We tried to work with focus today however being a joined class; it was hard to concentrate along with the added excitement due to a visit from Ed Miliband. However that work we did today is very relevant for the practical work that we have to do next term.
Task 1:
When were ancient Greek plays performed?
Plays in ancient Greece were performed on special occasions and religious festivals, with the financial support of the richer citizens who undertook this proudly as their civil duty.
The plays were always on open air theatres, some of which are still used today. Especially the Epidaurus theatre, which has a fantastic acoustic characteristic which is supposedly the fact that even a whisper can be heard on the last row of seats, many meters away from the centre. It is one of the best preserved original theatres left.
The plays were always carrying a strong message for one cause or another and some are just as contemporary today as they were then.
Last lesson we learned that the plays usually contain a mixture of Apoll
How many years ago was this?
This was around 2,350 years ago.
What different types of plays were performed?
The theatre of Ancient Greece flourished between 550 BC and 220 BC. A festival honouring the god Dionysus was held in Athens, out of which three dramatic genres emerged: tragedy, comedy and the satyr play.
Tragedy: Greek tragedy was a popular and influential form of drama performed in theatres across ancient Greece from the late 6th century BCE. The most famous playwrights of the genre were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides and many of their works were still performed centuries after their initial premiere. Greek tragedy led to Greek comedy and, together, these genres formed the foundation upon which all modern theatre is based.The main protagonist of a tragedy commits some terrible crime without realizing how foolish and arrogant he has been. All Greek plays would contain a moral throughout their lyrical style which was usually performed in a poetic way.
There was Comedy: Greek comedy was a popular and influential form of theatre performed across ancient Greece from the 6th century BCE. It was usually based around vanity and foolishness of a character.
Satyr Plays: These short plays were performed between the acts of tragedies and made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters.
What is a traditional Greek Theatre called?
Ancient Greek Drama or Ancient Greek Theatre
What shape was the theatre?
Theatres were very large, open-air structures that took advantage of sloping hillsides for their terraced seating. They usually resembled a rounded shape much like a bowl.
A picture of a traditional Greek Theatre:
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(Skene, meaning ‘tent’ was used as a type of changing room and as an entrance and exit. It later acted as a place to store the scenic elements in theatre).
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Why the theatres were built this way?
Because of drama's close connection with religion, theatres were often located in or near sanctuaries. The theatres suggest that the original orchestras were full circles but there is no real proof. The acoustics in this theatre, however, are magnificent, and words spoken very softly in the orchestra can be heard in the top rows (as long as your neighbours are quiet). The shape of the theatre allows sound to travel easily with room for more than 15,000 people in the audience.
Different scenic elements are there:
The first traditional scenery appeared in ancient Greece around the time of Sophocles. At first, images were painted on the exterior walls of the skene. This led to painted scenic panels called pinakes, which were much like modern scenic flats, and eventually to the creation of the periaktoi, a three-sided pivoting triangle with a different scene painted on each side.
Who sat on the seats at the front?
The front seats were reserved for the highest and holiest of people, like the Priests for example (there was also the seat of honour which was reserved for The High Priest if Dionysus). It was then divided be royality. The Nobles (wealthy), and the Lower Class (poor people)
Could women take part in, or attend the plays?
Woman could not take part in the plays nor were they allowed to watch the plays, they were thought of as inferior whereas the men were thought of as superior. Women were very disadvantaged in Ancient Greece and were also not allowed to attend celebrations such as the Olympics. Males dominated women a lot in Ancient Greek, much like they still do today in certain places in the world.
Some of the Greek playwrights and their plays.
- ARISTOPHANES wrote Lysistrata which is a comedy. He also wrote Frogs which was one of his best plays. He wrote 44 comedies before he dies, 11 of which we still have today.
- EURIPIDES wrote Alcestis, Medea, Iphigenia at Aulis, and Hecuba. We are fortunate enough to still have 19 of his plays.
- SOPHOCLES wrote Asclepius to Athens and was thought of as the greatest Greek playwright. He wrote 123 plays, a mere 7 survived
- AESCHYLUS produced his trilogy Oresteia. He wrote 89 plays, 7 of which survived.
What did the audience throw at the actors who performed badly?
Rotten vegetables were thrown at actors that performed badly whereas actors that performed to well were given a round of applause in appreciation.
What did the actors wear?
Actors who had tragic roles had boots called cothurni that elevated them above everyone else. Those with comedic roles wore thin soled shoes called socks. They also wore the clothing of their character along with a mask that would reflect the characters emotion in a over the top manor. This would also enhance the genre of the play.
