Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The theatre

Primitive Theatre

They would do reenactments of a hunt; individuals would represent the hunter and the prey.
They performed "acts" about they daily life.

Greek Theatre

It was a religious festival in honor of the gods.
It was held for the first time in Athens.
The festival, nicely put, was a drunken orgy party; it was thought to have lasted anywhere between 7 to 15 days.
Play wrights would enter plays into a contest; the winner won money and ivy wreath as a symbol of victory.

There were three types or forms of theatre.
Comedy, which was a light humorous drama with a happy ending.
Tragedy, which was that the main character suffers a disastrous end.
Satyr or satire, which consisted mainly of making fun of the gods.

Aristotle wrote the petics that explains the important topics of theatre such as plot, theme, character.

They are considered to be the most important time in theatre history.

Middle ages.

Theatre was banned by the church, thought it was evil and vulgar. In an effort to spread the theachings of the God further into society, the CYCLE plays begin which are a series of biblical plays.

Renaissance.

During this period theatre was very influential and elaborately staged productions were made to entertain the aristocracy. Theatre moved indoors and better methods of lightning were developed.
Music, moving and dance were introduced.
It spread throughout Europe; french copies italy. Spain makes religious plays.

Shakespeare's Theatre.

William shakespear made around 37 plays and more than 100 poems and sonnets.
William works were enjoyed by both royal courts as well as common people.
Audience members did not expect realistic portrayals of life during this period.
1660- women are allowed to act. (officialy and legally)


Musical Theatre

started in the U.S around the 1880's
It's a combination of acting and singing and dancing. Like the following play...

A clip from the song "For Good" in WICKED the Musical.
Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, has music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman.
The production is directed by Joe Mantello with musical staging by Wayne Cilento.

I like this play mainly because of the story. because it's explaining the Wizard of Oz in a different way, so it helps you to understand why is the wicked witch of the west like that, and tells you the story of her and Glinda the good.

No comments:

Post a Comment