THTR 100 (5/15 Notes)

Video: Stages of Theatre: Greece and Rome -the arch of the stage, actors on one side and the audience on the other (modern) -theatron- the seeing space- people watch the people acting in a circle and they surround them (Ancient Greece) -Ancient Greeks used small props (including masks) and costumes as visual aids -First stage Greeks used may have been a simple wooden stage, with a door to the backstage (some had roofs), very rudimentary - Theatre of Dioynsus in Athens, one of the theaters for ancient Greeks, named after the God of Dionysus, huge amphitheater on a huge hill, at the top of the hill was a temple -some ancient Greek theaters had roofs, some could hold around 3000-4000 people - 5th century B.C.- theatre of Dionysus originally made of wood, then rebuilt in stone, then in the 2nd century B.C. it was remodeled again to have a raised stage, and once again after that it was remodeled in a more elaborate style (in a Roman style, massive, the area for the chorus was then also used for gladiator ghts) - Grippa, one of the rst indoor theaters for Greeks, had beautiful marble and large windows - Southern Greece holds another theatre that still stands today and still holds plays - theatre of Pompey- large, elaborate Roman theatre, had elaborate and very large back walls (a standard of Roman theaters), had elaborate seating system with sections and seat numbers used for crowd control (system still used today), large theatre that also had a temple on top the theatre - Scanes- where actors entered and exited the stage ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Medieval cycle plays, religious in nature, Catholic church preaching and used to keep people in their place --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter Two- Theatre as a Mirror for Society - Professional Theatre: people were paid, preformed year round - Elizabeth I revived theatre, in English - Shakespeare wrote three types of plays: - Tragedies - Comedies - Histories - Shakespeare wrote 37 plays (a huge accomplishment); so successful because it gave the common people a glimpse into high society, wrote so people of his time could understand; the histories were real people, with snippets of reality, but were mostly ctionalized; wrote about sex, money, and power; he wrote exactly what he wanted it to be acted, there was no subtext (say what you meant, meant what you said), comedies were latin characters, tragedies- violent in nature, histories- house of the tudors, chronicled the English kings and modeled his stories loosely after that, wrote in blocks of thought - A Midsummer Nights Dream: four couples getting married, he was commissioned to write a story for it -Tragedies: when lots of people die, there is a shift in the way society thinks about itself, reection on how we conduct ourselves -Globe Theatre: where Shakespeare produced his plays, large and round wooden theatre - Shakespeare writing was a vehicle for the story

THTR 100 (5/15 Notes)

-Beijing Opera (also a type of professional theatre), a vehicle for the actor, it was written for the actor, this type of theatre is big on gesture (stomping and movement and such), gesture is the language that they would speak (Western theatre was much more verbal, language based) -ONLY MALE ACTORS for both types of professional theatre --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Video on Kabuki/ Beijing Opera: NHK presents The Art of Kabuki - every movement has meaning- very concerned with the meaning of the movement and gesture, heightened language and movement to express everything - dance, art, movement, music, acting (all make up Kabuki) - Samuri society, personal conicts and desires- make up Kabuki theatre - runway instead of circle for theatre - every type of walk expresses something dierent - elaborate costumes - musical accompaniment aid to express - ve types of acting parts: - men - women: played by men - old people - children - clowns - Kabuki has a concern for transformation - makeup is just as important, each color and how it is painted on expresses something dierent - color of clothing used for eect, clothing is used for eect - stage is painted in subdued colors What to take from this: GESTURAL --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter Three: The Playwright -August Wilson: Joe Turner Come and Gone % -wrote dramatic cycle of plays % -a dierent play for each decade of the 1900s % -wrote black plays: all black people % -cycle of history for African Americans % -language heavy % -did not write the plays in decade order % -inuenced by blues, representative in his speech (has rhythm) % -historical cultural plays -dramaturge- a historian for theatre, explains the historical context for the play -the best playwrights write about what they know