How did the audience sat at the back of the large theatre hear anything?
The layout of the theatre meant that it had brilliant acoustics. This meant that the actors voices would echo throughout the theatre, their voices would travel up the rows, making it easy for everyone to hear them clearly.
Who is Dionysus?
Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine, later considered a patron of the arts. He created wine and spread the art of viticulture. He had a dual nature; on one hand, he brought joy and divine ecstasy; or he would bring brutal and blinding rage, thus reflecting the dual nature of wine. Dionysus and his followers could not be bound by fetters. Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, and he was the only god with a mortal parent.
Find out more about his Greek myth here:
Why is he important to Greek Theatre?
Because he influences Greek culture and was worshipped buy them.
What is a Greek chorus?
A group of 12-50 people that would dance and sing in unison.
What purpose to the Chorus have in the performance?
They were used to emphasize an emotion and to tell a story in an abstract form. The chorus simply held the play together and was also a way to make transitions smooth.
How and why were masks used?
The masks gave the play a universal feel. It made sure that emotions could be expressed in such a dramatic way that the whole audience could see it. The masks also allowed men to play the roles of other characters including women. This meant that the usage of women was not needed and the audience could follow the play without getting confused due to the character changes.
What were the masks made of?
The masks were most likely made out of lightweight, organic materials like stiffened linen, leather, wood, or cork, with the wig consisting of human or animal hair.
Task 2 - Notes on videos of the link below:
- They use music to help create a theme and emotion through the production and also to help the play run smoothly.
- In plays, such as Antigone, they show the chorus as individuals to show that everyone has separate lives but also how they work together in unity. The use of statuses creates an invisible relationship between the characters that cannot be overrun.
- The chorus provides the perspective of the community, it is everyone, you and me, society. A although statuses might change the hierarchy of the characters, there is a gravitational pull in the Chorus which keeps them all together.
- The plays contain political environments and contain very strong meanings, this is often shown in the conflict between the characters. The plays also picked up on the importance of women even though in reality women went very much 'seen but not herd'.
- That the usual concept in Greek Theatre is that the protagonist is a man, whereas in Antigone, the protagonist is a young girl.
- Much of the programs that we watch today such as 'The Simpsons' or 'The Muppet Show' are influenced by Ancient Greek Theatre and their Choruses (in fact there are very few plays that are not influenced but Ancient Greek).
- Only 3 people performed on stage, therefore the masks came in useful.
- Antigone focuses on love, tragedy, loyalty, religion and courage in my point of view. It show Haemon's love for Antigone and Antigone's love towards her brother, the loyalty she had for him and the Gods and the lengths that she was willing to take in order to fulfil her destiny. She shows courage, standing up to the King and confronting him on his status compared to the Gods, she would rather dishonour men than the Gods.
TASK 3 - How can we use Multimedia effectively in performances?
What do we mean by the phrase 'multimedia in performance'?
A multimedia performance uses technology to add depth and dimension to a piece.
Examples of Multimedia and how they can be used:
TYPE OF MEDIA
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EXAMPLE OF USE IN PERFORMANCE
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POSITIVES OF USING IT…
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NEGATIVES OF USING IT…
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VIDEO CAMERA
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To record the play
| Can be played back or used during the performance overlapping | Battery capacity and money issue due to amount of cameras needed |
PROJECTION
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To show flashbacks or a dream
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It would give the audience an insight on the current situation
| Actors could block the projection rays depending on how the staging is laid out. |
Phone Call
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Phoning an audience member without them knowing
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It would be simultaneous and creative. It would also break the fourth wall, giving the audience an intimate relationship.
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Phones should be off during performances. If the audience were told to leave them on then they could go off for other reasons.
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Slide show
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Used as a backdrop
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Would create a detailed surrounding immediately
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Actors could block the projection rays depending on how the staging is laid out.
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Picture puzzle
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All audience members have a puzzle piece under their chairs. They then have to put it together.
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Would be interactive and fun, has the potential to be very powerful.
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If a piece got lost or depending on audience ability and mind, it could take up too much time.
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Lighting
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To create emotion - e.g flashing lights when dramatic
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It would build an atmosphere.
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People with epilepsy would find this disturbing.
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Sound
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Due to it being Greek it should be made be the chorus
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It would create a slick dramatic effect
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It could sound messy, if people missed cues.
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Photographs
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Like a puzzle to make up one big picture
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Would make the audience feel as if they were helping to discover something.
