The theatre of Ancient Greece flourished between 550 BC and 220 BC. A festival honouring the god Dionysus was held in Athens, out of which three dramatic genres emerged: tragedy, comedy and the satyr play.
We know a lot about this era of theatre because there are 30 existing Greek tragedy texts and 14 Comedy texts existing as well as many paintings and remains of theatres in ruined form.
The Greeks were a very competitive nation ( they began the Olympic games!) and so playwrites would compete against each other ( sponsored by a rich man) to create plays that were then voted on and if yours won then you had your name engraved on the wall of the theatre and were forever remembered in glory.
It was established that there were 4 main playwrites that were the best. 3 were tragedy writers and one was comedic.
This link shows a National Theatre short film about Greek Theatre.
www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=283&v=aSRLK7SogvE&feature=emb_title
The three tragedy writers were citizens of Athens and were;
Sophocles wrote Antigone around 442 BC.
Greek Tragedy looks at SUFFERING and HUMAN TRAGEDY directly in the face and the reason why the plays are still performed today is that their themes are Universal and timeless. We still suffer the same tragedies today. People are suffering when they don’t deserve to:
Studies have shown that there is a formula to a Greek tragedy. The main character or hero is good but is never so perfect that you can’t relate to them. They are trying to be good but make mistakes. Creon is trying to be a good King of Thebes but makes lots of mistakes.
A modern example of a Hamartia or a ‘fatal flaw’ is Lance Armstrong. He has been stripped of his World Class titles and banned for life from pro cycling because of his massive use of performance-enhancing drugs but people say that it was his EGO that was to blame for his downfall. His EGO was his Hamartia.
Death is a central theme in all Greek tragedies. Either that the characters within the play die or that the characters are fearful of or obsessed with death in some way.
The structure of Greek tragedy was very clever in that they developed a way to have the plot take place in the course of one day.
Arthur Miller, the American playwrite was seen to have been an artist working closely to the structure of a Greek Tragedy. Death of a Salesman follows the structure closely.
Professor Edith Hall on the National Theatre videos also talks about how modern Soap Opera’s also copy the structures and themes of Greek tragedy; such as conflicting brothers, tragic family events, sudden deaths, affairs etc. and which is all set in the community with lots of community reactions. There are shared experiences. At the end of a soap opera or Greek tragedy the audience is meant to come out drained and moved but also cleansed in some way by having faced the tragedy.
This National Theatre video explores the central conflict within Antigone; Creon’s belief in State weighed against the actions of his family.
Christopher Eccleston decsribes Antigone as a family tragedy
Staging
The Olivier Theatre at the National in London has been built to the design of the traditional Greek Theatre
The staging of Greek Theatre would be circular with a horseshoe shaped tiered seating area. The stage area therefore extends into the audience as the audience wrap around the stage. This makes the theatre experience quite intimate and can be experienced as an ‘in the round’ feel.
Masks
An important feature of Greek Theatre was the use of masks. They wore masks because theatre was a religious ritual and that was the way it was always done. It was also useful because it enabled you to change character in the piece. Traditionally only 3 performers performed the main speaking roles in the plays so the actors could transform with the use of a new mask and hair.
Masks were generally split into 2 catagories. The ugly and grotesque ones were used in the comedy plays and the beautiful ones were used for the tragic plays.
The chorus
The chorus in thes plays can be quite a hard concept more modern audiences to undertand but it is important to know that Greek Theatre grew out of a tradition of choral song and dance. Traditionally there would always have been 12 men playing the chorus.
The chorus performs 2 roles. Firstly it is just good fun and an exciting part of the play which the audience enjoyed. This is much like a modern musical ensemble scenes. They can often been the highlight of the piece, rather than a boring interlude between the actors and the plot.
Here is a classic ensemble dance number from West Side story which reflects the quality that the Greek chorus gives.
The other really important role of the chorus was to provide the perspective of the community having a view on the action. For example, we don’t just ger Creon and Antigone fighting but we get the perspective of all the citizens of Thebes represented as the chorus of 12. This makes Greek theatre fundamentally political and engaging for the audience and is often thought to be missing from much modern theatre.
The chorus is there as a way to help the audience get really involved in the action. This National Theatre video explains more;
www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=MlXi8LfKv-0&feature=emb_logo
The chorus also serve an important role in that they can flag up that the drama has moved to a new location or time. This meant that the Greek plays could be quite simple visually without lots of set changes.
Music; Greek Tragedies were as much musical as theatrical performances. Much of the text uttered by the Chorus, and some by individual characters as well, was sung. The ancient tragedians were as much composers as writers, creating both the texts and the musical settings. Our production of Antigone has a strong use of music and singing.
Personal reflection
This background research on Greek Tragedies has helped put our play into a perspective with other plays both modern and ancient that I can relate to. I can see a bit more clearly that the themes are timeless and so I can see that even though it is an ancient play it has a relevance even today and it is important to keep performing it.
You can even see similarities in themes in the way that Global leaders have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.
Oedipus the King, also by Sophocles, is a play about leadership, about authority’s response to a crisis. How Oedipus acts has a comparison with President Trump’s actions, or lack of, in a similar situation.
The Washington Examiner says;
Like the President, Oedipus has quite the ego. He introduces himself as “Oedipus whom all men call the Great,” and he pats himself on the back for solving the riddle of the Sphinx “by my wit alone.” Oedipus doesn’t go so far as to say he’s a “very stable genius,” but he comes close.
I can see how Greek tragedy is very current. Oedipus the King—also starts with a plague.
If we do get back to college after the lockdown to perform Antigone then I think I will bring a new perspective to my role and the play.
Rosa Copley 