There is three types of Greek Theatre:
- tragedy
- comedy
- satyr
Originally these types of plays would have been performed in the festival of Dionysus in front of all of Greece. The festival of Dionysus is a religious festival which celebrates the god Dionysus so it was very common for these Greek plays to have masks worn by all of the players. They were used to teach Greece life lessons by showing them the worst consequences to peoples actions. These plays were performed in open air theatres that were built into the side of a hill.
Tragedy
In Greek Tragedies, they mainly focus on looking suffering and human misery in the face. It confronts themes like living in a fraud world which has been caused by our own actions and these themes often relate to our modern world today. In tragedies, someone usually dies from some cause and before they die they usually talk about the sun as it links to the religious beliefs of the Greek gods. At the end of Greek tragedies there is also a catharsis. Catharsis is when there is a cleansing or purifying which can inflict to the audience an emotional draining at the end of the play. When relating these Greek tragedies to today's world, they are most similar to modern day soap operas as they have confront many extreme themes through acting.
Chorus
There are two key uses of a Greek Chorus. One of them being that they added fun and energy to the plays by using 12 or so strong singing/dancing men who were very athletic and engaging in the plays. The second being that they provide the prospective of the community in the plays. They often will show the hero and the villains story but the chorus will comment on the actions and decisions of the main characters. The chorus don't necessarily have to all think the same things but they must show different responses and opinions to the main characters. In the National Theatre videos on Greek Theatre, they described the chorus as "not a body that thinks together but a body that speaks together". The chorus's identity are usually based on stereotypes of common people in order to show that they are the community compared to the main characters. However in modern interpretations some play writes have adapted the chorus members to have there own individual character trait and statues in order to show that there are different people with the same opinions.
Tragedy
In Greek Tragedies, they mainly focus on looking suffering and human misery in the face. It confronts themes like living in a fraud world which has been caused by our own actions and these themes often relate to our modern world today. In tragedies, someone usually dies from some cause and before they die they usually talk about the sun as it links to the religious beliefs of the Greek gods. At the end of Greek tragedies there is also a catharsis. Catharsis is when there is a cleansing or purifying which can inflict to the audience an emotional draining at the end of the play. When relating these Greek tragedies to today's world, they are most similar to modern day soap operas as they have confront many extreme themes through acting.
Chorus
There are two key uses of a Greek Chorus. One of them being that they added fun and energy to the plays by using 12 or so strong singing/dancing men who were very athletic and engaging in the plays. The second being that they provide the prospective of the community in the plays. They often will show the hero and the villains story but the chorus will comment on the actions and decisions of the main characters. The chorus don't necessarily have to all think the same things but they must show different responses and opinions to the main characters. In the National Theatre videos on Greek Theatre, they described the chorus as "not a body that thinks together but a body that speaks together". The chorus's identity are usually based on stereotypes of common people in order to show that they are the community compared to the main characters. However in modern interpretations some play writes have adapted the chorus members to have there own individual character trait and statues in order to show that there are different people with the same opinions.
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