Question

In an essay of at least 750 words, report on the history of drama. Choose which drama you want from the list below.

Greek drama

Roman drama

mystery plays

morality plays

Renaissance drama

Answer 1

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Roman theatre in performance

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Theatre of ancient Rome

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roman mosaic depicting actors and an aulos player (House of the Tragic Poet, Pompeii).

The architectural form of theatre in Rome has been linked to later, more well-known examples from the 1st century BC to the 3rd Century AD.[1] The theatre of ancient Rome referred to as a period of time in which theatrical practice and performance took place in Rome has been linked back even further to the 4th century BC, following the state’s transition from monarchy to republic.[1] Theatre during this era is generally separated into genres of tragedy and comedy, which are represented by a particular style of architecture and stage play, and conveyed to an audience purely as a form of entertainment and control.[2] When it came to the audience, Romans favored entertainment and performance over tragedy and drama, displaying a more modern form of theatre that is still used in contemporary times.[2]

'Spectacle' became an essential part of an everyday Romans expectations when it came to theatre.[1] Some works by Plautus, Terence, and Seneca the Younger that survive to this day, highlight the different aspects of Roman society and culture at the time, including advancements in Roman literature and theatre.[1] Theatre during this period of time would come to represent an important aspect of Roman society during the republican and imperial periods of Rome.[1]

Origins of Roman theatre

Rome was founded as a monarchy under Etruscan rule, and remained as such throughout the first two and a half centuries of its existence. Following the expulsion of Rome's last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, or "Tarquin the Proud," circa 509 BC, Rome became a republic and was henceforth led by a group of magistrates elected by the Roman people. It is believed that Roman theatre was born during the first two centuries of the Roman Republic, following the spread of Roman rule into a large area of the Italian Peninsula, circa 364 BC.

Following the devastation of widespread plague in 364 BC, Roman citizens began including theatrical games as a supplement to the Lectisternium ceremonies already being performed, in a stronger effort to pacify the gods. In the years following the establishment of these practices, actors began adapting these dances and games into performances by acting out texts set to music and simultaneous movement.

As the era of the Roman Republic progressed, citizens began including professionally performed drama in the eclectic offerings of the ludi (celebrations of public holidays) held throughout each year—the largest of these festivals being the Ludi Romani, held each September in honor of the Roman god Jupiter.[3] It was as a part of the Ludi Romani in 240 BC that author and playwright Livius Adronicus became the first to produce translations of Greek plays to be performed on the Roman stage.[4][5][6]

Prior to 240 BC, Roman contact with northern and southern Italian cultures began to influence Roman concepts of entertainment.[7] The early Roman stage was dominated by: Phylakes (a form of tragic parody that arose in Italy during the Roman Republic from 500 to 250 BC), Atellan farces (or a type of comedy that depicted the supposed backwards thinking of the southeastern Oscan town of Atella; a form of ethnic humor that arose around 300 BC), and Fescennine verses (originating in southern Etruria).[7] Furthermore, Phylakes scholars have discovered vases depicting productions of Old Comedy (e.g. by Aristophanes, a Greek playwright), leading many to ascertain that such Comedic plays were presented at one point to an Italian, if not "Latin-Speaking" audience as early as the 4th century.[7] This is supported by the fact that Latin was an essential component to Roman Theatre.[7] From 240 BC to 100 BC, Roman theatre had been introduced to a period of literary drama, within which classical and post-classical Greek plays had been adapted to Roman theatre.[7] From 100 BC till 476 AD, Roman entertainment began to be captured by circus-like performances, spectacles, and miming while remaining allured by theatrical performances.[

Answer 2

HISTORY OF GREEK DRAMA

Early Greek theatre started around the 6th Century in the capital Athens with tragic plays being done at religious gatherings. From tragic plays, there was a shift to comedy. The earliest known playwrights such as Sophocles and Aristophanes were the 'founding fathers' of Greek drama.

Tragic plays were popular and one of the first genres of plays done in Greece then partly because of the rituals which were carried out in the worship of Dionysos which included sacrifice of goats and a ceremony that involved the wearing of masks, drinking rites that most times had worshippers losing control of themselves and behaving strangely, as if they were another person just like the way dramatists/actors were known to do.

Infact, Dionysos was referred to as the god of Greek theatre as it was in the worship of the god that Greek drama began. The ritual of the dance and singing was achievable because of an "aulos player" which made use of rhythms.

A theatre back then was in an open space that had beautiful acoustics and could hold a large number of male spectators. Early plays were free to attend and the plots of a tragic drama was most times based on Greek myths and legends. There was always a sense of good and bad, right and wrong, light and darkness and because of this constant conflict, there was no violence on the stage because it was not allowed and even the death of characters were spoken offstage and not witnessed by the audience.

Performers on the stage could act the characters of gods and much later, he would speak to the leader of the chorus who were all male and they would only sing and dance but not speak. The word "thespian" was gotten from Thespis and he was the one credited with the above innovation.

A play could only have a maximum of three actors on stage and because of this, one performer could take on multiple roles at the same time.