CLASSICAL THEATRE WHAT IS IT The term Drama

CLASSICAL THEATRE

WHAT IS IT? • The term ‘Drama’ comes from a Greek word meaning "action" (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama), which is derived from "I do" (Classical Greek: δράω, drao). • The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. They are symbols of the ancient Greek Muses, Thalia and Melpomene. • The genre ‘Classical Theatre’ therefore represents both tragedy and comedy in its original forms.

INTRODUCTION TO GREEK TRAGEDY • • • The term Tragedy refers to a theatrical practice that emerged in Ancient Greece, involving highly sophisticated dramas with serious themes. The tradition began its existence as religious hymns sung in honour of the god Dionysus by worshippers in the regions surrounding Athens. The Tragedies were presented in three parts, each one telling a story taken almost always, but not exclusively, from Greek religious history, and the last event of the day was the presentation of a “satyr play” (see Comedy). The Tragedies of only three Athenian Tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides) survive. The significance of Tragedy to theatre history owes much to The Poetics of Aristotle, a book of dramaturgy, theatre history, and play analysis, stating that Tragedies are designed to produce eleos (empathy) and phobos (fear). The Poetics has endured to have more impact on the development of Western theatre aesthetics than any other single text.

The Three Greek Tragedians: 1. Aeschylus - his are the oldest surviving plays - began competing in 449 at Dionysus Theatre. Most of his plays were part of trilogies. 2. Sophocles: (496 -406 B. C. ) won 24 contests, never lower than 2 nd; believed to have introduced the 3 rd actor; fixed the chorus at 15 (had been 50). 3. Euripides (480 -406 B. C. ) very popular in later Greek times, little appreciated during his life sometimes known as "the father of melodrama".

Aeschylus • A pious patriot who helped his fledgling city-state defeat the greatest superpower of the world, the tyrannical Persians, on the battlefield as well as in theatre. • His plays, though by no means simplistic, are mostly encomiums to Greek religion and culture.

Sophocles • His plays warn about the abuse of power. • He believed that the Greeks did not listen, because Athens started to become, in its way, as tyrannical as the Persians might have been.

Euripides • He was a rebel and a critic. • He won contest after contest with his plays that attacked the city-state for its abuses and even celebrated its destruction. • Uprisings and civil wars prompted irreverent Euripides to seek exile.

FAMOUS WORKS • Aeschylus - Only seven of an estimated 70 – 90 tragedies written by Aeschylus have survived intact. Most well known is “Agamemnon”. • Sophocles - Wrote 120 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form. Most well known are ‘Antigone’ and ‘Oedipus’. • Euripides – Wrote 92 at most and of these, 18 or 19 have survived more or less complete. Most well known is ‘Medea’.

Greek Tragedy Tragedies are designed, in Aristotle’s view, to produce ‘eleos’ and ‘phobos’. Eleos, which is usually translated as “pity” but just as easily may be called “empathy” or “compassion, ” is elicited when we witness someone suffering more than they deserve. Phobos, or fear, on the other hand, is subjective. It is what we feel when we perceive ourselves to be in danger. This happens in Tragedy when the action is so convincing that the audience begins to identify with the suffering of the Tragic characters, and worry that something similar might be waiting in store for them. When objective pity and subjective fear are combined in exactly the right way, as only Tragedy can do, the individual audience member is overwhelmed by an emotion called katharsis (or “purgation”), a state of mind so powerful it can propel the audience member into a higher state of consciousness, one more mindful and caring of others because it is more sensitive and aware of the dangers we collectively face. Experienced together, this emotion forges a tight, even transcendent bond of community that effectively replicates that sought by the intoxicated, orgiastic worshippers of Dionysos.

ACTIVITY • Create a ‘tragic’ tableau • One person step out and tell their version of events. This should be the person to blame. • Next, the victim should tell their story. • Finally, a witness should tell their story. • Now ask the audience to consider who is at fault.

