WESTERN

CLASSICAL
PLAYS/OPERA
4th Quarter Lesson
History of the
Theatrical
Forms and
Their
Evolution
Theater
―place of seeing, but it is
more than the buildings
where performance take
place.
 To produce theater, a playwright
writes the scripts, the director
rehearses the performers,
the designer and technical
crew produce props to create the
scenes, and actors and actresses
perform on stage. Then it will only
be a true theater act when an
audience witnesses it.
Greek Theater  European
theater began in
Ancient Greece.
It began around
700 B.C. with
festivals
honoring their
many gods such
as, Dionysus (Di-
on-i-sus), the god
of wine and
fertility.
3 well-known Greek tragedy playwrights :

Sophocles Euripides

Aeschylus.

The theater of ancient Greece consisted of

three types of drama:
Tragedy Comedy Satyr play.
 tragedy was the most admired type
of play. It dealt with tragic events and have an
unhappy ending, especially one concerning the
downfall of the main character.

Thespis was the first actor and

introduced the use of masks and was called the
"Father of Tragedy‖.
 Comedy plays were derived from
imitation; there were no traces of
their origin. Aristophanes wrote most of the
comedy plays.
Out of these 11 plays
Lysistrata survived, a humorous tale about a
strong woman who led a female coalition to
end war in Greece;

Cyclops, an adventure comedy by

Euripides.
Satyr plays contain
comic elements to
lighten the overall
mood or a serious
play with a happy
ending. The satyr play
was a short,
lighthearted
tailpiece performed
after each trilogy of
 Ancient Theater Terms
Theatre buildings were called a
theatron.
The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed
on the slopes of hills.
They consisted of three main elements:

the orchestra, the skene,

and the audience.
Orchestra: A large circular or
rectangular area at the center part of
the theatre, where the play, dance,
religious rites, and acting took place.
Theatron- viewing place on the slope
of a hill
 Skene –stage
 Parodoi- side entrance.
Roman Theater

started in the 3rd century BC.
-

 varied and interesting art

forms, like festival
performances of street
theatre,acrobatics, the staging
of comedies of Plautus, and
the high-verbally elaborate
tragedies of Seneca.
 Livy@ in the 4th century BC, the
Etruscan actors were the first who
experienced theater.
 In 240 BC, Roman drama began
with the plays of Livius
Andronicus, remained
popular throughout late
Antiquity.
• By the mid 4th century AD, 102
out of 176 ludi publici (public
games) being dedicated to
theatre.
 Triumvir Pompey- was one
of the first permanent (non-
wooden) theatres in Rome
whose structure was somewhat
similar to the theatron of
Athens
It has an elaborately decorated
background of theatre stage,
enclosed by the large
columned porticos with an
expansive garden complex of
There were rooms also
that were dedicated to
the exposition of art
and other works
collected by Pompey
Magnus which were
located along the
stretch of covered
arcade.
Theatre of Pompey
The usual themes for Roman
theater plays were:
chariots races, gladiators,
and public executions.

The Romans loved a good spectacle. They loved to watch

combat, admired for blood sports and gladiator
competition. The more realistic the violence, the more it
would have pleased Roman audiences. The Christians
however opposed the barbaric themes of the plays
and closed down all theaters.
 Comedy plays were popular
too in the Roman Theater from
350 to 250 B.C.E. and women
were allowed to perform on
stage.
Roman Theater
Medieval Theater 500 C.E.-
1400
Theater performances were not allowed
throughout Europe.
To keep the theater alive, minstrels, though
denounced by the Church, performed in
markets, public places and festivals.

They travelled from one town to another as

puppeteers, jugglers, story tellers, dancers,
singers, and other theatrical acts.

These minstrels were viewed as dangerous and

pagan.
Churches in Europe started
staging their own theater
performances during Easter
Sundays with biblical stories
and events.

An example of this kind of play

is the ―Mystéred‟Adam” or
"The Mystery of Adam.
 Over the centuries, the plays revolved around
biblical themes from the Story of the Creation to the
Last Judgment.
Renaissance Theater:
1400-1600

Renaissance theater arts

were characterized by a
return of Classical Greek
and Roman arts and
culture.
In the Middle Ages,

mystery plays - part of religious

festivals in England and other parts
of Europe .
Morality plays – allegories help to
choose a Godly life over the evil
University drama - recreate
Athenian tragedy.
Public theatres were developed like, the
Commedia dell'arte (Italian comedy and a
humorous theatrical presentation performed
by professional players who traveled in
troupes)
the elaborate masques (a dramatic
entertainment ) that were usually presented
in court.
 One of the most
prominent
supporters of the
theater was
Queen Elizabeth I.
William Shakespeare.
-famous actor and poet who emerged
in this period
baptized on April 26, 1564
died on April 23, 1616.
He was an English poet, playwright
and actor and regarded as the
greatest writer and dramatist in the
whole world.
- England's national poet and the
"Bard of Avon".
His works consist of about 38 plays. Some of these plays were well-
loved Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Much Ado about Nothing.
The four tragedies considered to be
Shakespeare's greatest works were :
Hamlet Othello King Lear Macbeth.

