ACTORS
ACTORS
Gaining A Historical Perspective On the Dramatic Arts
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Gaining A Historical Perspective On the Dramatic Arts |
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What was the theater like in ancient Egypt? During the Roman Empire? In the Italian Renaissance? In Elizabethan times? During the Restoration? How were scenes changed? Was make-up used? Was the acting naturalistic? What sorts of costumes were in fashion? How did the audience behave? Resources cited on this page will seek to offer sources of information that review the history of theater in a broad and international scope, rather than offering a review of specific time periods and/or geographic regions, etc.
Terms To Know |
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Amphitheatre. Originally the Colosseum in Rome, now any large, oval-shaped building with no roof and tiers of spectator seats. The Colosseum was used for gladiator contests, not plays, but subsequent buildings of such shape have been designed and used as theatres with arena staging. Anachronism. In the course of a stage production, a person or thing that is out of place chronologically. Aristotle’s Six Elements of Drama. Also called the Six Elements of Tragedy. In his Poetico, Aristotle defines and discusses the six elements that make up the tragedy. Many critics have extended his definition to describe all types of plays. Carnival Mass (play). A type of work originally designed to be performed on Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent begins. The play uses elements of Catholic liturgy, social morality, music from the Catholic Mass, masks, puppets, and characters such as the wise-fool. Dating from the 15th century and found in many Christian cultures, the type has been newly realized in the Julie Taymor - Elliott Goldenthal creation Juan Darien. Chronicle Play. A play with a historical basis, told as a series of episodes rather than as a complete story with a structured plot. Shakespeare’s Richard II, based on Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles is an example. Classic Drama. Formally, the drama of ancient Greece and Rome. Popularly, any play written before the present century that has stood the test of time. Actors auditioning are often asked to prepare two monologues, one classical and one modern. Deus Ex Machina. Means “the god from the machine.” In Greek classical drama, an actual machine (a crane perhaps) lowered the actor playing the god into the center of the action so that he or she could unravel the plot complications and direct the denouement. Now the term more often denotes a play that uses a trick ending to extricate the actors from impossible situations. Dionysian. The opposite principle to Apollonian, or, the creative, the imaginative, the spontaneous in art. Named for Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility, whose festival, celebrated with drunkenness and licentiousness, is considered by many to be the birth of drama. History Play. A play dealing with a historical subject, such as Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Richard II, and Don Taylor’s The Roses of Eyem, the true story of the village of Eyem in Derbyshire, England. The village fell victim to the plague of 1665 and elected to seal itself off from the world to stop the spread of the disease. The play begins with the cast of over fifty villagers and ends with the handful who survived. Period. Project not set in current time period. Period Piece. A play from an earlier time, played in the style, costumes, and sets representing the period it depicts. Plough, Plow Monday. The Monday after Epiphany, or Twelfth Night (January 6). In sixteenth-century England, plays performed on Plough Monday rivaled the mummers’ plays of Christmas in popularity. In the plough plays the characters were not heroes like St. George or Robin Hood, but farm hands, and the chief incident was a death by accident, not in battle. Like the mummers’ play, the plough play was probably a survivor of primitive folk festivals. Thespis. A Greek poet (550 - 500 B.C.) usually considered the founder of drama because he was the first one to use an actor in addition to the chorus in his plays. Some theatre historians believe that Thespis was that first actor. Although none of his plays remain, some titles are known: Phorbus, The Priests, The Youths, and Pentheus. |
The serious student of the theatre or the theatre historian, along with working directors, actors, designers, costumers, stage managers, dramaturges, playwrights and script adapters, especially those concerned with revivals of the classics, or interested in preserving or adapting older theatrical traditions for use in modern dramas, can take a speculative view of theater’s origins and achievements over 4,500 years, from festival performances in the Roman Empire to international multicultural theater today. Some theories, championed by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, envisions theatre as emerging out of myth and ritual, and religious observances.
