Q4 Arts

• Different Art Periods


  • Ancient Theater (700 B.C.E - 410 B.C.E)
  • Medieval Theater (500 C.E. - 1400)
  • Renaissance Theater (1400- 1600)
  • Baroque Theater (1600- 1750)
  • Neoclassical Theater (1800- 1900)
  • Romantic Theater (1800- 2000)
• Ancient Greek Theater


  700 B.C.
• Ancient Greek Theatrical forms


  • Tragedy
  • Comedy
  • Satyr
• Roman Theater


  3rd century 700 B.C.
• Roman Theatrical forms


  • Tragedy
  • Comedy
  • Satyr
• Tragedy


  • Deals with tragic events, unhappy endings, defeat of the main character
  • Most admired type of play in Greece
  • 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


  • Earliest recorded actor in a tragedy play, introduced the use of masks
  • Thespian = performer
• Comedy


  • Form of theater that mirrors the society in a humorous way reflecting wickedness and immorality
  • Makes people see the impact of their behavior and change for the better
• Satyr (Greek theater)


  • Combination of tragedy and comedy
  • Spoof of tragedy known for its vulgar and indecent amusement
  • Usually performed after a set of three tragedies
• Medieval Theatrical Forms


  • Mime, Pantomime scenes, or recitations from tragedies and comedies
  • Liturgical dramas or Religious plays
  • High & Late Medieval Period:
  • Feast of Fools" festival
  • Mystery Plays
  • Morality Plays
  • Secular performances
  • Farces
  • Masques
• Liturgical dramas or Religious plays


  • Dramatized versions of particular biblical events
  • Ex: Mystere de Adam or Mystery of Adam
• Mystery Plays


  Earliest formally developed plays in Medieval Europe, actors were all male amateur locals and uses the vernacular in their plays
• Morality Plays


  Examples are: "The Castle of Perseverance" and "Everyman"
• Secular performances


  • Not religious
  • Ex: "Play of the Greenwood" by Allan de la Halle
• Farces


  Comedy with highly exaggerated and extravagant situations
• Masques


  Festive courtly entertainment in the 16th & 17th bc was developed in Italy
• Emergence of the Commedia dell 'arte (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
• Renaissance Theater (1400- 1600)


  • Emergence of the Commedia dell 'arte (Italy)
  • History plays (English or European history), Tragedy (ex. Revenge plays), Comedy (with subgenre City comedy)
  • Companies of Players
  • William Shakespeare
• History plays, Tragedy, Comedy


  From the older genres were the Pastoral plays, Morality plays, Tragicomedy, and Masque
• Companies of Players


  Became the foundation of professional players performing on the Elizabethan stage
• William Shakespeare


  Most famous playwright during this period
• Baroque Theater (1600- 1750)


  • Tragedy was the overall preferred genre, but the aristocrats preferred the lighter tragicomedy
  • For English theater, this was a time for "restoration comedies" (comedies written during the restoration period)
  • Another important product of this period was the Opera
• Pierre Corneille


  A tragedian produced works that were untragic having happy endings, like his "Le Cid"
• Sentimental comedy


  • Genre that counters the immoral tone of restoration comedies
  • Aim was to be more realistic on the nature of human beings having tendencies to go astray and return to the right path after overcoming trials
  • A type of comedy that 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
• Neoclassical Theater (1800- 1900)


  • Dominated by Neoclassicism (art forms inspired by the classics)
  • Focus was on the exact adherence to the classical unities that has largely contributed to proper decorum (audience etiquette) when watching a play
  • Characterized by lavish and complex scenery, costumes, large gestures and melodrama
• Romantic Theater (1800- 2000)


  • Melodrama and Operas were the most popular theatrical forms
  • Abundance of Experimental theater (also known as avantgarde theater), a rejection of the conventional theater styles, the experimental theater changes the theme, language even the relationship of the actors to the audience
  • 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
• Feast of Fools festival

  where lesser clergy get to ridicule the superiors and routine church life
• Mystery Plays


  • Earliest formally developed plays in Medieval Europe
  • Actors were all male amateur locals
  • Uses the vernacular in their plays
• Morality Plays


  • "The Castle of Perseverance"
  • "Everyman"
• Secular performances


  • (not religious)
  • Example: "Play of the Greenwood" by Allan de la Halle
• Farces


  Comedy with highly exaggerated and extravagant situations
• Masques


  • Festive courtly entertainment in the 16th & 17th bc
  • Developed in Italy
• Tragicomedy

  Titus Maccius Plautus, a Roman playwright
• Politically satirical comedies 


  outshined the sexual farces of the Restoration
• Germany

  • Historic accuracy in costumes and settings was the trend
  • German Romanticism theatrical form was introduced
  • Emergence of "Theater Movements" i.e. Realism, Symbolism, Expressionism, Naturalism
• Realism

  depicts life as it is naturally
• Symbolism

  expressing the intangible or unseen internal feelings using visible or sensuous representations
• Forerunner of Expressionism

  express emotion and meaning rather than reality
• Naturalism (naturalistic)

  was influenced by Darwin's theory of Evolution founded on the belief that one's character is determined by its heredity and environment