There are several theories of theatre origin. None of them is concrete evidence. The ritualistic theory argues that probably theatre started from dithyramb a hymn chanted in religious ,functions to honor a god. The other theory is function the list in which people imitated gods hence the he birth of theatre.
The pros of the functionalism theory are the belief that rituals influenced drama because societies have rituals. The other pro is that the theory is the most pervasive. However, the con is that not all societies develop similarly.
Briefly summarize the history of Athenian tragedy. How did it come to be, who were its major practitioners, what were its performance conditions, what social functions did it serve? Why did it decline? How does Oedipus fit into the history of either Athens or Athenian tragedy?
The Athenian tragedy is also the oldest type of tragedy. Some scholars link its origin to the performances of lyrical epic poetry. Others argue that it started as ritual performances to the honor of Dionysos a Greek god. During the ritual sacrifices of goats and singing would take place. Moreover, the performer would wear a mask.
The tragedy performances took place in an open theatre to a male populace. Women did not perform as actors in the plays. The play’s inspiration was the Greek mythology a part of the Greek religion. The plays served the function of entertainment and advancing morals in society. Therefore, no violence on stage and death of an actor occurred on the heard backstage.
They also used the plays in competition during festivals and religious functions. Besides, political statements were outlawed in the plays. The plays declined as the Greek government power diminished. The Oedipus fit into the Athenian tragedy in that Antigone Oedipus’ daughter conflicted with her uncle over the burial of one of her brothers. He punished her and eventually, his wife and son committed suicide in despair.
How would Aristotle recommend a playwright approach writing a play? Use and define at least four of his key terms from the poetics.
According to Aristotle, the best play should have a single and complex plot. The plot is the order of events in a play and all plots must have pathos meaning suffering. The complex plot should include peripeteia or reversal a situation in which a play changes its direction suddenly and events take a different turn.
Besides, a play should have an aspect of recognition also called anagnorisis to discover ties that bind then for instance love. Such an element makes play arouse fear and sympathy in the audience. The tragic hero must also make a hamartia or a mistake that will lead to his suffering and teach the audience that mistakes lead to suffering although some of the hero’s mistakes are partly not because of his weakness.
How should we distinguish between old and new comedy? Use at least one example. Two would be better.
Old comedy focuses on political figures or heroes, use of masks, chorus sang, but new comedy focuses on life issues such as family and love based on fictional individuals. It does not include choruses. Example of old comedy is Frogs in which god Dionysus raises Euripides from the dead and new comedy is Grouch which deals with matters such as love, slaves, and marriage.
Briefly describe the conditions of one medieval form of theatre either the liturgical tropes or Corpus Christi plays. Also, identify the two major forms of theatre at the end of the medieval period.
The Corpus Christi plays had a number of conditions during the medieval era. The governing body of the city convened and decided whether to allow the staging of a Corpus Christi play. The body also appointed the master of the pageant. The master was a professional drawing a salary. The plays were of high quality because they attracted audiences that kept the economy strong.
The plays had to be of a certain length to fit into the time allotted. Those employed to perform had to be at their best behavior because the pageant master could sanction any negative behavior and impose fines. Furthermore, to ensure allegiance and smooth running of the pageants each person was restricted to one role and eliminated monopoly of a few actors. Major forms of theatre were mystery and morality.
Identify one historical event that influenced the emergence of English renaissance theatre. Explain how it did so, using examples from hamlet. How does this aspect of the English renaissance shape the play’s dramatic power? Does it do so effectively, in your view? Why or why not?
The decline of the medieval era led to the emergency of the English renaissance. People started questioning the idea of God and his relationship to the human race. They broke away from the absolute believe in God that was very strong in the middle ages. The new shift in thinking brought about a change in the social hierarchy and many people found freedom. They became inquisitive of their world and led to the rise of the English renaissance.
Shakespeare’s play the Hamlet created human characters with complex psychological issues. Other characters such as the monarchs had human characteristics. For instance, Hamlet a prince mourned and grieved deeply for his father after his killing.
The sorrow he felt was so deep that his words or appearance could not display its magnitude. He struggled with the idea of avenging his father’s death after learning that Claudius killed him. Finally, he concluded that he must commit murder to avenge the death of his father.
The English renaissance aspect shapes the play’s dramatic power through the creation of Hamlet, a character that exhibits a complex psychological nature. He does it effectively in the way he justifies killing Claudius hence shifting the guilt of killing from himself.
Summarize the history of Shakespearean production and adaptation. Which approach seems the best and most interesting to you? How does the approach either succeed or fail in one production/film you have seen? (Describe the production)
Some of the adaptations are faithful. They have recaptured the texts very closely such as Henry V. Others are loose adaptations of Shakespeare’s work for instance Throne of Death film from Macbeth. Moreover, literal adaptations of his works are available such as Romeo and Juliet. The best approach to me is the loose adaptations because they give the producers room to be creative and adapt the film to different cultures using the original storyline of the text.
The production succeeds in Ran film adapted from King Lear. The film took the story to Japan and used Japanese aspects to tell the story. Hidetora based on Lear retires and divided his land among his three sons. The Japanese culture allows only males to inherit property thus his children are all males.