Performative elements (including dramatic and theatrical) are present in every society, no matter how complex or how unsophisticated the culture may be. These elements are evident in our political campaigns, holiday celebrations, sports events, religious ceremonies, and children’s make-believe, just as they are in the dances and rituals of primitive peoples. Although origin in ritual has been a well used theory on the origins of theater, it is by no means the only theory about how the theatre came into being.
Storytelling has been proposed as one alternative. Under this theory, relating and listening to stories are seen as fundamental human pleasures. Thus, the recalling of an event (a hunt, battle, or other feat) is elaborated through the narrator’s pantomime and impersonation and eventually through each role being assumed by a different person.
A closely related theory sees theatre as evolving out of dances that are primarily pantomimic, rhythmical or gymnastic, or from imitations of animal noises and sounds. Admiration for the performers’ skill, virtuosity, and grace is seen as motivation for elaborating the activities into fully realized theatrical performances.
In addition to exploring the possible antecedents of theatre, scholars have also theorized about the motives that led people to develop theatre. Why did theatre develop, and why was it valued after it ceased to fulfill the functions of ritual? Most answers fall back on theories about the human mind and basic human needs. One, set forth by Aristotle in the fourth century B.C., sees humans as naturally initiative -- as taking pleasure in annotating persons, things, and actions and in seeing such imitations.
Another theory, advanced in the twentieth century, suggests that humans have a gift for fantasy, through which they seek to reshape reality into more satisfying forms than those encountered in daily life. Therefore, fantasy or fiction (of which drama is one form) permits people to objectify their anxieties and fears, confront them, and fulfill their hopes in fiction if not in fact.
For the actor interested in the history of theatre, or for the actor specializing in the portrayal of historic figures and events, we have listed some resources in Relevant Associations and Organizations that should provide a starting point with research.
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History of the Theatre by Oscar Gross Brockett 720 pages; (July 2002) Allyn & Bacon; ISBN: 0205358780 |
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Women, Theatre & Performance: New Histories, New Historiographies by Maggie B. Gale, Vivien Gardner 256 pages; (July 2001) Manchester University Press; ISBN: 0719057132 |
Theatre & Drama in the Making: Antiquity to the Renaissance by John Gasser, Ralph G. Allen 534 pages; (August 1992) Applause Theatre Book Publishers; ISBN: 1557830738 |
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History of Theatre by Neil Grant 192 pages; (May 2002) Sterling Publishing Company, Incorporated; ISBN: 060059632X |
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Mad about Theatre |
Alarums & Excursions, Our Theatres in the Nineties |
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A Century of Theatre by Sheridan Morley, Ruth Leon 300 pages; (April 2001) Theatre Communications Group; ISBN: 184002058X |
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The Curtain Rises: A History of the European Theatre from 18th Century to the Present by Mark Pirro 144 pages; (February 2000) Players Press, Inc.; ISBN: 0887346782 |
The Repertory Movement: A History of Regional Theatre in Britain by George Rowell 234 pages; ( November 1984) Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521319196 |
| Off the Wall at Sardi’s: The History of the Restaurant & Its People by Vincent Sardi, Thomas E. West 122 pages; (October 1993) Applause Theatre Book Publishers; ISBN: 1557830509 |
The Curtain Rises: A History of Theatre from Its Origins in Greek & Roman Times Through the English Restoration by Paula Gaj Sitarz 144 pages; (August 1997) Players Press, Incorporated; ISBN: 0887346855 |
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| The Cambridge Illustrated History of British Theatre by Simon Trussler 416 pages; (Sepember 2000) Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521794307 |
A History of the Theatre by Glynne W. Wickham 304 pages; (May 1995) Phaidon Press; ISBN: 0714827363 |
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Theatre in the United States: A Documentary History, 1750-1915 Theatre in the Colonies & United States by Barry B. Witham 355 pages; (October 2002) Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521308585 |
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Click the titles of the above books for their availability, or enter the title of a book not shown in the above listing in the search box below. |
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