Shakespeare's plays were about the lives of

kings, such as Richard III and Henry V,
Christopher Marlowe's Edward II and
George Peele's Famous Chronicle of King
Edward the First.
Other contemporary playwrights were :

Christopher Marlowe's (tragedies such as Dr.

Faustus and The Jew of Malta)

Thomas Kyd (The Spanish Tragedy).

The history plays depicted English or European

history.
Comedies were common, too, that dealt
with life in London after the
fashion of Roman New Comedy.
Some of comedy plays were
The Shoemaker's Holiday
by Thomas Dekker
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
by Thomas Middleton.
 For the first time,
ballet was
performed in public
during this period.
Innovations of the Stage:
1. Proscenium was developed. This is the
area of a theater surrounding the stage opening.
Arches frame and divide the stage from the
audience.
2. Backdrops for scenery were
popularized by the art of painting clothes.
3. Commedia dell‟arte or ―Comedy of the
Profession was developed. It was quick-witted
performance of the characters/players
 Baroque Theater
1600-1750
-marked by the use of technology
in current Broadways or
commercial plays. The theater crew
uses machines for special effects
and scene changes which may be
changed in a matter of seconds
with the use of ropes and pulleys.
The use of theatrical
technologies in the
Baroque period may
be seenin the films
like
Vatel (2000)
Farinelli (1999)

and in the different

stage
productions of
―Orpheus by
Claudio Monteverdi.
 Neoclassical
Theater
1800-1900
The Neoclassical period was a movement
where the styles of Roman and Greek
societies influenced the theater arts.

- the theater was characterized by its

grandiosity. Costumes and sceneries
were highly elaborate. The main
concepts of the plays were to entertain
The Stage were restyled

• with dramatic arches to highlight the scenes.

• Multiple entry points on the stage were
evident in many plays.
• Lighting and sound effects intensified the
mood and message of each scene, enhancing
the dramatic experience.

The idea of changing scenery and backdrops

become more noticeable, particularly with the
invention of pulley systems that allowed parts
to move
more quickly across the stage.
• The concept of decorum was applied in
this period
• officially established just two types of plays,
tragedy and comedy.

 now well-known pair of happy and sad masks

that symbolize the theatrical arts.
Three playwrights achieved a significant amount of
success.

 Pierre Cornielle (1606 – 1684) was often called the

father of the French tragedy, writing scripts for more
than four decades. One of these was “The Cid”

 Jean Baptiste Poquelin, better known as Molière

(1622–1673) was known for his comedies,“Tartuffe
and The Missanthrope
Was one of his works.

 Jean Racine (1639 – 1699) was a tragedian beloved

for his simple approach to action and the linguistic
rhythms and effects he achieved. ―Andromache and
Phaedra” was one of his scripts.
These men were able to take elements
from
 TRIVIA about the Neoclassical
Theater:
1. The first "spotlight" was
used in the U.S. during this
period and was
called the "Limelight”
2. The Theatre Regulation Act of 1843
banned drinking in legitimate theaters.
Many tavern owners took advantage of
the situation and
renovated their establishments to
accommodate live performances.
 Romantic Theater
1800-2000
Romantic Playwrights:
melodrama and ―operas became the
most popular theatrical forms.
Melodrama can be also be described as a dramatic
work that puts characters in a lot of danger in order to
appeal to the emotions and in which orchestral music
or song was used to accompany the action.
Opera in the other hand is an art form in which
singers and musicians perform a dramatic work
combining text and musical score.
 Victor Marie Hugo
was born on February 26, 1802
died on May 22, 1885 .

- the greatest and best known

French writers.
- a poet, novelist, and dramatist
of the Romantic movement.
Hugo's literary fame comes from his poetry, novels and his dramatic
achievements. Among his works that stand out all over the world are
m“Les Contemplations , La Légende des siècles, Les Misérables, and
Notre Dame de Paris” which is known as the Hunchback of Notre-
Dame.
Romantic Composers
Georges Bizet
Carmen is the most popular among
his works. Bizet composed the title role
for a mezzo-soprano in the character of
Carmen.

The opera tells the story of the downfall of

Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced
by the charms of the sizzling Gypsy,
Carmen.