Greek Theatre Research Paper

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.

The theatre has been a part of entertainment since ancient Greece, around 4th century BC or thereabouts. The theatre grew out of festivals in honor of the god Dionysus. Aeschylus created the first play in her honor. The first Greek plays were all tragedies but eventually comedy made its way and these plays were performed at festivals all over Greece. Through the centuries theater played the main role of entertainment from noble and royalty to the common person in any city or village, and as we move into the twenties

Theatre is a collaboration of various forms of fine art which utilizes live performances presenting before the audience on a stage at a specific place within a scheduled time (Dugdale 10). The message is communicated through a combination of various channels like songs, speech gestures or dances. Stagecraft skills are combined with elements of art to make the performance more physical and near to real life experience. Theatre is categorized broadly into drama, musical theatre, comedy, tragedy and improvisation. Any form of these accepts integration of various production modes and collective reception to influence the artwork being presented. As a result of this cooperation of items in the theatre

Theater is often considered a social event, because shows have set runs, and many people attend the show before it stops playing in the theatres. Many people often attend shows as a group.

The Greeks were known for giving offerings to their gods. They decided to build a theater where they could give their offerings. Although the main thing that they used it for was giving offerings, it was also used for some other things. This paper will be talking about Greek drama genres, why theater was so important, and how they make their voices heard.

“Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances” said by Stanford Meisner. Theatre is an area of arts where you can be free from reality and imagine the impossible. Some of my favorite things about theatre are, the people that are involved, how helpful theatre is and how helpful everyone is, then my last thing is how much fun we have. One of my top favorite things about theatre is the people that are involved within it. Every person has a different personalities, that put together makes a new and neat experience. Theatre is an important part of my life and I enjoy every minute, while I’m there.

Theatre is a form of art, but instead of painting or taking a photograph, the actors tell a story through live performances. The theatre is a place for seeing, watching, and hearing. It taps into the audience's emotions, helping them experience what an art can do. Art is used for emotional power and pure beauty. It can also teach the audience and actors, about different cultures and ways of life. Art comes in many forms, painting, photography, music, but bringing all of the forms together is theatre.

In the ancient world of the Greeks the everyday sculptors and play writers were focused on sculpting and plays; they would never be able to fathom the effect that they would have on the future of the world. The philosophers of the time maybe had a glimpse of the possibility. The Greek art made a standard for the future. The Greeks created drama. Ancient Greek art and drama is the foundation for today’s art and theatre has influenced it in numerous methods.

The history of Greek drama began at about 700 B.C. This included festivals that that honored their Gods. The men would dress up and sing and play to welcome Dionysus. In these early times, the actor and director was all the same person. They had tragedy, comedy and satyr plays. Plays were either spoken or sung in rhyme. It was also illegal to poke fun at the Gods and this was punishable by death. (Robinson, Scott R. "Theatre and Drama in Ancient Greece." Theatre and Drama in Ancient Greece. N.p., 2010. Web. 04 May 2016)

For as long as mankind exists, theatre will always take on an important function within its cultures. Through theatre a culture expresses itself, reflects its society and displays its individuality. It shows the people the things that set their community apart from others and gives them something that binds them together, something they can identify with like for example a common history or tradition. The Chinese community always act out the age old tradition of the portrayal of the animal signified by the new year and the whole of the community takes part in this tradition. Another aspect is that whenever a play was written, it reflects always to a certain degree its time and becomes an immortal witness of history. The ancient Greek theatre whose plays are still performed over 2000 years after they were written are celebrating the religion and its gods. They give us a detailed insight into the culture of their times! It is safe to say

The theatre that you are most familiar with today generally comes via the movie version of an originally staged play. But if we go back further, we find that most of the theatre that is written and performed today can be traced back to Greek origins through various

1. Think about our time period in this class (411 BCE – 1746). What are some historical and cultural reasons you think made some people hate and write against the theater?

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.

Theatre space is defined as a place where the audience and performers come together. That space, I believe does influence the type of play produced and quality of the play. We all know that every theatre space is different, and you pick the space according to the genre of the play, and the type of audience the play attracts. The four basic theatre spaces are; Proscenium, thrust, in the round and black box. Proscenium is where the actors perform with the audience sitting in front. This includes most theatres, everything from Broadway to high schools. In thrust you have the actors on stage with the audience on three sides. In the round is exactly what it sounds like, the actors are in the centre and the audience surround them on all sides. Lastly,

     "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