Greek Theatre Research
"Greek theatre... I regard as a living form. In its political engagement alongside concern with ultimate realities, its physicality as much as its language, Greek drama seems to me uniquely powerful in its ability to engage with the present"
Professor David Wiles
1. When were ancient Greek plays performed?
Greek plays were often performed during religious festivals and special occasions The plays were always on open air theatres, some of which are still used today. Especially the Epidavros theatre, which has a fantastic acoustic characteristic that even a whisper can be heard on the last row of seats, many meters away from the centre.It is one of the best preserved.Only the cities citizens (all male) were allowed in the audience.
2. How many years ago was this?
The theatre of Ancient Greece evolved from religious rites which date back to at least 1200 BC. This was 2350 years ago. 3. What different types of plays were performed?
The three genres of drama were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.
Comedy: The first comedies were mainly satirical and mocked men in power for their vanity and foolishness. The first master of comedy was the playwright Aristophanes.
Tragedy: Tragedy dealt with the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods.
Aristotle argued that tragedy cleansed the heart through pity and terror, purging us of our petty concerns and worries by making us aware that there can be nobility in suffering. He called this experience 'catharsis'.
Satyr Plays: These short plays were performed between the acts of tragedies and made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters.
4. What is a traditional Greek Theatre called?
A traditional Greek Theatre is called a "Theatron" or "Amphitheatre". Here is a photo of one:
5. What shape was the theatre?
The Koilon or Theatron was the auditorium of the Greek theatre, where the spectators sat. It was called Koilon because of its shape. Its shape was semi-circular, built around the orchestra.
7. Why were the theatres built this way?
Greek amphitheatres were very advanced structures that displayed [ transmitted ] sound wonderfully. They were shaped like a semi-circle because that shape would allow great sound and everyone in the large audiences to see the productions on stage. The shape was a semicircle so that the sound can reverberate around the theatre and also so that everyone can see the performance!
8. What different scenic elements are there?
There were several scenic elements commonly used in Greek theatre:
- mechane, a crane that gave the impression of a flying actor (thus, deus ex machina).
- ekkyklêma, a wheeled platform often used to bring dead characters into view for the audience
- trap doors, or similar openings in the ground to lift people onto the stage
- Pinakes, pictures hung to create scenery
- Thyromata, more complex pictures built into the second-level scene (3rd level from ground)
- Phallic props were used for satyr plays, symbolizing fertility in honour of Dionysus.
9. Who sat on the seats at the front?
Priests sat on the front row of the theatre in throne-like seats.They also sat in the front row and the seat of honour was for high priests of Dionysos
10. Could women take part in, or attend the plays?
In Greece women were not allowed to act in dramas because
dramas were a part of a festival for men only. Women participated in festivals for women and may have been involved in impersonizations that were a part of festivals for women. Women were often entertainers at symposia which were social meetings for men only. They certainly told stories and they may have acted out these stories. These women were a special class of women called hetaerae.
11. Name some of the Greek playwrights and their plays.
According to the Suda, a 10th century encyclopaedia, Sophocles wrote 123 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form:
Ajax. (440BC)
Antigone. (442BC)
Trachinian Women. (430 BC)
Electra (410 BC)
Oedipus the King (409? BC)
Philoctetes. (409 BC)
Oedipus at Colonus. (405 BC)
Eschylus: Born Elefsina 525BC
7 of 74 of his works are preserved today.
1. The Persans (472BC)
2. The Seven against Thebes (467BC)
3. The suppliants (464BC)
4. Agamemnon (458BC)
5. The libation – Bearers (458BC)
6. Eumendis (458BC)
7. Promethes Bound (431BC)
Euripides : Born 480BC Halandi, Athens. Died 406BC
19 of 72 works are save (18 tragedies and 1 drama)
1. Rhesus (450BC)
2. Alcestis (438BC)
3. Medea (431BC)
4. Heracles Children (430BC)
5. Hippolytus (428BC)
12. What did the audience throw at the actors who performed badly?
Ajax. (440BC)
Eschylus: Born Elefsina 525BC
Euripides : Born 480BC Halandi, Athens. Died 406BC
It has been exaggerated how often this actually occurred, but they would sometimes throw rotten vegetables if there was a bad performance. If it was good however, they might throw money. They also stomped their feet to applaud the actors, rather than clap their hands.
