Robert Cohen - Theatre, Brief Version-McGraw-Hill Education (2016)

Theatre 195
The Greek theatre of Priene, in modern-day Turkey, dates from about 300 B.C. Unlike most Greek theatres, Priene was
never rebuilt by the Romans and thus remains one of the best examples of a hillside Greek theatron. The standing
row of columns and connecting lintel once made up the front of the stone skene, or stagehouse. © Robert Cohen
and later became the root of the term dramatis personae,
or “cast of characters.”) Each tragic actor wore elevated
shoes (kothurnoi), an elaborate headdress (onkos), and
a long colorful gown (himation) with a tunic (chlamys)
over it. The ornate costumes and props helped enhance
the larger-than-life struggles depicted in the drama—
no ordinary-looking characters could so do. Plays were
performed with only two (later three) principal actors,
who, by changing masks, could play several parts each
during the course of a play. The actors were supported
by a chorus of twelve or fifteen singer-dancers (usually
representing the local populace) who chanted their lines
in unison or through a single chorus leader. When the
skene became an elevated stage for the principal actors,
the chorus members remained in the orchestra below,
separated from the main interactions.
Greek tragedy was chanted or sung, not spoken.
Unfortunately, the music has not survived. And the
chorus danced, as it did in the dithyrambic ceremonies,
sometimes formally, sometimes with wild abandon.
Greek tragedy, therefore, is the foundation not merely of
Western drama but of Western musical theatre, including
opera. Greek comedy, in contrast, provided the foundation
of today’s burlesque, satire, and television sitcoms.
The plays of Aristophanes, referred to as Old Comedy,
are filled with broad physical humor, gross sexual gags
and innuendos, and brilliant wordplay and repartee, often
at the expense of contemporary politicians and celebrities.
The later plays of Menander, known as New Comedy,
gave rise to “stock characters” (such as the bumbling
suitor and the timid warrior) and comic plot devices
(such as mistaken identity) that still supply the elements
of many of today’s television shows.
The City Dionysia was a weeklong festival of celebrations
and dramatic competitions. On the first day, during
introductory ceremonies, each playwright introduced his
cast and announced the theme of his work. The second
day featured processions, sacrifices, and the presentation