Western Theater History
Ancient Greek Theater
The earliest days of western theater remain obscure, but the oldest surviving plays come from ancient Greece.
Aristotle is also important, primarily for his timeless theories on the
dramatic arts, although his theories, especially the Three Unities, have
been disputed. Some scholars believe they are meant to be descriptive, not prescriptive.
The above-mentioned playwrights made some of the most renowned Greek plays, but their staging had little or nothing to do with
twentieth-century theater. Their dramas were always part of a series of three performances, where the middle part only was the
drama, while the events always ended with dance. The dramas rarely had more than three actors (all male), who played the
different roles using masks. There was a chorus on the stage all the time which sang songs and sometimes spoke in unison. As far
as we know, each drama was played just a single time, at the traditional drama contest.
The importance of ancient Greek theater came largely in retrospect, as major playwrights like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe tried to recreate classical
theater unsuccessfully. Another school attempting to revive classical theater argued that Greek actors did not speak, but sang.
From this school came the opera.
Roman Theater
The theatre of ancient Rome was heavily influenced by the Greek tradition, and, as with
many other literary genres, Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the
comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander.
Theater in the Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages in Europe, theater was a vital part of civic, economic, and religious life. During this period after the
fall of Roman civilization, cities were abandoned, southern and western Europe became increasingly more agricultural. After
several hundred years towns re-emerged. The Roman Catholic church dominated religion, education and often politics. What remained
of theater was based on the Greek and Roman performing arts: mimes, minstrels and traveling jugglers.
Theater was reborn as liturgical dramas—written in Latin and dealing with bible stories—which would be performed
by priests or church members. Then came vernacular drama spoken in common language not Latin and were a more elaborate series of
one act dramas taking place in town squares or other parts of city. There were three types of vernacular dramas. Mystery or cycle
plays were short dramas based on the Old and New Testaments organized into historical cycles. Miracle plays dealt with the lives
of saints. Morality plays taught a lesson through allegorical characters representing virtues or faults. Secular plays in this
period existed, but medieval religious drama is most remembered today.
Plays were set up in individual scenic units called mansions or in wagon stages which were platforms mounted on wheels used to
move scenery. Often providing their own costumes, amateur performers in England were only men, but other countries had female
performers. The platform stage allowed for abrupt changes in location which was an unidentified space and not a specific
locale.
Since many of the most theatrically successful medieval religious plays were designed to teach Catholic doctrine, the Protestant Reformation targeted the theater, especially in
England, in an effort to stamp out allegiance to Rome. See Eamon Duffy's The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in
England, c.1400-c.1580 (1994).
Among the more notable religious plays were "The Summoning of Everyman" (an
allegory designed to teach the faithful that acts of Christian charity are necessary for entry into heaven), passion plays (such
as the Oberammergau Passion Play, which is still
performed every 10 years), and the great cycle plays (massive, festive wagon-mounted processions involving hundreds of actors,
and drawing pilgrims, tourists, and entrepreneurs) York Corpus Christi Play Simulator (http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/PSim/index.html). The morality play and mystery play (as they are known
in English) were two distinct genres. These plays did not have a script as such, but were passed on by memory and might exist,
and be written down, in many different forms.
As the Middle Ages ended, there was a decline of religious theater as the church weakened and more secular qualities overcame
religious theater.
Commedia dell'Arte
See Commedia dell'Arte
Renaissance drama
The Renaissance brought the genius of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and the Baroque theater produced Molière.
Neoclassical Theatre
Neoclassicism was the dominant form of theatre in the eighteenth century. It demanded decorum and rigorous adherence to the classical
unities.
Nineteenth Century Theatre
Nineteenth century theatre is dominated by the birth of realism and naturalism, which attempts to portray ordinary life
onstage.
Twentieth Century Theatre
Twentieth
century theatre often continues the project of realism but there has also been a
great deal of experimental theatre that rejects the
conventions of realism and earlier forms. Epic Theatre, absurdist theatre and postmodern
theatre are examples. However, the dominant form of theatre is now the musical.
Asian Theater History
Theater began in Asia during a period of 1000 years, roughly from 350 to 1330 A.D., a time when there was little theater in Europe. The cultures of Asia reached a high
point in philosophy and religion during this period, which left a permanent impression on Asian theater.
Japanese Theater
Noh
During the 14th century, there were small companies of actors in Japan who performed short, sometimes vulgar comedies. A
director of one of these companies, Kan'ami (1333-1384), had a son, Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443) who was considered one of the finest child actors in Japan.
When Kan'ami's company performed for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
(1358-1408), the Shogun of Japan, he implored Zeami
to have a court education for his arts. After Zeami succeeded his father, he continued to perform and adapt his style into what
is today Noh. A mixture of pantomime and vocal acrobatics, this style has fascinated the
Japanese for hundreds of years.
Bunraku
The countries of Asia, after a long period of civil wars and political disarray, were unified and at peace primarily due to
emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu (1600-1868). However, alarmed
at increasing Christian growth, he cut off contact from Japan to Europe and China and outlawed Christianity. When peace did come,
a flourish of cultural influence and growing merchant class demanded its own entertainment. The first form of theater to flourish
was known as Bunraku. The founder of and main contributor to Bunraku, Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), turned his form of theater into a true art form. Bunraku is a highly
stylized form of theater using puppets, today about 1/3d the size of a human. The men who control the puppets train their entire
lives to become master puppeteers, when they can then operate the puppet's head and right arm and choose to show their faces
during the performance. The other puppeteers, controlling the less important limbs of the puppet, cover themselves and their
faces in a black suit, to imply their invisibility. The dialogue is handled by a single person, who uses varied tones of voice
and speaking manners to simulate different characters. Chikamatsu wrote thousands of plays during his lifetime, most of which are
still used today.
Kabuki began shortly after Bunraku, legend has it by an actress named Okuni, who lived around the end of the sixteenth
century. Most of Kabuki's material came from Nõ and Bunraku, and its erratic dance-type movements are also an effect of Bunraku.
However, Kabuki is less formal and more distant than Nõ, yet very popular among the Japanese public. Actors are trained in many
varied things including dancing, singing, pantomime, and even acrobatics. Kabuki was first performed by young girls, then by
young boys, and by the end of the sixteenth century, Kabuki companies consisted of all men. The men who portrayed women on stage
were specifically trained to elicit the essence of a woman in their subtle movements and gestures.
Chinese Theatre
References
- Wilson, Edwin. Goldfarb, Alvin. Theater: The Lively Art. Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 4 edition (June 21, 2001). ISBN 0072462817
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