Arts 9 : Theatrical Forms and Art Periods

• Rituals and ceremonies were upshots of the myths and stories told, and theater evolved from them.
• Theater takes place in a location called theatron, a “place of seeing”
• It is the playwright who makes the plot of the story and establishes the story’s theatrical form.
• Ancient Greek Theater began around 700 B.C.
• Roman Theater started in the 3rd century B.C.
• Theatrical for or genre of Ancient Greek: Tragedy , Comedy, Satyr
• Theatrical Form or Genre of the Roman Theater: Tragedy, Comedy
• Tragedy -deals with tragic events, unhappy endings, defeat of the main character, it is the most admired type of play in Greece. There were only 3 players allowed onstage, a "chorus" (group of up to 15 actors who sang and dance but did not speak) helps in scene transitions.
• Thespis - the earliest recorded actor in a tragedy play, introduced the use of masks. Often called the "Father of Tragedy". "Thespian" is a common English term for a performer.
• Comedy: a form of theater that mirrors the society in a humorous way reflecting wickedness and immorality. It makes people see the impact of their behavior and change for the better.
• Satyr - (Greek theater) combination of tragedy and comedy. A spoof of tragedy known for its vulgar and indecent amusement. Usually performed after a set of three tragedies. (also called tragicomedy, a term coined by Titus Maccius Plautus, a Roman playwright).
• Medieval Theater started at 500 C.E - 1400
• Theatrical Forms of Medieval Period:

  1. Mime, Pantomime scenes, or recitations from tragedies and comedies
  2. Liturgical dramas or Religious plays - dramatized versions of particular biblical events ex. Mystere de Adam or Mystery of Adam
• High & Late Medieval Period:

  1. "Feast of Fools" festival (where lesser clergy get to ridicule the superiors and routine church life.
  2. Mystery Plays - earliest formally developed plays in Medieval Europe, actorswere all male amateur locals and uses the vernacular in their plays.
  3. Morality Plays - examples are: "The Castle of Perseverance" and "Everyman".
  4. Secular performances - (not religious) ex: "Play of the Greenwood" by Allan de la Halle.
  5. Farces - comedy with highly exaggerated and extravagant situations.
  6. Masques - festive courtly entertainment in the 16th & 17th bc was developed in Italy.
• Renaissance Theater started at 1400-1600
• Emergence of the Commedia dell 'arte - from Italy. Theater troupe that performed lively improvisational playlets across Europe for centuries.Actor centered, requires little scenery and props. Plays come from the "Lazzi" or stock comedic routines that provide the framework of the story from which the actors improvise.
• History plays (English or European history), Tragedy (ex. Revenge plays), Comedy (with subgenre City comedy), from the older genres were the Pastoral plays, and then the Morality plays, Tragicomedy, and Masque,
• The Companies of Players became the foundation of professional players performing on the Elizabethan stage.
• William Shakespeare is the most famous playwright during this period.
• Baroque Period starter at 1600-1700
• Tragedy

  The overall preferred genre
• Tragicomedy

  The lighter genre preferred by aristocrats
• Tragedian

  • Pierre Corneille
  • His work "Le Cid" had happy endings
• Restoration comedies

  Comedies written during the restoration period in English theater
• Sentimental comedy

  A genre that counters the immoral tone of restoration comedies, aiming to be more realistic on the nature of human beings having tendencies to go astray and return to the right path after overcoming trials
• Sentimental comedy

  • Ends in tears rather than laughter as the main character triumphs over trials
• Technological development

  • Made way for broadways and commercial plays as ropes and pulleys were utilized to support special effects and scene changes within seconds
• Opera

  An important product of this period
• Neoclassical Theater started at 1800-1900
• Neoclassicism

  Art forms inspired by the classics
• Neoclassicism

  • Emphasis on the exact adherence to the classical unities
  • Contributed to proper decorum (audience etiquette) when watching a play
• Theater of the period

  • Lavish and complex scenery
  • Lavish and complex costumes
  • Large gestures
  • Melodrama
• Politically satirical comedies

  • Outshined the sexual farces of the Restoration
• Historic accuracy in costumes and settings

  Trend in Germany
• Theater architecture

  Greatly improved
• Theater Movements

  • Realism (depicts life as it is naturally)
  • Symbolism (expressing the intangible or unseen internal feelings by means of visible or sensuous representations)
  • Expressionism (express emotion and meaning rather than reality)
  • Naturalism (naturalistic, influenced by Darwin's theory of Evolution, founded on the belief that one's character is determined by its heredity and environment)
• Romantic Theater started at 1800-2000
• Melodrama and Operas were the most popular theatrical forms.

  There was an abundance of Experimental theater (also known as avant-garde theater), a rejection of the conventional theater styles, the experimental theater changes the theme, language even the relationship of the actors to the audience. Through the breaking of the "fourth wall" where the actors address dialogues (questions) to the audience.

  Hollywood came out and endangered American theater. But theater was not affected instead it continued to be known and noticed worldwide