Western Plays

GREEKS
The art of theater originated from the
rituals and ceremonies of our
ancestors, this rites incorporated with
costumes, song and dance. It soon
included movements and acting that
became not only informative but
entertaining as well.
 Greek Theater
The origins of Greek theater were in connection
with honoring the gods specifically the god of
fertility and wine, Dionysus. The festival was
celebrated as a competition among the
playwrights.
There are two types of Greek Play:
Tragedy -a play in which the main character
goes through a series of events that leads to
his/her own downfall.

Satyr Plays- short comic parody of Greek

myth, a humorous afterpiece after three tragedies.
 Pattern of tragedy
•Prologos
•Parodos
•Episode
•Stacimon
Comedy - is a type of play
in which life is represented in
light and sometimes ironic
episodes.
The ancient Greeks staged their plays in open-
air theaters called Amphithear (theatron).
Surviving examples are the Theater
of Dionysus and Theater of
Epidaurus. They consist of
semicircular plan with elevated surrounding
the stage. The stage where actors and
chorus perform are called Orchestra.
Theater of Dionysus
Theater of Epidaurus
Later on, the skene was added to be used
as a backdrop and where actors can hide and
change their costumes. The Greek theaters
were so well designed in terms of acoustics
that even the softest whisper can be heard
from the last row.
 Greek Theater Actors, costumes
and Props
Greek plays utilized costumes and various
simple props. Thick boots enlarged globes to
make them look taller and bigger. They had to
exaggerate their movements and say their lines
loudly.
Prosternida- before the chest; to
imitate women’s breast
Progastrida- before belly
Cothornous- wooden shoes with tall
heels
They use masks calledProsopon with
exagerated facial expressions.
These masks help the actors switch
characters.
In traditional Greek play, only three
actors performed speaking roles
the rest are chorus and has
identical masks.
They also pioneered different stage elements:

•They used trapdoors to help actors enter and

exit the stage. The skene had the
pinakes or painted panels that serve as
scenic elements and were placed in front of
openings.
They used crane called mechane to
make actor appear as if he/she if flying.

Ekkyklema is a platform used to wheel

dead character.
They provide accompaniment to the chorus
which is a group of players who would give
background information or comments
regarding the events that are unfolding.
The chorus was composed of twelve to
fifteen members that sing, dance or recite
their lines.
Music was often used to
represent a mystical scene or to
suggest that a character is in
deep thought
 Greek Playwrights

Some notable ancient Greek playwrights

include Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides
Aristophanes.
Among the four only Aristophanes
wrote comedies.
Aeschylus wrote the trilogy Orestria,
he is also the father of tradegy plays.
Sophocles wrote the Oedipus Rex.
The Philippines has a long tradition of
theater even before the arrival of
Spaniards. Indigenous theater was
ritualistic in nature. The Spaniards
replaced this rituals with theater
performances that promoted Christianity.
Example of this was Komedya.
Philippine theater further evolved, theater
started using secular themes for its stories
as seen in theater plays called sarswela
the counter part of western plays/operas,
performed in prose combined with singing
and dancing and peppered with comedic
situations.
“efacharisto”