Ancient Greek vs Early Modern Drama, Theater Settings, and Conventions

                                    Introduction

There are a number of similarities and differences between ancient Greek and early modern drama, theater settings, and conventions. The ancient Greek theatre, drama and conventions particularly relied on imagination in conveying the atmosphere and settings of plays. They were particularly characterized by grand pose and free verse dialogues, sloping seating and the use of orchestra and stage buildings. Greeks particularly built outdoor theatres where drama and plays were performed. The actors were primarily male and they extensively used costumes and masks as used today. Moreover, choruses and dances were also an important part of the ancient Greek drama and theatre settings (Low and Nova 55).

On the other hand, modern drama, theater settings, and conventions have witnessed significant changes in terms of their representations of life and incorporation of opera and music. According to many experts, modern drama, theater settings, and conventions have been significantly influenced by the classical Greek theatre in diverse ways. This is particularly evidenced by similarities in theatre layouts, use of costumes and the role of chorus. For example, the early theatre layout is widely  believed to have originated from the ancient Greek theatre layouts which were normally circular in shape in order to allow all the members of the audience to see and hear the performance. In addition, Just like the ancient Greek theatre and drama performance, many of the modern theatres, dramas and conventions have retained the use of costumes and make ups as a way of distinguishing play characters. Nevertheless, there are also significant differences between ancient Greek and early modern drama, theater settings, and conventions. This paper critically compares and contrasts ancient Greek and early modern drama, theater settings, and conventions with particular focus on their similarities and differences.

Similarities between Ancient Greek and Early Modern Drama, Theater Settings, and Conventions

Modern and ancient Greek drama and theatre settings and conventions align and share several similarities. One of the important similarities between the ancient Greek and early modern drama, theater settings, and conventions was that they both valued the significant role of the audience in influencing the plays and characters. According to Krasner (501), ancient Greek and early modern drama, theater settings, and conventions tend to focus on connecting with the audience through the use of the protagonist character. As a result, the conventional expectation for ancient Greek and early modern drama and plays was the establishment of a visible relationship between the experiences of the audience and the actions of the protagonist, characters and language used in drama and theatre settings.

Moreover, early modern and ancient drama and theatre were also similar in terms of layout, setting and some aspects of architectural features. In both modern and ancient Greek, the drama is considered a simplified form that is usually held in a designated place like a stage. In both modern and ancient Greek drama, there were several actors, and one actor could perform multiple tasks. For instance, in both ancient and modern drama, there comes a time when a diseased actor comes back to life as another character and plays a different role from the previous one. Both ancient and modern theatres occupy space and have seats for the audience, despite the difference in the number of seats accommodated in the two categories of theatres (Rogers, 2020). Both modern and ancient drama is associated with fiction, i.e. some actions are not naturally possible but are animated to capture the audience’s attention.

Differences between Early Modern and Ancient Drama and Theatre

There are several ways in which the ancient Greek and modern drama and theatre diverge, especially in terms of actors, sitting arrangements and general layout (Amałowicz 22). In ancient Greek drama, there was gender discrimination in participating because only male actors were allowed to participate. Actresses were not allowed onto the stage for performance due to some cultural and religious beliefs and superstitions that demeaned females at the expense of males. However, the modern drama embraces the participation of both male actors and female actresses without discriminations. For instance, early modern theaters were smaller and usually housed in buildings as opposed to the ancient Greek theaters which were built on slopping lands. In addition to that, it is also evident that women in the early modern drama were performing even very technical and dangerous tasks previously reserved for male characters in their ancient predecessors. Unlike the ancient, women allowed to play roles in theaters, dramas and conventions of early modern drama.

In the ancient Greek theatres, there was a building at the back of the stage with a wide or a double door. This building acted as a room for changing by the characters before they came onto the stage. It is in the building that the actors’ clothing, shoes and other performance equipment were kept. The wide door in front of the building facilitated the efficient movement of actors to and from the stage during the performance. On the other hand, the modern-day theatre has no such building on stage, and every action and performance of the actors is shown on stage without concealing. The ancient Greek theatres occupied much space and were usually held in an open-air stadium (Krasner 498). The space was huge to accommodate unique and technical techniques used by the actors during the performance like dresses, shoes and even very many seats for audiences. In contrary to that, the modern theatres occupy a small space with a few seats because screens and projectors are used to display the performances for viewing by people from outside the theatre or even at the comfort of their homes on television. The modern drama and theatre are associated with technological advancement like flashlights, electronic sounds, microphones, etc. which were not available in the ancient theatres. In the ancient theatres, the actors were lifted onto the stage using cranes. In contrast, in modern drama and theatres, the actors were made to appear flying using wire to amuse and capture the audience’s attention even more.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the early modern theatre, drama and conventions significantly borrowed from the ancient Greek. However, significant differences between ancient Greek and early modern drama, theater settings, and conventions in terms of their sizes, role of women and use of costumes or masks.

                   Works Cited

Amałowicz, Paweł. “Human Factors in Shakespearean Theatre Architecture.” International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics. Springer, Cham, 2020.

Krasner, David. “Tragic Modernities by Meriam Leonard, and: Adorno and Modern Theatre: The Drama of the Damanged Self in Bond, Rudkin, Barker, and Kane by Karoline Gritzner.” Theatre Journal 68.3 (2016): 499-501.

Low, Jennifer, and Nova Myhill. Imagining the Audience in Early Modern Drama, 1558-1642., 2011. Print.