Western Classical

Plays/Opera

Prepared By:
Group 4
1
▪ History of the
Theatrical Forms and
Their Evolution

2
History of the Theatrical Forms and Their
Evolution
× Theater began from myth, ritual, and ceremony.
Early society perceived connections between
actions performed by groups of people or
leaders to a certain society and these actions
moved from habit, to tradition, to ritual, to
ceremony due to human desire and need for
entertainment.
3
History of the Theatrical Forms and Their
Evolution
× Theater means “place of seeing”, but it is more
than the building where performance take
place.
× To produce theater, a playwright writes the
scripts, the director rehearses the performers,
the designer and technical crew produce props
to create the scenes, and actors and actresses
perform on stage. 4
▪ Ancient Theater
(700 B.C.E – 400 C.E)
Greek and Roman Theater

5
▪ Greek Theater

6
Ancient Theater (700 B.C.E – 400 C.E)
Greek Theater
× European theater began in Ancient Greece.
× It began around 700 B.C with festivals honoring
their many gods. One god, Dionysus, with a
religious festival called, “The Cult of Dionysus”,
to honor Dionysus (Di-on-i-sus), the god of
wine and fertility.

7
DIONYSUS

8
Ancient Theater (700 B.C.E – 400 C.E)
Greek Theater
× The city-sites of Athens
was the center of a
significant cultural, political,
and military power during
this period where the
festivals and components
were usually performed.
9
GREEK THEATER

10
▪ The Three Well-
Known Greek Tragedy
Playwrights
Euripides, Sophocles &
Aeschylus
11
“Experience
travel – these
are as education
in themselves”.
-Euripides

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“Always desire
to learn
something
useful”.
-Sophocles

13
“Memory is the
mother of all
wisdom”.
-Aeschylus

14
The theater of the Ancient Greece
consisted of three types of drama: Tragedy
× Is a compound of two Greek words, “tragos” or
“goat” and “ode” meaning song, referring to
goats sacrificed to Dionysus before performing,
or to goat-skins worn by the performers.
× In Greece, tragedy was the most admired type
of play. It dealt with tragic events and have an
unhappy ending, 15
The theater of the Ancient Greece
consisted of three types of drama: Tragedy
× Especially one concerning the downfall of the
main character.
× Thespis was the 1st actor and introduced the
use of masks and was called as the “Father of
Tragedy”

16
The theater of the Ancient Greece
consisted of three types of drama:
Comedy Plays
× Were derived from imitation; there were no
traces of origin.
× Aristophanes wrote most of the comedy plays.
One of theses 11 plays, Lysistrata survived, a
humorous tale about a strong woman who led a
female coalition to end war in Greece.
17
The theater of the Ancient Greece
consisted of three types of drama:
Comedy Plays
× Euripides also wrote Cyclops, an adventurous
comedy.

18
The theater of the Ancient Greece
consisted of three types of drama:
Satyr Play
× Contains comic elements to lighten the overall
mood or a serious play with a happy ending.
× This play was short, lighthearted tailpeace
performed.
× It is an Ancient Greek from of tragedy comedy.
× This featured half-man/half-goat characters
known as Satyrs. 19
The theater of the Ancient Greece
consisted of three types of drama:
Satyr Play
× They were awful, ridiculous, and usually drunk.
× The Satyr characters lusted after everyone on
stage, and they delivered the most humorous
lines, often at the expense of others.

20
21
Ancient Theater Terms
× Theater building were called theatron.
× Theater - A large, open-air structures
constructed on the slopes of a hill. It consist of
three main elements: the orchestra, the skene,
and the audience.
× Orchestra – a large circular or rectangular are at
the center part of the theater, where the play,
dance religious rites, and acting took place.
22
Ancient Theater Terms
× Theatron – viewing place on the slope of a hill
× Skene – stage
× Parodos – side entrance

23
EPIDAUROS
(GREEK THEATER)

24
▪ Roman Theater
Ancient Theater (700 B.C.E – 400 C.E)
Roman Theater
× Theater of Ancient Rome started in the 3rd
century BC.
× It had varied and interesting art forms, like
festival performances of street theater,
acrobats, the staging of comedies of Plautus,
and the high-verbally elaborate tragedies of
Seneca.
26
Ancient Theater (700 B.C.E – 400 C.E)
Roman Theater
× Roman culture in the 3rd century BC had an
intense and energizing effect on Roman theater
and encourage the development of Latin
literature.
× According to Roman historian Livy, in the 4th
century BC, the Ethuscan actors were the first
experienced theater.
27
Ancient Theater (700 B.C.E – 400 C.E)
Roman Theater
× Roman drama began with plays of Livius
Andronicus in 240 BC.
× Greek theaters had a great influence on the
Roman’s theater too.
× Truimvir Pompey – was one of the first
permanent (non-wooden) theaters in Rome,
structure is similar to the theatron of Athens.
28
ROMAN THEATER

29
▪ Theater Of Pompey
Roman Theater

30
Roman Theater:
Theater Of Pompey
× The building was part
of a multi-use
complex that include
a large quadriporticus
(a columned
quadrangle),

31
Roman Theater:
Theater Of Pompey
× directly behind the scanae fron -, an
elaborately decorated background of theater
stage endosed by the large columned porticos
with an expensive garden complex of fountains
and statues.
× There were also rooms that were dedicated to
the exposition of art and other works collected
32
Roman Theater:
Theater Of Pompey
× by Pompey Magnus located along the stretch of
covered arcade.
× The usual themes for Roman Theater plays were
chariots races, gladiators, and public executions.
× Romans loved a good spectacle.

33
Roman Theater:
Theater Of Pompey
× They loved to watch combat, admired blood
sports and gladiator competition. The more
realistic the violence, the more it pleased
Roman audiences.
× Comedy plays were also popular in the Roman
Theater from 350 to 250 BC and women were
allowed to perform on stage.
34
ROMAN CHARIOTS AND GLADIATORS

35
▪ Medieval Theater
(500 C.E – 1400)

36
Medieval Theater
(500 C.E – 1400)
× During the Medieval era, theater performances
were not allowed throughout Europe. To keep
the theater alive, minstrels, through denounced
by the Church, performed in markets, public
places and festivals.
× They travelled from one town to another as
puppeteers, jugglers, story tellers, dancers,
singers, and other theatrical acts. 37
Medieval Theater
(500 C.E – 1400)
× These minstrels were viewed as a dangerous
and pagan.
× Churches in Europe started staging their own
theater performances during Easter Sundays
with Biblical stories and events.
× Eventually, some plays were brought outside
the church due to their portrayal of the devil
and hell. 38
Medieval Theater
(500 C.E – 1400)
× Example of this kind of play is the ‘Mystere d’
Adam or The Mystery of Adam”. The story
revolves around Adam and Eve and ends with
the devil capturing and bringing them to hell.
× Over the centuries, the plays revolved around
biblical themes from the Story of the Creation
to the Last Judgment.
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MEDIEVAL
MINSTRELS

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MEDIEVAL THEATER

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42 From Group 4
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