Key Features of Greek Drama q Performed for special occasions during festivals, mainly worshipping Dionysus - God of wine, fertility, rebirth. q Competitive -- prizes awarded. q Greek Chorus - Varied in size from 3 to 50, the chorus sang, moved, and/or danced. The role of the chorus is to underscore the ideas and themes of the play and provide point-of-view. q Closely associated with religion - stories based on myth or history. q Late point of attack – we need all the info before the climax hits q Violence and death taking place offstage q Frequent use of messengers to relate information q Continuous time of action q Set in a single place q Focus is on psychological and ethical attributes of characters, rather than physical and sociological. q Only 3 actors on stage at any one time

GREEK CHORUS • Nowadays most people would associate a chorus with musicals, but Greek tragedians included a chorus in their regular plays. The chorus consisted of a group of 12 to 50 actors who spoke or sang their lines in unison, wore masks, and functioned as one actor rather than a large group of many performers. • The purpose of the Greek chorus was to provide background and summary information to the audience to help them understand what was going on in the performance. They commented on themes, expressed what the main characters couldn’t say (like secrets, thoughts, and fears) and provided other characters with information and insights. • Because Greek theatres were so large, the members of the chorus had to work hard to look and sound like one person. Their diction and lines had to be presented crisply and clearly so the entire audience could easily hear them. Their gestures were overly exaggerated. Frequently a chorus leader, called a coryphaeus, would aid with comprehension, perhaps narrating.

ACTIVITY As a whole class, choose a mundane, everyday activity like: • Brushing your teeth • Making a cup of tea • Walking the dog Work together to choreograph exaggerated and expressive movement, ensuring everyone is in sync with each other.

Now add words, narrating the actions of the mundane activity. You need at least six full sentences in modern language or a more poetic style if you are feeling fancy. Either way, it needs to be extremely detailed and descriptive. Here’s an example, using the teeth-brushing suggestion: Morning time, and Sarah awakes! She opens her eyes and rubs out the sleep of a dreamless night. Slowly, slowly she rises from her bed and stumbles to yonder bathroom. Reaching deliberately towards the toothbrush That promises clean teeth that resemble white pearls. Toothpaste, with claims of minty freshness Is spread upon the bristles in haphazard fashion. One by one, cleansing foam envelops each tooth. A rinse of clear, cool water and Sarah is nearly ready to face the day.

Now perform using both movement and voice at the same time. Experiment with HOW you present this – consider unison, canon, sequence, echo soundscape, etc. to add dynamic and interest. Perfect and perform. Now try it with real Greek text…. .

The Trojan Women by Euripides: In Salamis, filled with the foaming of billows and murmur of bees, Old Telamon stayed from his roaming, Long ago, on a throne of the seas; Looking out on the hills olive-laden, Enchanted, where first from the earth The grey-gleaming fruit of the Maiden Athena had birth; A soft grey crown for a city Belovèd, a City of Light: Yet he rested not there, nor had pity, But went forth in his might, Where Heracles wandered, the lonely Bow-bearer, and lent him his hands For the wrecking of one land only, Of Ilion, Ilion only, most hated of lands!

CLASSIC STRUCTURE: GREEK THEATRE Prologue Characters speak, perhaps directly to the audience. Tell us what the play is going to be about, and what you think we will learn from it. Parados Chorus, in unison, tells us what has happened before the beginning of the action of the play. They should also tell us who they are. If you want, you can have the chorus speak in verse. Episode 1 Characters act out the beginning of the action of the play. If you want, you can have the chorus interrupt the action to ask questions or make comments. Remember that characters in Greek Tragedy tend to talk a lot about decision making and moral choices; what should I do? Am I doing the right thing? Etc. Remember that anything violent should take place offstage, with a character or "messenger" entering to tell us what happened. Choral Ode 1 Chorus speaks about something connected with theme of the story, but not necessarily about the story itself. Or, if you prefer, you may use a popular song or poem here, that you think expresses the mood or theme at this point in the play. Episode 2 Characters act out the next part of the story, again with choral comment if you want. Choral Ode 2 (If necessary, you may add more Episodes and Odes here. ) Final Episode Characters act out the end of the story. Exodus As or after the characters leave, the chorus tells us what we have learned from the story.

