Theater and drama in Ancient Greece
..., is where the audience sat, built on a hollowed-out hillside. Seated of honor, found in the front and center of the theatron, were for public officials and priests. He seating capacity of the theater was about 17,000. The audience of about 14,000 was lively, noisy, emotional and wild. Simple scenery began with Sophocles, but changes of scene were rare and stage properties were also rare, such as an occasional altar, a tomb or an image of gods. Machinery was used for lightning or thunder or for lifting celestial persons from heaven and back, or for revealing the interior of the stage building. This was called “deus ex machina”, which means god from the machine. Greek comedy was derived from two different sources, the more known being the choral element which included ceremonies to inspire fruitfulness at the festival of Dionysus or in ribald drunken revel in his honor. The term comedy is actually drawn from “komos”, meaning song of revelry. The second source of Greek comedy was that from the Sicilian “mimes”, who put on very rude performances where they would make mocking allusions to audience members as they unprepareded their performances. Adventure, brilliance, invention, romance and attractive effect, together with delightful words and wisdom, were the gifts of the Greek theater. These conventions strongly affected subsequent plays and playwrights, having put forth influence on theater throughout the centuries. William Shakespeare was a great English playwright, dramatist and poet who lived during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest playwright of all time. No other writer's plays have been produced so many times or read so widely in so many countries as his. Shakespeare was born to middle class parents. His father, John, was a Stratford businessman. He was a glove maker who owned a leather shop. John Shakespeare was a well-known and respected man in the town. He held several important local governmental positions. William Shakespeare's mother was Mary Arden. Though she was the daughter of a local farmer, she was related to a family of considerable wealth and social standing. The Shakespeare's were well-respected prominent people. Stratford was a lively town and during holidays, it was known to put on pageants and many popular shows. In London, Shakespeare's career took off. It is believed that he may have become well known in London theatrical life by 1592. During Shakespeare's life, there were two monarchs who ruled England. They were Henry the eighth and Elizabeth the first. Both were impressed with Shakespeare, which made his name known. Shakespeare's plays are usually divided into three major categories. These are comedy, tragedy, and history. Three plays , which are in the category of comedy, are "The Comedy of Errors", "The Taming of the Shrew", and "The Two Gentlemen of Verone". Three plays which are in the category of tragedy are "Romeo and Juliet", "Titus Andronicus", and "Julius Caesar". In the category of history, three plays are "Henry V", "Richard II", and "Richard III". Shakespeare wrote many plays during his lifetime. Some of his plays have similar comedic characteristics and then other plays are the exact opposite of comedy. Shakespeare wrote tragedies, romance, history, comedy and problem plays all with great success. During the performance of these plays there was no scenery so great time was taken when developing the characters and the plot so the plays would be entertaining, the main characters in the plays are all developed to a point where the audience can identify with them. We learn things about them individually so we can feel happy or sad when things happen in their life. Compared to the technical theaters of today, the London public theaters in the time of Queen Elizabeth I seem to be terribly limited. The plays had to be performed during daylight hours only and the stage scenery had to be kept very simple with just a table, a chair, a throne, and maybe a tree to symbolize a forest. Many say that these limitations were in a sense advantages. What the theater today can show for us realistically, with huge scenery and electric lighting, Elizabethan playgoers had to imagine. This made the playwright have to write in a glowing language so the audience could understand the play. Shakespeare had to indicate whether it was dawn or nightfall by using a speech rich in metaphors and descriptive details. Shakespeare's theater was far from being bare; the playwright did have some valuable techni...