13. What did the actors wear?
Actors who played tragic roles wore boots called courthouses that elevated them above other actors.When playing female roles, the male actors donned a ‘ prosterneda’ which is a wooden structure in front of the chest to imitate breasts.There are little information on theatrical costumes. This is due to the perishable materials they have been made of.
When the poets introduced real costumes, they imitated the contemporary dressing : the “chiton” and the “hemateon”. The chiton was made of linen or silk and it was worn long. The hemateon was an exterior cloth, worn over the shoulders. It was usually made of wool. Both chiton and hemateon were decorated depending on the occasion. For theatrical use the clothes have been more decorated than usually.
14. How did the audience sat at the back of the large theatre hear anything?
Due to the way the theatre was structured, the limestone seats created a sophisticated acoustic filter that carried instruments and voices all the way to the back row!
15. Who is Dionysus?
Dionysus had a strange birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was a mortal woman, Semele, the daughter of king Cadmus of Thebes, and his father was Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus' wife, Hera, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant.
16. Why is he important to Greek Theatre?
Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine, later considered a patron of the arts. He created wine and spread the art of viticulture. He had a dual nature; on one hand, he brought joy and divine ecstasy; or he would bring brutal and blinding rage, thus reflecting the dual nature of wine. Dionysus and his followers could not be bound by fetters. Dionysus was also the god of drama, especially tragedy, since this theatre was said to have been invented by the satyrs.
17. What is a Greek chorus?
The chorus of ancient Greek tragedy was traditionally made up of twelve performers who would dance, sing and act in unison.Ancient Greeks used the chorus like modern directors use lighting, sound and set design. The chorus enhanced and shaped the audience's understanding of the play and its themes. While the chorus in many ways defines Greek tragedy, audiences' expectations of what the chorus 'is' have changed over the centuries. The chorus has been used in a wide range of ways in modern productions.The productions of Greek tragedy at the National Theatre show just how much variation there can be in how a chorus can speak, sing and move on stage.The chorus can be one of the greatest challenges for any director of Greek tragedy. They must decide how many actors to use, if they speak (or sing?), if it should be in unison or if the lines should be split (or a combination of the two techniques), whether to use music and dance, and how to involve the chorus in all that goes on on stage.The chorus can be one of the greatest challenges for any director of Greek tragedy. They must decide how many actors to use, if they speak (or sing?), if it should be in unison or if the lines should be split (or a combination of the two techniques), whether to use music and dance, and how to involve the chorus in all that goes on on stage.
18. What purpose to the Chorus have in the performance?
The chorus offers a variety of background and summary information to help the audience follow the performance. It comments on themes, and shows how an ideal audience might react to the drama. It also represents the population in any particular story, in sharp contrast with many of the themes of the ancient Greek plays which tended to be about heroes, gods and goddesses.
19. How and why were masks used?
Illustrations of theatrical masks from 5th century display helmet-like mask, covering the entire face and head, with holes for the eyes and a small aperture for the mouth, as well as an integrated wig. It is interesting to note that these paintings never show actual masks on the actors in performance; they are most often shown being handled by the actors before or after a performance, that limited space between the audience and the stage, between myth and reality. This demonstrates the way in which the mask was to ‘melt’ into the face and allow the actor to vanish into the role.
They enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several different roles, thus preventing the audience from identifying the actor to one specific character. Their variations help the audience to distinguish sex, age, and social status, in addition to revealing a change in a particular character’s appearance, i.e. Oedipus after blinding himself. Unique masks were also created for specific characters and events in a play, such as The Furies in Aeschylus’ Eumenides and Pentheus and Cadmus in Euripides’ The Bacchae. Worn by the chorus, the masks created a sense of unity and uniformity, while representing a multi-voiced persona or single organism and simultaneously encouraged interdependency and a heightened sensitivity between each individual of the group.
20. What were the masks made of?
None of the original Greek masks have survived time to be studied, but records indicate that the masks were made from organic materials like stiffened linen, bark, wood or leaves. The masks that exist today are made of terracotta and were not worn by actors. The terracotta versions were put outside the theatres for decorations or were put on temples as offerings to the gods.
