Greek Theatre

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Greek Theatre

• What was is like in the beginning?
• How did it change?
• How does it influence todays theatre?

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Time line of Theatre
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Greek Theatre Vocabulary
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The original Greek Theatre

• Festival of the harvest which celebrated Dionysus
  (the Greek God of Wine and Harvest).
• 15,000 people in attendance to this outdoor
  festival when it became popular.
• This festival lasted six days.
• The theatre was where stories were told by a
  chorus of men and boys.

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From telling stories to acting

• Thespis was the first individual to speak his
  lines on stage alone.
• The chorus (that still existed) would respond to
  his speeches.
• Thespis was the first actor.
• All others that became actors were referred to as
  Thespians.
• Later the number of actors on stage at the
  festivals increased to three.

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The Greek Theatre

• Consisted of Three actors and a chorus.
• The actors wore masks to play different roles in
  each play.
• Only men were actors in this theatre.
• If there were females in a play, they were played
  by men wearing a mask.

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The Skene

• The skene is the building where actors changed
  their masks, and where masks were stored for each
  play.
• It is located in the back of the acting platform.
  
• The front of the skene was used to represent the
  location of the setting.
• Thus, the word scene is derived.

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Masks you might see in the Skene

• Dionysian Mask

• This Dionyssiac Mask

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Machines on the Skene

• a) The Aeorema It was a crane by which the gods
  were appearing on the scene (deus ex machina). It
  is wrong (but frequently written) that in ancient
  greek, machine was called "geranos." Geranos is
  the translation in modern greek of the word
  "crane".
• b) The Periactoi Two prismatic pillars, put on
  the left and right side of the scene, turning
  around their axon, they changed the background of
  the scene.
• c)The Ekeclema a wheeled-plattform on which
  bodies of dead persons were presented (because a
  murder or a suicide never takes place in front of
  the spectators).

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Functions of the Chorus

• 1. an agent gives advice, asks, takes part
• 2. establishes ethical framework, sets up
  standard by which action will be judged
• 3. ideal spectator - reacts as playwright hopes
  audience would
• 4. sets mood and heightens dramatic effects
• 5. adds movement, spectacle, song, and dance
• 6. rhythmical function - pauses / paces the
  action so that the audience can reflect.

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Illustration of part of Chorus Dressed as birds
as part of the play
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Greek Theatre
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Greek Theatre Set-up From a birds eye view
(similar to Proscenium Stages)
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Greek Theatre stage in action

• Where is the chorus?
• Where is the Skene?
• Where are the Thespians?
• Where is the audience?

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The Real Deal

• Look at these Ruins.
• Where would the stage be today?

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For more details, visit www.perspicacity.com/ela
ctheatre/library/greektheatre