0eVJPt1sJ


5.Heather Ferguson Feb 2000
http://www.ericdsnider.com/theater/antigone/

6.Sara Carman Oct 2003
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/antigone-theatre-royal-bury-st-edmunds-583443.html

7. Julia Martin 2004
http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9F03E6DD123EF934A15756C0A9629C8B63&fta=y

8.Eunice Wong Jul-Aug. 2004
http://www.curtainup.com/antigonenaatco.html

9.Tamara Burgess Feb 2008
http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2008/02/theater_review_bratty_antigone.html

10.Matti Houghton Oct 2008
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article4986616.ece