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Could end up in chaos
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Fans
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Create a 4D effect. If it’s a windy day etc.
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Would make the play more realistic.
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Could simply be a technical error or money issue.
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Try to think of a show you have seen at the theatre that has used multimedia. What type of multimedia was used? Did it enhance the performance? How and why?
Matilda the Musical uses lasers and smoke machines to capture the terror of the play. It enhances both the performance and everyone's childhood fears of ‘The Chokey’. It does this by not just encasing the stage in a fountain of lasers but by also containing the whole audience, making them feel a part of the the show and making them reliving their childhood fears with Matilda.
Examples of how multimedia can be used in performance:
Task 4: Antigone
The family tree picture of Antigone's family:
Helpful pronunciation:
2. Read the synopsis:
After the bloody siege of Thebes by Polynices and his allies, the city stands unconquered. Polynices and his brother Eteocles, however, are both dead, killed by each other, according to the curse of Oedipus, their father.
Outside the city gates, Antigone tells Ismene that Creon has ordered that Eteocles, who died defending the city, is to be buried with full honors, while the body of Polynices, the invader, is left to rot. Furthermore, Creon has declared that anyone attempting to bury Polynices shall be publicly stoned to death. Outraged, Antigone reveals to Ismene a plan to bury Polynices in secret, despite Creon's order. When Ismene timidly refuses to defy the king, Antigone angrily rejects her and goes off alone to bury her brother.
Creon discovers that someone has attempted to offer a ritual burial to Polynices and demands that the guilty one be found and brought before him. When he discovers that Antigone, his niece, has defied his order, Creon is furious. Antigone makes an impassioned argument, declaring Creon's order to be against the laws of the gods themselves. Enraged by Antigone's refusal to submit to his authority, Creon declares that she and her sister will be put to death.
Haemon, Creon's son who was to marry Antigone, advises his father to reconsider his decision. The father and son argue, Haemon accusing Creon of arrogance, and Creon accusing Haemon of unmanly weakness in siding with a woman. Haemon leaves in anger, swearing never to return. Without admitting that Haemon may be right, Creon amends his pronouncement on the sisters: Ismene shall live, and Antigone will be sealed in a tomb to die of starvation, rather than stoned to death by the city.
The blind prophet Tiresias warns Creon that the gods disapprove of his leaving Polynices unburied and will punish the king's impiety with the death of his own son. After rejecting Tiresias angrily, Creon reconsiders and decides to bury Polynices and free Antigone.
But Creon's change of heart comes too late. Antigone has hanged herself and Haemon, in desperate agony, kills himself as well. On hearing the news of her son's death, Eurydice, the queen, also kills herself, cursing Creon.
Alone, in despair, Creon accepts responsibility for all the tragedy and prays for a quick death. The play ends with a somber warning from the chorus that pride will be punished by the blows of fate.
Now answer these questions:
What do you think of this story?
The story was good and Creon deserved everything he got, it was karma, and that karma slaped him right in the face. I feel a bit sorry for Creon in the end and so I have to remind myself of what he did to get where he ends up...then I don’t pity him any more.
Why do you think Sophocles wrote this play?
To teach the audience to have courage. Antigone stood up for what she believed in despite the fatal consequence. This play also kind of touches subjects such as religion and feminism which I like.
Why do you think the Greek audiences might have wanted to see this play?
Read the first scene from 'Antigone':
If you get stuck with understanding the text:
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/the-oedipus-trilogy/summary-and-analysis-antigone/lines-1116
Scene
The same as in Oedipus the King, an open space before the royal palace, once that of Oedipus, at Thebes. The backscene represents the front of the palace, with three doors, of which the central and largest is the principal entrance into the house. The time is at daybreak on the morning after the fall of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, and the flight of the defeated Argives. ANTIGONE calls ISMENE forth from the palace, in order to speak to her alone.
ANTIGONE
Ismene, sister, mine own dear sister, knowest thou what ill there is, of all bequeathed by Oedipus, that Zeus fulfils not for us twain while we live? Nothing painful is there, nothing fraught with ruin, no shame, no dishonour, that I have not seen in thy woes and mine.
And now what new edict is this of which they tell, that our Captain hath just published to all Thebes? Knowest thou aught? Hast thou heard? Or is it hidden from thee that our friends are threatened with the doom of our foes?
ISMENE
No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft of brothers twain, killed in one day by twofold blow; and since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, know no more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous.
ANTIGONE
I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear alone.
