Greek and Roman

· Essay Western Theatre began with Greek and Roman theatre and, after a hiatus of many centuries, continued with medieval theatre.  The early Greeks theatre is known for its tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, but its comedies by Aristophanes were also significant.  Imagine how Classical Greek Theatre would look in modern times?   Watch a skit on Saturday Night Live.  In what way(s) are the skit similar to Classical Greek Old Comedy?  Please be specific based on chapter 11,  Early Theatres:  Greek, Roman and Medieval.

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· Two pages or more

· 12 font/doubled spaced/times/roman

· more you write, better the learning outcome and grade

Early Theatres: Greek, Roman, and Medieval

Overview and Outline

The impulse to create theatre is universal. Two elements of theatre are storytelling and imitation.

Other elements of theatre exist in rituals and ceremonies in Africa, in Asia, in Europe, and

wherever else human society develops.

On the European continent, Greek theatre set the stage for all Western theatre to follow. The

tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides and the dramatic form known as climactic

structure were performed at the City Dionysia, a religious festival to honor the god Dionysus.

The chorus was key element in Greek drama. With Aristophanes’ Old Comedies, the Greeks

were leaders in comedy as well. Aristotle’s Poetics marked the development of serious criticism

of drama and theatre. Classical Greek theatre buildings were large outdoor spaces built into

hillsides, which accommodated audiences attending religious festivals. At the base of the hill

was a circular playing space called the orchestra. All the performers were male, and the chorus

was an integral element of all classical Greek drama and theatre. During the later Hellenistic

period in Greece, New Comedy, which was concerned with domestic and romantic situations,

prepared the way for almost all subsequent popular comedy.

The Romans borrowed many Greek conventions, including the introduction of theatre into

religious and civic festivals such as the Ludi Romani. In particular they were influenced by

Greek New Comedy which emphasized domestic and romantic comedies, as in the plays of

Plautus and Terence. The tragedies of Seneca are noteworthy because of their influence on later

playwrights.

Roman theatres were usually huge outdoor buildings. In Roman playhouses (unlike Greek

theatres), all the structural elements, the seating area, the orchestra, and the stage house or

scaena, were connected, and the most significant element was a large raised stage with an ornate

facade called the scaena frons.

After the decline of the Roman Empire, in the period from 500 to 1000 C.E.—the early Middle

Ages—touring minstrels kept the theatrical tradition alive. Later in the Middle Ages, theatre was

reborn, primarily in the Roman Catholic church. Dramatic interpolations that had been added to

religious services grew into liturgical dramas—written in Latin and dramatizing biblical events

—which were staged in churches by the clergy. In the fourteenth century, plays in the everyday

language of the people, or vernacular plays, developed. Mystery or cycle plays, which depicted a

series of biblical tales—and which established the basis for extensive plot structure—were

staged and acted outdoors by amateurs. These large-scale productions were staged in the town

square in front of individual scenic units referred to as mansions or on portable pageant wagons.