Theater

• Theories of Theater


  • Ritualist Theory
  • The Great Man Theory
  • The Storytelling Theory
• Ritualist Theory


  Suggesting theatre began with religious rituals which became codified and performative
• The Great Man Theory


  Offers that one person's genius can be attributed to the origin of the art form
• The Storytelling Theory


  Posits that theatre evolved as a way to enhance storytelling through impersonation
• Aristotle


  • The Greek philosopher who stated that mimesis (imitation) is inherent in all humans, and both he and Plato refer to it as the "re-presentation of nature"
• Aeschylus


  • A poet who may have written between eight to ninety plays, of which we only have seven complete texts and several fragments
  • Credited with diminishing the size of the chorus from fifty to twelve men and adding a second actor (deuteragonist)
• Paraskene


  A rectangular area just in front of the skene and was the primary acting area
• Paradoi


  Passages to the side of the paraskene leading offstage
• Roman Theatre


  • As Rome expanded its Empire into Greece, it would have encountered New Comedy
  • The Romans were excellent at assimilating the best and most useful ideas and items in the countries they controlled through the Empire
• Fabula praetexta


  Plays with Roman stories
• Seneca


  • The most well-known Roman tragic playwright, the only surviving examples of Roman tragedy are nine plays by Seneca
• Mimesis


  Imitation, inherent in all humans, the "re-presentation of nature"
• Aristotle


  • Greek philosopher, lived 384 BCE - 322 BCE
• Aeschylus


  • Poet, may have written 8-90 plays, only 7 complete texts and several fragments remain
  • Diminished the size of the chorus from 50 to 12 men
  • Added a second actor (deuteragonist)
• Paraskene


  Rectangular area just in front of the skene, primary acting area
• Paradoi


  Passages to the side of the paraskene leading offstage
• As Rome expanded its Empire into Greece, it would have encountered New Comedy
• The Romans were excellent at assimilating the best and most useful ideas and items in the countries they controlled through the Empire
• Fabula praetexta


  Plays with Roman stories
• Seneca


  • Most well-known Roman tragic playwright
  • Only surviving examples of Roman tragedy are nine plays by Seneca