ACTIVITY • • • Create own Greek tragedy Choose a current social issue to dramatise Follow the traditional structure Incorporate the elements identified Rehearse, present, evaluate.

ANTIGONE IN A NUTSHELL

Antigone is part of the Oedipus trilogy: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone. The plays follow the fall of a great king, Oedipus, and later the tragedies that his children suffer. The Oedipus trilogy has had a wide-reaching influence and is particularly notable for inspiring Sigmund Freud’s theory of the "Oedipus Complex, " which describes a stage of psychological development in which a child sees their father as an adversarial competitor for his or her mother’s attention (or in non -psychology speak, it’s the kill-the-father-sleep-with-the-mother complex). Antigone picks up in the same (uber-dismal) place that Oedipus at Colonus leaves off. Oedipus has just passed away in Colonus, and Antigone and her sister decide to return to Thebes with the intention of helping their brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, avoid a prophecy that predicts they will kill each other in a battle for the throne of Thebes. But upon her arrival in Thebes, Antigone learns that both of her brothers are dead. Eteocles has been given a proper burial, but Creon, Antigone's uncle who has inherited the throne, has issued a royal edict banning the burial of Polyneices, who he believes was a traitor. Antigone defies the law, buries her brother, and is caught. When Creon locks her away in prison, she kills herself. Meanwhile, not realizing Antigone has taken her own life, the blind prophet Teiresias, Creon's son and Antigone's fiancé Haemon, and the Chorus plead with Creon to release her. Creon finally relents, but in an instance of too-late-timing, finds her dead in her jail cell. Out of despair, Haemon and Creon’s wife have by now also killed themselves, and Creon is left in distress and sorrow.

• Antigone - The play's tragic heroine. In the first moments of the play, Antigone is opposed to her radiant sister Ismene. Unlike her beautiful and docile sister, Antigone is sallow, withdrawn, and unruly. • Creon - Antigone's uncle. Creon is powerfully built, but a weary and wrinkled man suffering the burdens of rule. A practical man, he firmly distances himself from the tragic aspirations of Oedipus and his line. As he tells Antigone, his only interest is in political and social order. Creon is bound to ideas of good sense, simplicity, and the banal happiness of everyday life. • Ismene - Blonde, full-figured, and radiantly beautiful, the laughing, talkative Ismene is the good girl of the family. She is reasonable and understands her place, bowing to Creon's statute and attempting to dissuade Antigone from her act of rebellion. She is Antigone's hinder. Ultimately she will recant and beg Antigone to allow her to join her in death. Though Antigone refuses, Ismene's conversion indicates how her resistance is contagious. • Chorus - The Chorus frames the play with a prologue and epilogue, introducing the action and characters under the sign of fatality. In presenting the tragedy, the Chorus instructs the audience on proper spectatorship, reappearing at the tragedy's pivotal moments to comment on the action or the nature of tragedy itself. Along with playing narrator, the Chorus also attempts to intercede throughout the play, whether on the behalf of the Theban people or the horrified spectators.

Greek Comedy • not admitted to Dionysus festival till 487 -486 B. C. – late • 6 comic dramatists besides Aristophanes (his are the only extant works) • Commentary on contemporary society, politics, literature, and Peloponnesian War. • Based on a "happy idea" - a private peace with a warring power or a sex strike to stop war • exaggerated, farcical, sensual pleasures

Structure of the Comedy Part One: Prologue - chorus gives debate or "agon" over merits of the ideas. Parabasis - a choral ode addressing the audience, in which a social or political problem in discussed. Part Two: Scenes show the result of the happy idea in the final scene (komos) All reconcile and exit to feast or revelry.

Greek Satire • shorter afterpieces to tragedies • Chorus-half-man, half-beast - satyrs, companions of Dionysus • sometimes the story is connected with the tragedy it accompanies, but not usually • burlesque of mythology - ridiculing gods or heroes • structure similar to tragedy • everyday and colloquial language