Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in Ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and military power during this period, was its center, where it was institutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which honoured the god Dionysus (God of Fertility, Ritual Madness, Wine, Grape-Harvest, Wine-making, of course, Theatre and Religious Ecstasy). Tragedy (late 500 BC), Comedy (490 BC), and the Satyr Play (A satyr is half-human, half-goat) were the three dramatic genres to emerge there. Athens exported the festival to its numerous colonies and allies.
WHAT ELSE WAS HAPPENING AT THE TIME?
Male actors playing female roles would wear a wooden structure on their chests (posterneda) to imitate the look of breasts and another structure on their stomachs (progastreda) to make them appear softer and more lady like. They would also wear white body stockings under their costumes to make their skin appear fairer. Most costuming detail comes from pottery paintings from that time as costumes and masks were fabricated out of disposable material, so there are little to no remains of any costume from that time. The biggest source of information is the Pronomos Vase where actors are painted at a show's after party. Costuming would give off a sense of character, as in gender, age, social status, and class. For example, characters of higher class would be dressed in nicer clothing, although everyone was dressed fairly nicely. Contrary to popular belief, they did not dress in only rags and sandals, as they wanted to impress. Some examples of Greek theatre costuming include long robes called the chiton that reached the floor for actors playing gods, heroes, and old men. Actors playing Goddesses and women characters that held a lot of power wore purples and golds. Actors playing Queens and Princesses wore long cloaks that dragged on the ground and were decorated with gold stars and other jewels, and warriors were dressed in a variety of armor and wore helmets adorned with plumes. Costumes were supposed to be colourful and obvious to be easily seen by every seat in the audience.
WHO WERE THE DRAMATISTS OF THE DAY?
- Sophocles
- Aeschylus
- Euripides
- Aristophes
SOPHOCLES - Antigone, Oedipus the King
AESCHYLUS - The Seven Against Thebes
EURIPIDES - Medea, Hecuba, Hippolytus, The Trojan Women, Iphigenia in Arlis, Orestes
ARISTOPHES - The Knights, Plutus
WHAT WERE THE THEMES OF THE PLAYS?
ANTIGONE - Civil disobedience, Natural law and contemporary legal institutions, Fidelity, Portrayal of the Gods and Love for family.
ORESTES - Euripides challenges the role of the gods and perhaps more appropriately man’s interpretation of divine will. Orestes and others note the subordinate role of man to the gods, but the superiority of the gods does not make them particularly fair or rational. Even Apollo, the god synonymous with law and order, ultimately gives an unsatisfactory argument. For example, he cites the reason for the Trojan War as the method the gods chose to cleanse the earth of surplus population. This leads one to question why gods (or political leaders) would use war as an instrument for a greater good, and, this being the case, why these gods/leaders are worthy of our admiration and praise?
These 2 plays show some social relevance when it comes to reliving history on stage.
The plays we're working on are Oedipus, Medea, Trojan Women and Antigone.
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