ISMENE
What is it? 'Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.
ANTIGONE
What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices-as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will.
Such, 'tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,-yes, for me,-and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line.
ISMENE
Poor sister,-and if things stand thus, what could I help to do or undo?
ANTIGONE
Consider if thou wilt share the toil and the deed.
ISMENE
In what venture? What can be thy meaning?
ANTIGONE
Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?
ISMENE
Thou wouldst bury him,-when 'tis forbidden to Thebes?
ANTIGONE
I will do my part,-and thine, if thou wilt not,-to a brother. False to him will I never be found.
ISMENE
Ah, over-bold! when Creon hath forbidden?
ANTIGONE
Nay, he hath no right to keep me from mine own.
ISMENE
Ah me! think, sister, how our father perished, amid hate and scorn, when sins bared by his own search had moved him to strike both eyes with self-blinding hand; then the mother wife, two names in one, with twisted noose did despite unto her life; and last, our two brothers in one day,-each shedding, hapless one, a kinsman's blood,-wrought out with mutual hands their common doom. And now we in turn-we two left all alone think how we shall perish, more miserably than all the rest, if, in defiance of the law, we brave a king's decree or his powers. Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things yet sorer. I, therefore, asking the Spirits Infernal to pardon,seeing that force is put on me herein, will hearken to our rulers. for 'tis witless to be over busy.
ANTIGONE
I will not urge thee,-no nor, if thou yet shouldst have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honour.
ISMENE
I do them no dishonour; but to defy the State,-I have no strength for that.
ANTIGONE
Such be thy plea:-I, then, will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love.
ISMENE
Alas, unhappy one! How I fear for thee!
ANTIGONE
Fear not for me: guide thine own fate aright.
ISMENE:
At least, then, disclose this plan to none, but hide it closely,-and so, too, will I.
ANTIGONE
Oh, denounce it! Thou wilt be far more hateful for thy silence, if thou proclaim not these things to all.
ISMENE
Thou hast a hot heart for chilling deeds.
ANTIGONE
I know that I please where I am most bound to please.
ISMENE
Aye, if thou canst; but thou wouldst what thou canst not.
ANTIGONE
Why, then, when my strength fails, I shall have done.
ISMENE
A hopeless quest should not be made at all.
ANTIGONE
If thus thou speakest, thou wilt have hatred from me, and will justly be subject to the lasting hatred of the dead. But leave me, and the folly that is mine alone, to suffer this dread thing; for I shall not suffer aught so dreadful as an ignoble death.
ISMENE
Go, then, if thou must; and of this be sure,-that though thine errand is foolish, to thy dear ones thou art truly dear.
Questions:
What information does Antigone give to Ismene at the beginning of this scene?
That Creon wants one of their brothers not to be buried and that anyone caught trying to bury him will be stoned to death.
What has just happened in the sisters’ family?
They have lost their two brothers in a battle (both brothers were on opposite sides)
What does Antigone plan to do? Why?
She is planning on breaking the law and will be going to bury her brother as the Gods would want.
Does Ismene plan to join her? Why or why not?
No, Ismene is very set on her decision to not be a part of the burial. She believes in keeping the law and would listen to the King’s laws over the Gods laws. She also agrees that women are of less importance than men. Despite her decision, she does lover her sister and wishes her luck.
What story does the chorus tell us about?
Tells up how Antigone will defy Creon.
Extra facts:
-Surrounding the origins of theatre there is a strong link with the rituals performed in the worship of Dionysos such as the sacrifice of goats - a song ritual called trag-ōdia - and the wearing of masks. Indeed, Dionysos became known as the god of theatre and perhaps there is another connection - the drinking rites which resulted in the worshipper losing full control of their emotions and in effect becoming another person, much as actors (hupokritai) hope to do when performing. The music and dance of Dionysiac ritual was most evident in the role of the chorus and the music provided by an aulos player, but rhythmic elements were also preserved in the use of first, trochaic tetrameter and then iambic trimeter in the delivery of the spoken words.
-Apperance of the Satyrs
The Satyrs were mythological creatures with the upper part of their body of a man and the lower half of a goat. The leader of the Satyrs was god Pan.
The Satyrs' Way of Life
Usually the Satyrs resided in woods and mountains or were accompanying the Greek god of wine Dionysus on his journeys, dancing around joyfully with the Nymphs and drinking.
The Satiric Drama
The Satyrs also gave their name to a specific type of theatrical play, the satiric drama, that parodies popular myths of Greek gods and heroes.
