Theater+Conventions+and+Elements

=Elements and Conventions of Greek Drama= Every element we use in theater today, we owe to the Greeks. They created three major types of plays, the comedy, the satire, and most importantly, the tragedy. The Greeks used many different things to make their plays more interesting and to make them stand out.

Major Elements of Theatre There are six major elements of Greek theater. Most playwrights included all six of these into their plays, and have been doing so for thousands of years. All plays and movies are based upon these standards.
 * 1) plot
 * 2) character
 * 3) thought and theme
 * 4) music and other sounds
 * 5) spectacle
 * 6) diction and language

**__TRAGEDY[[image:shshonorsenglish10/aeschylus.jpg width="176" height="254" align="right" caption="Aeschylus"]]__**
Tragedian plays empahsized that sometimes chance ruled the world and people are more concerned with morals than gods are. They were meant to reinforce the idea that life is worth living. Tragedies are always about spiritual conflict, never about common activities. Tragic actions arose from a characters inner conflicts. Three major tragedian authors of the time period are Euripedes, Sophocles, and Aeschylus. Euripedes is famous for about ninety two plays but one of his most famous is //Medea//. Sophocles is well known for //Oedipus the King, Antigone//, and several other. Aeschylus wrote many plays but only about seven have survived intact, one of which is //The Persians//. All plays had a hero or heroine. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must have the following traits:
 * 1) comes from nobility
 * 2) tragic flaw, otherwise known as hubris
 * 3) falls from high fortune to low fortune
 * 4) has some type of downfall
 * 5) recognize his/her mistakes by the end of the play

The Three Unities Aristotle beleived in something called The Three Unities. The play must take place in a twenty four hour time period.
 * 1) ====Unity of Time====

2. Unity of Place
It can only contain one setting.

3. Unity of Action
Only one plot was allowed and can have no mixture of tragedy and comedy.

People and Actors
There was a three actor rule which means that only three people, specifically men, played all parts.The use of masks assisted the actors in protraying several different characters without confusing the audience. Women were not allowed to act in Tragedies. In every Greek play, there was a group of people called a chorus. It consisted of 12 males who represented the citizens. Later on, Sophocles added three men to make it fifteen. The men in the chorus were merely ametuers. They only had about eleven months of training. The purpose of the chorus was to set the mood and heighten the intesnity. Adding movement like song and dance was one role of the chorus but they also gave the audience time to reflect on the happenings of the play. Oddly enough, they were the most expensive part of the plays. In addition to the songs of the chorus, there was an orhestra. They were situated in the center part of the theatre where the dancing and acting took place. In every play or story, there is a protagonist and an antagonist. The protagonist is a good person but obviously not perfect. He usually suffers from pride. His actions should make the audience feel pity and fear. The end of the play should leave the audience in a catharsis (purgation of pity and fear). The protagonist will fight against fate but know he will never escape it.

**__COMEDY__**
Any kind of comedy is more than likely older than Greek civilization. The first kind of comedy to rise out of the minds of the Greek peoples was Dramatic Comedy. Dramatic Comedy is the rough mixture of drama and comedy and a little beyond."Old Comedy",is probably one of the first humorous play writes, pre-classical play writes were composed of short "satyr plays", which were humorous and involved woodland spirits called Satyrs. Old comedy gained attention in the 5th century. The first writer of this genre was Aristophanes, an old classical comic poet whose works worked with current events going on at the time. Comedies had fewer restrictions than tragedies. For instance, women were allowed to act. Aristotle believes that comedies make men look worse than they really are while tragedies make them look better. He also says thay use stereotypes. Comedies are divided into three types: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. The main difference is in the chorus. As comedies began to grow, the chorus became less important, completely dissapearing in New Comedy. Old Comedy is most closely associated with Aristophanes.

**__SATIRE__**
A satire is simply a book, or in this case, a play, that uses irony or wit to attack human stupidity and folly. They try to force individuals and society into improvement by attacking them. A big part of satire is sarcasm. Satires were the last type to be created. They were plays that made fun of legends and of people. You could NEVER make fun of any of the gods but you sure could make fun of your leaders, which is exactly what they did. These plays often swayed the political view of citizens

=__PLAY BREAKDOWN!__= Act- The first plays were sectioned into scenes where the actors preformed and scenes were the chorus sang. Actor- One who would preform the acts in the plays. Adaptation- A rewriting of literary works. Such as plays, poems ect. Aside- A statement made by the character in the play directed towards the audience. Catharsis- Purging on the emotions of fear and pity. Aristotle described it as such. Comedy- A lighthearted humorous work that is usually contrasted with tragedy. Convention- An unrealistic element in literary works. The element is mostly traditional. Dialogue- Is conversation involving two or more people. Also used to describe a certain type of literary composition. Dramatic Convention- An unreal element in a drama that is accepted as realistic by the audience because it is traditional. Dramatic Monologue- A poem that describes or presents the speech of a single character in a dramatic situation one side consisting of an imagined conversation. Dramatis Personae- The characters in a literary work or drama. Fourth Wall- A real element in a drama (Dramatic Convention). Irony- A difference between appearance and reality. (Dramatic irony). Reversal- The dramatic change in the turn of events in a drama or narrative, major change in the fortunes of the Protagonist. Set- Collection of objects on a stage arranged to create a scene.

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