Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
History of Western Theatre
From Greek to Roman Theatre
The enormous importance of theatre in ancient Athens
becomes evident in this graceful edifice.
It was built by Lysicrates
to commemorate the victory of the Dionysia.
Lysicrates was the financer or 'choregos' of the winning play
about a myth of the god Dionysus.
The monument served in fact as a pedestal
for the bronze tripod set upon its summit,
a trophy for the victor of the contest.
A copy of this marvellous monument, with a tripod on top,
can be seen in Berlin.
Ater the victory on the Persians,
Athens was rebuild on a grand scale.
Magnificent temples arose on the Acropolis.
Pericles (495 - 429 BC), Athenian statesman at the time.
Parthenon
By this time, the orchestra of the Theater of Dionysus
on the southern hillside of the Acropolis,
was known to be circular.
During the Dionysia festival, at the rear of the orchestra,
a temporary wooden skene was placed.
The theater was further excavated
to make a more secure foundation for the wooden seats.
It is likely that the seats were divided
into at least ten different wedges ('kerkides'),
for the ten 'tribes' which made up the citizens of Attica.
Within these sections one part may have been set aside for women.
In the 440s BC, adjacent to the Theatre of Dionysus,
one of the first permanent roofed European theatres was built:
the Odeion of Pericles.
It might have been used
for a variety of dramatic activities and recitations,
Using existing archaeology,
one suggests that the roof would have been supported by a 'forest' of columns,
resulting in a sight line disaster
for at least forty percent of the audience,
Not until the fourth century BC
- under statesman Lycurgus -
the Theatre of Dionysus was rebuilt in stone.
This was the time Menander began producing New Comedies.
Also racked stone tiers were constructed,
where wooden benches resided before,
Conjectural reconstruction - 17,000 spectators
Theater of Dionysus, 327 BC
Orchestra - dancing place
Skene - stage building
Paraskenia - projecting wings 'beside the skene'
Theatron - 'seeing place (koilon / cavea / auditorium)
Probably, foreign visitors sat in the upper part.
Proskene, a low, acting platform 'in front of the skene'
Sanctuary of Dionysus, with the old and new temple
Paradoi - entrances into the orchestra
Diazoma - upper and lower crosswalk
The front row consisted of 76 marble stalls.
Dionysus Theatre today
Prohedria - 'front-stalls' reserved for priests, high ranking officials.
Odeion of Pericles
By the time the semi-barbaric king of the Balkans,
Alexander the Great,
took over the reign of all city-states in Greece,
plays were no longer performed exclusively at Dionysion festivals.
Many new theaters were built.
The best preserved theatre in all of Greece
is the theater at Epidaurus (14,000 seats)
This theater retained its classical circular orchestra.
Delphi, 350 BC, 5,000 seats, spectecularly sited.
All these so-called Hellenistic theaters
were not built in the classical style
of the Dionysian theater in Athens.
Pergamum, 250 BC, enlarged in 197-159 BC -10,000 seats
Ephesus, stone skene 125-100 BC
Hellenistic reconstruction (40 AD), 25,000 seats!
Probably the most important Hellenistic inovation
was the raised stage or 'logeion' (speaking place).
It is not sure how in the plays this heightened stage
was used as an acting space.
Proskenion, lower story of the skene, 8 - 13 ft high
Proskenion of the theatre at Priene
Reconstruction of the Hellenistic Priene theatre
Priene, 332 - 330 BC, 5,000 - 6,500 seats
Episkenion, façade of the second story
It is suggested that each of these 'thyromata'
could have served as a miniature proscenium arc.
The orchestra of Hellenistc theaters often had a two-third circle shape.
Also the classical Dionysus theatre underwent a Hellenistic remodeling.
second century BC
And then the Romans came…
veni, vidi, vici... (I came, I saw, I conquered)
In 164 BC mainland greece became became a Roman province.
And for the third time the Dionysus theater in Athens was fundamentally renovated,
This time by Roman emperor Nero in 61 AD.
Striking differences with the Hellenistic style
is the lowered stage with enlarged surface,
and the heightened skene.
The orchestra was surrounded by a stone barricade in order to protect the spectators (gladiatorial combats),
The skene was further adorned with many statues and other sculptures.
After the first century AD
most of the existing theaters we remodeled
to the Roman ideal of theatre architecture
like this theater at Taormina (Sicily).
In Rome for a long time the *** of theaters was thwarted.
Only temporary, wooden theaters were built.
Theater was deemed a threat to Roman morality.
In Greece, the theater was a symbol of democracy,
but the Roman Republic was aristocratic.
The oldest truly Roman stone theater was not built in Rome,
it was built by colonists in Pompeii in 75 BC,
because they were out of the direct reach of the Roman Senate.
At this square in Rome the few remains of the first Roman, stone, open-air theater can be found.
The distinguished, Roman general and political leader, Pompey
was permitted to build this theater in 55 BC
This architecture was copied for nearly all future Roman theaters and amphitheaters
A huge linen or woolen canvas (velum or velarium)
was stretched over the whole of the auditorim,
to protect the spectators from the sun and rain.
This first Roman theatre was also for centuries the greatest theatre in Europe,
with seating capacity of 28.000 spectators.
Rivalry between militairy leaders in Rome led to the *** of two more theaters near the Tiber River.
Theatres of Balbus (13 BC) and Marcellus (11 BC).
As part of the infallible "bread and circuses" measures
for controlling the crowds,
under the reign of the emperors
throughout the whole empire Roman theaters were built.
Mérida (Spain), 15 BC, 6,000 spectators
Orange (France), 10 -25 AD, 5,000 - 9,000
Bosra (Syria), second century BC, 6,000 seats, 2.500 stands
Sabratha (Libya), 190 AD, 5,000
Aspendos (Turkey), 161 - 180 AD, 15,000 - 20.000
Greek theatres were not enclosed.
The audience
- especially in the upper part of the auditorium -
could see the surrounding countryside
as well as the actors and chorus.
Contrary to the Greek theaters, most of the Roman theaters
were free standing architectural structures.
Classical - Hellenistic - Roman
Orchestras = full circle, 2/3 circle, semi-circle
Stages - Proskene, Logeion, Pulpitum
Theatre of Orange (France)
These are the remains where it all begun:
The Dionysus Theater in Athens,
with its Grecco_Roman orchestra.
The first dramas were staged here in 600 BC,
and the theater functioned until at least the fourth century AD.
“Thus ended a truly remarkable history,
for few other theatres can boast a thousand years of continuous usage”.
These are the words of Oscar Brockett,
without his famous book on the History of Theatre,
our videos would not have been possible.