How did the audience react to Greek Theatre?
Greek audiences were talkative and unruly. If they disliked a play, they would drum their heels on their benches, jeer loudly and throw fruit. At the City Dionysia Festival, the plays were presented in competition with each other. There were prizes for the best comedy and the best tragedy.
How was Greek Theatre performed?
To name a few differences, Greek plays were performed in an outdoor theater, used masks, and were almost always performed by a chorus and three actors (no matter how many speaking characters there were in the play, only three actors were used; the actors would go back stage after playing one character, switch masks and …
Did Greek Theater have music?
Most music in Greek theatre was accompanied by instruments such as the aulo. The Greek theatre history began with festivals honoring their gods. Since the number of actors allowed on-stage was limited, the chorus was a very active part of Greek theatre. Music was often played during the chorus’ delivery of its lines.
What was unique about Greek special effects?
The Greeks used a variety of special effects to enhance their plays. They had ways of creating sounds such as rain, thunder, and horses hooves. They used cranes to lift actors up so they appeared to be flying. They often used a wheeled platform called an “ekkyklema” to roll out dead heroes onto the stage.
What was the theater like in ancient Greece?
Here the Greeks sat and watched the plays first of Aeschylus, Sophokles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, and of Menander and the later playwrights. The Greek theater consisted essentially of the orchestra, the flat dancing floor of the chorus, and the theatron, the actual structure of the theater building.
How did actors change their characters in Greek Theatre?
Each actor could quickly and easily change characters by simply changing his mask and costume. Little is known about acting styles in Greek theatre. There was no fourth wall in the Greek theatre. Like the chorus, the actors could see the audience, and would have acknowledged their presence and spoken directly to them.
What did Skene stand for in Ancient Greek Theatre?
At the back of the ancient Greek theatre stood the ‘skene’. The word ‘skene’ means stage building. The ‘skene’ was a wooden building where the actors could change and this building could also be used for as a house or temple or any other part of scenery (Gill).
Where was the dressing room in Ancient Greek Theatre?
At the back of the orchestra was the skene. This was a stone building, a hut or tent that acted as a dressing room and was where the actors made their entrances from and their exits to. The actors performed in front of the skene, perhaps on a raised platform.