Greek Theatre History

All the performers who would come up on stage were male professional actors, singers, and dancers and some people would help them to represent a vast variety of human and non-human characters by wonderful costumes and highly decorated face masks. The main actors and two other actors performed in all of the speaking parts. Sometimes, a fourth actor could be allowed to perform only if this actor was non-instrumental to the plot. These restrictions were to ensure the equality of the competition and to keep down the costs to the state, which funded the professional actors. The Chorus, costumes, musicians, and rehearsal time were funded by an appointed private citizen, a khorēgos, who was carrying great prestige.

During the 5th century, only men were able to participate and act in plays. Greek and Medieval Theatre both did play during special occasions. Greek and Medieval Theatre had playwrights, themes, actors, produced worldwide theatre, both were located in a type of amphitheater, costume, staging, and a type of genre. Both had their first play during the 5th century. Greek Theatre has a lot to do with Greek mythology, like god and goddesses as well mystical heroes. The Medieval Theatre presented epic hero sometimes dealing with demigods and normal people that challenged the gods. It also portrays to Marcuity plays.

Theatre is a relationship between the performers and a live audience. There is an invisible yet tangible energy that exude throughout the theatre, reaching the actors and audience. Both the performers and the audience bring their own energy, but once the two forms of energy meet up in the same space and intertwine then become a radiate experience. The natural excitement of anticipation and excitement of the audience can be intoxicating, they come with hope of being entertained and if the audience is lucky

The Ancient Greeks, probably one of the most fascinating civilizations to study contributed several discoveries and technological advancements. One can not discuss the Greeks without discussing Greek Theatre though. Greek Theater paved the way for literature and art in later history in many ways. If it wasn't for Greek Theatre famous play writers like Shakespeare would have never done what they are so very well known for. When studying Greek Theatre it is virtually impossible not to hear about it in the 5th Century BCE, and that is because the 5th Century BCE was rather exciting when it came to Greek Theatre.

Religion had a very large impact on Greek theatre. Religion was related to many everyday life tasks in ancient Greece such as festivals, initiations, and oracles. Religion was a very important subject and was something they used in their everyday lives. This is why, in my opinion ,religion had a high impact on Greek theatre.

Ancient Greek culture has influenced our modern culture in many ways from philosophy to medicine to government. We still use many of their concepts, technology, and even alphabet system. Without ancient Greece, our modern world would not have advanced as far. A significant contribution of the ancient Greek culture to the world today is the Greek theater, more specifically the structure of tragedy. Some contributions are the structure of tragedy in modern literature, rise of opera, and the creation of the theater.

‘skene’ there was a large double door for the actors to make their entrance. Actors could also enter through the ‘parados’ if they were acting as characters from foreign lands or who had just arrived (University Press Inc). There were three areas where the actors could act; the platform in front of the stage building, the orchestra and the roof of the stage building. The roof of the stage building was often

Located in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, the 5,870 Greek Theatre is one of the city's most recognized outdoor venues. The history of the Greek Theatre dates back to 1882, where South Wales settler Colonel Griffith J. Griffith came to America to seek fortune in gold mining. The settler purchased the three thousand acre plot of land and gifted it to the City of Los Angeles. As said by Colonel Griffith himself, the park was to " be made a place of recreation and rest for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the plain people.

I think it’s because music brings more depth to any play. There’s something about music that harmonizes with every being as it amplifies feelings or emotions that mere words alone cannot. Music is infectious, be it celebratory or sentimental, it always has that strange way of connecting people together to share the actors’ passion and excitement, such as in Ragtime, when Colehouse and Sarah shared their hopes and dreams for their son’s future in a song called “Wheels of A Dream.”

I first learned about Greece in my theatre class , Theatre originated in Greece in 534 bc . Its fascinating how a cultural ritual transformed into a well studied form of art . Theatre for the Greeks started through religion. The Greeks held several plays to worship the gods in order to ask them for a favor in return .The Greek culture had many Gods, all served a different purpose. Its fascinating how one place could hold so much importance from history and eventually develop into a worldwide form of entertainment.

Ancient Greek Theater is the first historical record of “drama,” which is the Greek term meaning “to do” or “to act.” Beginning in the 5th century BC, Greek Theater developed into an art that is still used today. During the golden age of the Athenians plays were created, plays that are considered among the greatest works of world drama. Today there are thousands of well-known plays and films based on the re-make of ancient drama.

Greek theatre and medieval drama were both very popular artistic events in their own periods of performance. However, from ancient Greece to the renaissance, time has set them apart in terms of methodology; their practitioners use a creative process based off of different mindsets. Therefore, the significant time lapse between the two genres has had an evident impact on the way theatre was perceived and presented. In comparing aspects such as religious motivations, conditions of violence and character development, the distinct theatrical natures of Greek theatre and medieval drama will be made apparent.

Many aspects of ancient Greek theaters have long been studied and debated. Much of the information about these theaters is based on speculation due to the fact that so little of them still exist today. This lack of remnants especially applies to the architecture of the early Greek Theaters. However, through archeological finds and years of studying the people, the plays, and the architecture of the time, we are able to make many conclusions about these early structures.

     "The arts of the western world have been largely dominated by the artistic standards established by the Greeks of the classical period" (Spreloosel 86). It is from the Greek word theatron, meaning a place for sitting, that we get our word theater. According to James Butler, "The Greeks were the first people to erect special structures to bring audiences and theatrical performers together" (27). "The theaters were normally located near a populated area at the bottom of or cut out of a carefully selected, sloping hillside overlooking a seascape, a plain, or a city" (Butler 30). "They eventually with few exceptions consisted of three distinct parts: theatron

To honor their gods the ancient Greeks created wonders that forced them to make advanced technology structures. The theater architectural designs of the ancient Greeks have been adapted and modified throughout the years by numerous other cultures. There are three main structural elements that complete a Greek theater; those include the theatron, the orchestra, and the skene .One of these was the Epidaurus theatre built to honor the God Dionayrs . It is considered to be the greatest theatre in Western World. It is approximately 100 miles from Athens , located in the hills of Epidaurus . It seats 14,000 people, with 55 rows of stones built into the hillside. It this largest of all the surviving ancient theatres. Originally, the theatre had 34 rows. However, another 21 rows were added at the top 2 centuries later. The seating part of this theatre is also known was aslo known as the gazing place. An element present within all ancient Greek theaters, was the development and mastering of acoustical technology in the theater amphitheaters. Acoustics, or to be exact, architectural acoustics, is s scientific understanding of how to achieve a quality sound within a building. “The design of Greek and Roman amphitheaters attests to the acoustical insights of builders and scientists of ancient times.” (Encyclopedia Americana Vol. 1 1991; P. 111) People sitting farthest from the stage—about 70 meters—can hear actors without any amplification. The steps acted as “acoustic traps,” cutting