Introduction to Greek Theatre 23/02/2015

Task 1

1.       When were ancient Greek plays performed?

          Greek theatre was performed in 530 BC

 

 2.      How many years ago was this?
          Greek theatre was performed 2543 years ago

 

3.       What different types of plays were performed?

           The types of plays performed were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.

 

4.       What is a traditional Greek Theatre called?

           Epidaurus

 

5.       What shape was the theatre?

          Semi-circular shape

6.       Find a picture of a traditional Greek Theatre for your blog.

 

 

7.       Why were the theatres were built this way?

Because the sound travelled around effectively

8.       What different scenic elements are there?

There scenic elements commonly used in Greek theatre:

 

machina, a crane that gave the impression of a flying

ekkyklema, a wheeled wagon used to bring dead characters for the audience to see

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 at the front

10.     Could women take part in, or attend the plays?
             Women could not take part in plays.

11.     Name some of the Greek playwrights and their plays.

Aeschylus: Born Elefsina  525BC

The Persans (472BC)

The Seven against Thebes (467BC)

The suppliants (464BC)

 

Euripides : Born 480BC Halandi, Athens. Died 406BC

Rhesus (450BC)
Alcestis (438BC)
Medea (431BC)

Aristophes: Born Athens 452 BC, Died A gina 385BC
The acharnians
The Knights
The Wasps (422BC)

12. What did the audience throw at the actors who performed badly?

Food that the audience was eating

13. What did the actors wear?

All wore their masks all the time. They all also wore costumes all the time.

 

14. How did the audience sat at the back of the large theatre hear anything?

People at the back would tell the audience what the actors were saying

 

15. Who is Dionysus?

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 bought joy and divine ecstasy: or he would bring brutal and blinding range.

16. Why is he important to Greek Theatre?

Dionysus brings the fun in theatre

17. What is a Greek chorus?

The chorus was the central feature of Greek drama. Composed of similarly costumed men, they performed on the dancing floor "orchestra", located beneath the stage.

The chorus stayed in the orchestra for the duration of the performance  from which vantage point they observed and commented on the action of the actors. Dialogue consisted of long, formal speeches in verse.

18.  What purpose to the Chorus have in the performance?

It gave time for the actors to change backstage and explained the play to the audience in more depth so that the actors don’t have to perform certain parts.

19. How and why were masks used?

The masks were put on the actors face to show expressions to the audience that were also sitting far away.

20. What were the masks made of?

The masks were most likely made out of light weight, organic materials like stiffened linen, leather, wood, or cork, with the wig consisting of human or animal hair.

Task 2

Videos on the National Theatre website – Notes

An Introduction to Greek Theatre

source:http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/an-introduction-to-greek-theatre-0

·         ancient Greeks loved to paint theatrical scenes from famous myths

·         Greeks loved competition, in Dionysus each of the three tragic playwrights would compete against each other and each would be sponsored by a rich man who would pay for the production for the glory of the state and then the jury would judge and decide which play was best.

·         In comedy the masks are usually quite ugly and the characters were lower classed

·         In tragedy the characters were usually very beautiful and upper class

·         A satyr play was half man and half goat, very rude comedy plays

·         The chorus was performed in the orchestra ( the front of the sage)

·         Only three performers performed all the roles in Greek theatre so masks were a way of being able to also quickly change roles

Antigone: An Introduction

Source: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/antigone-an-introduction

· Heroes of tragedy were supposed to be good but not so good that you couldn’t relate to them

· One of the points of Greek tragedy is for the audience to think carefully about their actions as the   consequences could be terrible in the real world

· Modern play set in an underground bunker

· Antigone is a play about what happened after Oedipus; “sweeping this out from under the carpet”

Task 3 – how can we use multimedia effectively in performances?

1.      What do we mean by the phrase 'multimedia in performance'?

The phrase refers to including different types of media in theatre performances such as radios, music and videos on phones in order to engage your audience in different ways.

2.      Give some examples of different types of media that could be used in a performance. Give examples of how they could be used and the positive and negative of them.

TYPE OF MEDIA	EXAMPLE OF USE IN PERFORMANCE	POSITIVES OF USING IT…	NEGATIVES OF USING IT…
VIDEO CAMERA	Getting the audience to watch sections of the show on their phones	Enables the audience to watch a moment of the play that’s supposed to be present but recorded in the past	Not everyone might have access to phones to watch recorded sections
PROJECTOR	Could have scenes and atmospheres created by selecting an image and projection it on the wall	Quicker scene changes so that audience don’t have to wait for scene to be set	When actors go in  front of the image, a shadow would be created on the image so that the whole scene isn’t visible
EARPHONES/ HEADPHONES	Having the audience not having to visually analyse what is happening in the play but through audio	Actors won’t have to physically create every scene giving them more space to get ready in-between scenes as well	Audience might find certain scenes unclear
SPEAKERS	Playing different type of sounds for to create sounds. For example cars in traffic	Make scenario more realistic for audience to feel they are there themselves	Not able to visually see the sounds created by speakers

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 3.Try to think of a show you have seen at the theatre that has used multimedia.

When I went to watch Summer folk types of multimedia they used included music and different types of lighting. The music impacted the audience very effectively as it moved us as an audience and enabled us to feel more emotion in depth towards the actors performing.

4. Find some photos of how multimedia can be used in performance.

 

Task 4

Antigone’s family tree

 

 

2. Read the synopsis:

What do you think of this story?

I believe this story seems to be very interesting and different as it shows the strong minded character of Creon and represents that even if it means having his son Haemon leave and never return which later led to his own death, Creon’s character still sticks to what he believes. Although his actions aren’t good, his character is still very interesting as he has such strong beliefs.

Why do you think Sophocles wrote this play?

I believe Sophocles wrote this play in order to demonstrate what bad intentions can result in. Sophocles wrote this in order to show to the audience that having such capitalist views were you only think of the benefit of yourself can lead to terrible consequences that you will certainly regret later on.

Why do you think the Greek audiences might have wanted to see this play?

Greek audiences would’ve wanted to see this play as it is a form of education. As the education in ancient Greek times wasn’t near as important as it is now and also not as easy to get hold of, going to the theatre to watch this play could’ve given people valid information to know the difference from right to wrong in life.

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1.What information does Antigone give to Ismene at the beginning of this scene?

Antigone is explaining to Ismene that Creon wishes to not properly bury their brother Polynices.

2.What has just happened in the sisters’ family?

Both brothers Polynices and Eteocles died in a fight and killed each other.

3.What does Antigone plan to do? Why?

Antigone plans to bury her brother Polynices in secret as she believes her brother just as well as Eteocles, both deserve a proper memorial and to rest but she also had promised him she would.

4.Does Ismene plan to join her? Why or why not?

Ismene disapproves of this as she believes they are women and must not fight with men.

5.What story does the chorus tell us about?

The chorus tells the story about the battle between Polyneices and Eteocles, with details like who stuck whose sword where.