The Dramaturg

What is their job?

The DramaturgWhat is their job?

1. Advise the director on the literary aspects or historical facts of the play.2. Help select theatre’s repertoire.3. Translate, adapt, and/or edit texts4. Clarify and explain cultural, social, and political aspects of a given

play.5. Contribute to the content and design of posters, programs, press

releases, and other interactions with the media.6. Collaborate with the director in casting.7. Advise designers8. Work with playwrights9. Provide a second set of eyes and ears for the director to help keep a

production on track in rehearsal.

Greek Theatre 534?-400 BCE

Festival DionysusDithyrambic Chorus

Thespis: First Actor, 534 BCE

Tragic Playwrights:AeschylusSophoclesEuripedes

Comic Playwright:Aristophanes

Greek Performance:

Ekkyklema

Chorus

Masks

Greek Performance:

Periaktoi

Theatron – “the seeing place”

Skene

Orchestra

Paradoi

Plan View of Theater at Epidaurus

Ancient Greece

Aristotle: The Poetics, 335 BCEEarliest surviving work of dramatic theory and first philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory.

Topics:Definition of TragedyParts of TragedyRules for construction of Tragedy

Roman Theatre 240 BCE-568 AD

Comic Playwrights

Plautus254-184 BCE

Terence195-159 BCE

Tragic Playwright

Seneca4 BCE-65 AD

Roman Republic Established 509 BCE

27 BCE Roman Empire Established

Theatre at OrangeOrange, France1st Century AD

Scaenae frons

Ancient Rome

Theatre at OrangeOrange, France1st Century AD

Ancient Rome

Theatre at OrangeOrange, France1st Century AD

Ancient Rome

The ColosseumRome, Italy

1st Century AD

Ancient Rome

The ColosseumRome, Italy

1st Century AD

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

RIFT BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ROMAN THEATRE

393 AD. Any religion other than Christianity outlawed in the Roman Empire

398 AD Christians excommunicated from Church if they went to theatre instead of Church on holy days

398 AD Actors forbidden church sacrements

Ancient Rome

RIFT BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ROMAN THEATRE. WHY?

1. Associated with pagan gods and festivals

2. Plays and practitioners offended church morals.

3. Theatre often ridiculed the church.

The Fall of the Roman EmpireSeptember 4, 476 AD

Ancient Rome

Medieval Drama – MansionsWestern EuropeAfter 925 AD

Medieval Europe

Medieval Drama – Pageant WagonsWestern Europe

1200 AD

Medieval Europe

Renaissance

Renaissance Drama Italy

Characters

PantaloneDottoreCapitanoZanni

Teatro OlimpicoVicenza, Italy

1580

Renaissance Italy

Theatre at OrangeOrange, France1st Century AD

Ancient Rome

Teatro OlimpicoVicenza, Italy

1580

Renaissance Italy

Teatro FarneseParma, Italy

1618

Renaissance Italy

Renaissance in England 1500-1642

Renaissance England

William Shakespeare

Christopher MarloweBen Jonson

Globe Theatre (Shakespeare)London, England

1599 – 1613 & 1614 - 1644

Renaissance England

Globe Theatre (Shakespeare)London, England

1599 – 1613 & 1614 - 1644

Renaissance England

Globe Theatre (Shakespeare)London, England

1599 – 1613 & 1614 - 1644Tiring House

Inner Above

Inner Below

Pit

Stage

Galleries

Renaissance England

Private Theatre(Staurt Court Masques)

English RenaissanceLate 16th Century

Renaissance England

Private Theatre(Staurt Court Masques)

English RenaissanceLate 16th Century

Renaissance England

English Civil War1642-1651 Roundheads vs. Royalists

England

English Interregnum1649-1660

Oliver Cromwell, England

Execution!1649

King Charles I, England

English Interregnum1649-1660

Oliver Cromwell, England

English Restoration1660-1700

Charles II England

English RestorationDrury Lane Theatre

English RestorationComedy of Manners

French Renaissance1500-1700

Renaissance France

French Tennis CourtsFrance

Mid 16th Century

Renaissance France

Only permanent theatre in Paris

Hôtel de Bourgogne 1595-1629

Moliere 1622-1673 Jean Racine 1639-1699

Pierre Corneille 1606-1684

SPANISH RENAISSANCE1580-1680

Renaissance Spain

Corral Theatre of AlmagroAlmagro, Spain

1628

Renaissance Spain

Modern Theatre

1875-1975

InfluencesCharles Darwin: On the Origin of Species

Karl Marx: Das KapitalSigmund Freud: Interpretation of Dreams

Political and social unrestFragmentation of society

5 Theatrical Movementsin the Modern Era

1. Realism2. Rejection of realism

3. Eclecticism4. Continuation of Popular Theatre

5. Globalization

Realism

Henrik Ibsen August Strindberg Anton Chekhov

3 early realistic playwrights.

American Realism

Eugene O’Neill Arthur Miller Tennessee Williams

3 later realistic playwrights from the US.

The New Stagecraft

Adolphe Appia Edward Gordon Craig

Robert Edmond Jones

Eclectics

Popular Theatre

Theatre in JapanOrigins: 350 BCE

Noh

Kabuki

Bunraku

Theatre in Japan

Noh DramaDerived from the word for skill or talent.Musical drama performed since the 14th centuryBased on stories from traditional literatureUses masks, costumes, and dance.

Theatre in Japan

KabukiMost popular form of theatre in Japan.A dance/drama performed since the 17th centuryRelies on live music and spectacleUses elaborate makeup,

Theatre in Japan

BunrakuPuppet theatreVery precise movements that lead to expressive puppets.Founded in 1684Three types of performers: puppeteers, chanters, and musicians

Theatre in ChinaOrigins: 1122-225 BCE Dance Rituals

Beijing OperaUnrelated to western operaCame to popularity in the 19th centuryIncludes: acrobatics and dance related movements, musical accompaniment, vocal performance, elaborate costumes, and makeup