Ancient Greek Theatre Architecture Essay Research Paper — страница 2

several groups of actors. The main actors roles were that of the gods or leading characters. They would play roles such as Apollo, Agamemnon, or Aegisthus. The chorus served many functions in Greek drama. First, it was an agent in the play; it gave advice, expressed opinions, asked questions, and sometimes took an active part in the action. Second, it often established the ethical or social frameworks of the event and set up a standard against which the action may be have been judged. Third, it frequently served as an ideal spectator, reacting to the events and characters as the dramatist might have hoped the audience would. Fourth, it helped set the overall mood of the play. Fifth, it added movement, spectacle, song, and dance. Sixth, it served an important rhythmical function,

creating pauses during which the audience may have reflected upon what had happened (Brockett 4ed 29). Then there was the role of the messenger or servant. Tragedies were never shown on stage. Therefore, when a tragedy took place, one of these two characters broke the news. If the tragedy was nearby, such as a murder in the next room, it was the servant s duty to break the news. If the tragedy was far away, such as a war, the messenger would break the news (Brockett 4ed 29). In the early days, they held the performances in open spaces surrounded by a hillside where the audience sat. This is what was known as the theatron or watching place . There may have been trees around to provide some shade for comfort. The sixth century BCE saw the addition of wooden seats for the comfort of

the guests. This resulted in a more permanent structure. Supposedly, after a fire broke out in the middle of the fifth century BCE in Athens, stone steps, flanked by wings that curved or angled forward, replaced the wooden seats (Norwich 56). At the same time, the interest in theatre was in full swing. Athens at the time was the cultural Mecca of the world (Brockett 4ed 41). As a result, they had to keep increasing the size of the theatre. The lower part of the theatre in Athens had 34 rows while the upper part had 21 bringing the total number of rows to 55. The capacity of the theatre was anywhere from 14,000 to 17,000 spectators (Brockett 4ed 40). Even with this huge capacity for spectators, with the population of Athens around 150,000-200,000 residents, only a small portion of

the society could attend. The front seats were called proedria and were reserved for officials and priests. The honorable spectator of the theatre was the Priest of Elefthereos Dionysus (Foundation 1). The action took place in an area called the orchestra. Almost twenty meters in diameter, the orchestra was a flat, circular space. Also called the dancing place it is the place where the chorus mainly performed. As the theatre grew, so did the orchestra. During this time of growth, it underwent a transformation from a circular space to a semi-circular, sometimes even an oval or rectangular space (Rawl 12). The circular shape was the most dominate one, being the closest to the Dionysian Cult. The circle was to have had supernatural powers (Bangham 1). At the center of the orchestra,

in front of the skene, was situated the thymeli or altar. The priests would use it for religious ceremonies. Later it was used for the leader of the chorus. Behind the orchestra, across from the theatron, is the skene. The skene started as a tent, changed to a booth, then to a wooden hut, and finally to a large building with doors. The skene would act as a backdrop or a changing place for the actors. The side facing the audience was decorated to look like a palace or temple. As the skene developed it would be decorated with painted scenery. On the front of the skene, there were three doors. These doors were used in various ways. The center door was where the priest or the leading actors would enter. The chorus, messengers, or servants would enter from either side door. The flat

roof of the skene was called the theologion. There, the main actors would act out their parts of the drama during the performance (Foundation 1). The theologion was also a place that was reserved for the gods. Along the back wall of the skene was a narrow, raised platform, called the legeion. The legeion was a place designed just for the actors. It is unclear whether they would act back there or whether it was used for a dressing room of sorts. In later years, a paraskenia was added. The inner faces of the paraskenia were originally open with doors being added later. The decoration of the paraskenia could have the same theme as the skene or they could have had its own theme. In the Greek theatres, the orchestra and the paradoi separated the theatron and the skene. The paradoi