1.
When were ancient Greek plays performed?
They
were performed around 600 – 700 BC.
2.
How many years ago was this?
2715
years ago.
3.
What different types of plays were performed?
The three genres of
drama were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.
4.
What is a traditional Greek Theatre called?
It
was called a
Theatron.
5.
What shape was the theatre?The place where the
audience sat was circular and the place where the actors performed
was rectangular. It was similar to a circular thrust like staging.
6.
Find a picture of a traditional Greek Theatre for your blog.
7.
Why were the theatres built this way?
They were built this
way to allow the audience full line of sight when the performance was
going on.
8.
What different scenic elements are there?
The place where the
audience sat was quite rocky and rough; the acting area is very
smooth and flat coloured like sand. Furthermore, the audience were
raised above the actors looking down on the performance instead of
the same level.
9.
Who sat on the seats at the front?
Priests
sat on the front row of seats as these were shaped like thrones.
10.
Could women take part in, or attend the plays?
Women did not
participate in the drama that has come down to us simply because of custom. Drama was part of a festival for men involved with the
worship of Dionysus. But women had their own festivals and during
these they may have played the role of a goddess. Proper women
probably stayed at home. It may have been that the women slaves were
the only attendees.
11.
Name some of the Greek playwrights and their plays.
Two
Greek playwrights are:
Aeschylus (c. 525–456
BC):
The Persians (472 BC)
Seven Against Thebes
(467 BC)
The Suppliants (463 BC)
Sophocles
(c. 495-406 BC):
Antigone (c. 442 BC)
Oedipus the King (c.
429 BC)
Oedipus at Colonus (c.
401 BC)
12.
What did the audience throw at the actors who performed badly?
They
threw rotten vegetables or fruit and other displeasing objects at the actors.
13.
What did the actors wear?
They
wore masks and costumes like the pictures below.
14.
How did the audience sat at the back of the large theatre hear
anything?
It was the
Greeks' arrangement of the seats that aided with the acoustics and
allowed up to 14,000 people to hear the performance.
15.
Who is Dionysus?
Dionysus is the god of
wine and drunken revelry in Greek mythology. He is a patron of the
theatre and an agricultural/fertility god.
16.
Why is he important to Greek Theatre?
Dionysus was also the
god of drama, especially tragedy, since this theatre was said to have
been invented by the satyrs. They would sing and play roles, and the
very word tragedy means "goat song". Dionysus' drunken
party that followed him around was called Komos, and from that we
have the word comedy, which means "song by drunken party".
The Great Dionysian were annual festivals in Athens where dramatists
competed with their plays. The god was also connected to the Orphism,
again a mystery cult having to do with immortality and resurrection.
17.
What is a Greek chorus?
A Greek chorus in a
performance is a group of actors that collectively do actions or say
things at the same time.
18.
What purpose do the Chorus have in the performance?
The Chorus is used to
emphasise a certain word or action in the performance that the
audience remembers easily.
19.
How and why were masks used?
Masks
were a significant element in the worship of Dionysus at Athens,
likely used in ceremonial rites and celebrations. Most of the
evidence comes from only a few vase paintings of the 5th century BC,
such as one showing a mask of the god suspended from a tree with
decorated robe hanging below it.
20.
What were the masks made of?
No physical evidence
remains as the masks were made of organic materials and not
considered permanent objects. Nevertheless, the mask is known to have
been used since the time of Aeschylus and considered to be one of the
iconic conventions of classical Greek theatre.
