The Start of Western Theatre in Attic Greece

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The Start of Western Theatrein Attic Greece is the result of the worship practices of the Dionysian cult. Most religions at the time had set stories to be repeated; their lessons were absorbed through repetition. The doctrine of Dionysus was an ecstatic one of revelry and drink. The stories of the god varied due to the lack of sobriety in the religious gatherings and eventually these celebrations grew in popularity and theatricality. As civilization grew, so did the Dionysian festivals. Initially, the performances were comprised of a simple chorus of dancers/singers known as orcheisthai (the origin of the term orchestra) who which followed a leader playing a pipe and singing hymns. A clearing, resembling a town circle, would be created by/provided for the performers and the audience would gather around the space. This became more theatrical when the dancers began to wear goat costumes to create a more godly illusion. So the audience could see as well as hear the performance, stepped wooden platforms (called ikrias) were built around the clearing. This created the Theatron—the Seeing-place. Theatre is derived from Theatron. The profits of Dionysus spread the popularity of the cult and the festivals grew in size and intricacy. Melding many Attic counties together through festive worship lead to different interpretations of festival celebrations. The counties learned from each other’s storytelling styles and they began emulating one another, competing when the season allowed. The largest festival was the Stags March for it took place during a time of year when the seas were open/safe and distant counties could come together to worship. Eventually, acting troupes developed. One of note is the troupe headed by Thespis. To allow for economy and constancy, he introduced his traveling wagons as performance space creating the first raised stages. Thespis also altered the formula of performance with the introduction of the actor. His actor required a call and response from the tragos, which lead to an episodic form of storytelling. Audiences began to drink a little less to be able to follow the plot. As the art of the festivals became more theatrical, the size of the audience increased. The larger performance spaces created to support the crowds were build with marble seating stepped into hillsides. The spaces were permanent for the first time; they legitimized the performances as its own art form and Greek theatre established itself. The hilltop vistas that opened up to the public lead to the realization of scenery. A center structure—the Skeneothke—was permanently installed on the performance space to provide an acting space. Then, Sophocles invented Skenographia (scenic painting) to create scenes and scene changes within that structure. Euripides utilized ekkyklema (rolling machines) to create “intimate” space in front of the Skenographia and he invented flying machines to raise the actors up, providing multiple performance levels (the lowest of which was known as a proskenion—proscenium).