History of Drama Final Exam Review
Hebrew/Egyptian Drama
Egyptian drama dates back to 3000 B.C.
Drama means “to do” or “to act”
Egyptian Drama revolved around religion
5 Types of Plays
Medicinal Play-play about healing
The Heb Sed was a play celebrating the pharaoh's 30th year on the throne
Coronation Festival celebrated the crowning of a pharaoh
Isis, Osiris, and Set were the main characters in the Abydos Passion Play
Pyramid Plays-done to ensure safe passage into afterlife.
Hebrew Drama
Job and Song of Songs both have dramatic structure
God and the devil are the first speakers in the book of Job.
No reference to definite theatre in Bible
Staging
Blocking—the director’s planned movement for the actors
Stage Directions—usually included in the script, the entrances, exits, and some movements or expressions for the characters
Staging: Body Positions
Greek Drama
Golden Age of Greek Drama: 500-400 B.C.
Drama was sacred and religious in Greek culture.
Tragedy literally means “goat song”
Hubris is defined as excessive amounts of pride or arrogance
Deus ex machina is a machine used to fly in a god to “save the day”
Winners of the Dionysus festival won an ivy wreath
Costuming
RobesRaised BootsWigsMasks
Greek Chorus
Sang in unison
Wore masks
Changed in number depending on the playwright
Were constantly on stage
Greek gods
Dionysus-god of wine, drama, and fertility
Zeus-king of the gods
Greek Playwrights
Sophocles wrote Oedipus
Aeschylus-the Father of Greek Tragedy
Euripides is known as “The Great Humanizer”
Aristotle-wrote rules of drama called The Three Unities
Theatron “Seeing Place”
Audience
Orchestra
Altar
Paraskenion
Skene
Roman Drama-Terms
Acted on a raised stage called a pulpitum
Closet dramas were too graphic to be shown on stage.
A claque was a person paid to influence the audience
Romans focused on comedy in their plays.
Roman Playwrights
Terence-first black playwright
Seneca-only major tragedian
Plautus-used Greek plays
Roman Theatre’s Decline
Spectacles in the Coliseum and the fall of Rome in 476 A.D. lead to the fall of Roman Drama.
Theatres were banned
Hindu Drama
Golden Age 500-300 B.C.
Plays written in Sanskrit
First culture to promote women actors
Always ended happily
Chinese Drama
Themes of ancestor worship, military glory, faithfulness to husband
Women were forbidden to act until the 18th century
Costume colors signified a meaning
Propaganda Period
Propaganda period began after WWII
Plays were used to promote government policy and Communism
Japanese Drama: Noh
Formal
Characterized by sedate postures expressing an attitude
Polished floor with jars underneath for a unique sound
Japanese Drama:Kubuki
Common man’s drama
Began in 1600 A.D.
Every movement has a meaning
Kabuki Theatre
Trap Door
Revolving Stage
Extravagant Scenery
A “flowerway” for actors to enter
Kabuki Costumes
Silk Costumes
Thick Makeup
Heavy Wigs
Medieval Drama
Also called Dark Ages because of the lack of culture and growth after the fall of Rome
Medieval Terms
Trope-short dramas turned into masses by the church
Hell’s Mouth was a stage device—a dragon jaw that would open with smoke and flames
Passion Play—Started in Oberammergau—depicted the life of Christ
Commedia dell’ Arte-professional improv
Pageant Wagon
Plays performed in “cycles”
Double-Decker
Bottom used for costume changes
Similar to parade floats
Action on upper stage and on the street
The M’s
Mummings
Mystery
Morality (Everyman)
Miracle
Manners
Elizabethan Theatres
Famous Theatres: Globe, The Rose, The Swan—nicknamed “Wooden O’s”
Elizabethan Staging
Balcony (for love scenes)
Tiring House (for exits)
Discovery Space (Small interior settings)
Platform surrounded by audience on three-sides
Open air for light—no artificial lighting used
Groundlings
“Cheap Seats”
People stood in the space right in front of the stage
For everyday citizens (all were welcome to the theatre)
Famous Playwrights
Christopher Marlowe—killed in a bar brawl at 29
Ben Johnson—gifted in Satire
William Shakespeare—coined thousands of words and phrases; born in Stratford-on-Avon; had a wife and three kids; loved by Queen Elizabeth; 38 plays attributed to him
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