A Vaguely Passive Scorn Upon Ancient Theatre

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Tuesday, November 29th, 2022

A Vaguely Passive Scorn Upon Ancient Theatre

And…… Scene! Welcome to the Tobinutorian Theatre! Before taking your seat, I must sadly give you a quick rundown of the history of this beautiful discipline of the arts. If you shouldn't mind, please slip these foam headphones over your ears and… perfect! Thank you for your time, and enjoy the introduction.

As always, when involving the Greeks, theatre claims a peculiar origin story, which begins, as usual, with a god: Dionysus. His existence is owed to his father, Zeus, who had an affair with a mortal princess named Semele. In fact, Semele once held a fledgling Dionysus in her womb as the fruit of their labor. After discovering this on Olympus, Hera, in all her cunning wrath, tricked Semele into craving the sight of Zeus in his godly form. Unbeknownst to Semele, a mortal may never see a god in his proper form, as this will cause the mortal's death. However, after much begging on Semele's part, Zeus was persuaded to show her his authentic image; this, obviously, resulted in Semele's immediate and painless incineration. Only baby Dionysus lay on the ground in her remnants. Zeus then, for reasons unknown, bent down, ripped open his thigh, and placed the baby inside him before sealing himself shut again. Indeed, for this reason, it is stated that Dionysus was 'the twice born god,' as his first birth was mortal, while the second was not.

Later in Dionysus's eternal life, a group of titans ripped him apart and reconstructed him. This event directly mirrors the core values of theatre: destruction and reanimation. 

Indeed, while Dionysus was named the god of folk music, wine, irrationality, transformation, loss of self, and fertility, among many others, he was mainly a theatre-loving drunkard.

Though there are many theories on how theatre began, a few stand out, namely those supported by Aristotle and written in the Iliad/Odyssey. The former suggested that theatre came from a Dithyramb or a hymn song sung by a choral group in honor of Dionysus. Aristotle wrote that this event likely led to the group leader breaking off to form a theatre troupe in the name of Dionysus.

A variant of this, the second proposed origin proposed that during an epic performance like the Iliad or Odyssey, the choral group leader broke off in direct dialogue, evolving chronologically to the type of Greek theatre known today.

Regardless of the origin story, theatre practice began in Athens, Greece's intellectual and cultural powerhouse. Indeed, throughout much of Greek history, Athens is treated as the so-called "wise" city-state, with Sparta denoted as a place of warfare, etc.

Plays performed in Greece at this time were bestowed the name of tragedies, or tragedians for the literal word. Directly translated, tragedians mean "goat song"; however, historians have determined the meaning to be akin to "song for a goat." Each play had less to do with our modern-day meaning of a tragedy and more with specific archaic guidelines. For example, a tragedian must be severe but not necessarily include a sad or disastrous event, as proclaimed by Aristotle in around 300 B.C.E.

Mainly, plays in Athens were attended by men, though women and children may have additionally been granted entry. Athens claimed a population of approximately 315,000 people, including slaves, women, and children. However, it held only 43,000 adult male citizens, which created a large audience basis for archaic theater. Indeed, Athenians put great thought into the size and structure of their amphitheaters; architects generally built the stages with enough room to accommodate 12,000 - 17,000 citizens. Attending theatre was considered a moral and civic duty, with skipping a performance a great evil, so it can be inferred that the theatres were packed full of people.

Performing in these grand plays was generally done by about 3 actors, or "Hypocrites," as the Greeks called them. In this context, hypocrite essentially means "answerer." As there were so few actors in those, each actor may have had to play 2 to 3 parts, switching costumes mid-performance. Regarding the chorus, 12 - 50 men were usually involved, most of whom played the parts of marginal groups (old men, women, slaves, etc.). Indeed, the translation of chorus means, literally, 'to dance", which is pretty straight to the point: Their jobs were to sing and dance in an accompaniment to the actors. 

Both actors and hypocrites wore masks to help them change their appearances, and accompanying costume changes were certainly common. All these changes were done in the 'skene' of the amphitheater, a small tent or building behind the orchestra. This building became further valuable to Greek plays as time wore on in the evolution of theatre; paintings relating to the play would be displayed on the outer walls, or a mechane (a machine used to lift actors) would be positioned behind it.

Plays were typically performed in the center of a large semicircle theatre, with rows of larger semicircles creating a stacked seating arrangement for the viewers; this place was called the Theatron. Along each end of the Theatron sat a small row of 'VIP' seats, saved for those specific citizens who earned them. Directly in the center of the semicircle sat a full circle called the orchestra, where the actors could perform up close for the audience.

Thank you for learning with us here at the Tobinutorian! Now, please enjoy your selection; Hamilton: The Musical. Cell phones are not permitted, so please drown them in Cola. Thank you.