Theatre as a Medium for Storytelling and Change

Study Notes

Theatre is a world where people enact stories, often with protagonists and antagonists, understood through myth and stimulating senses and emotions.
This community ritual has existed from ancient Greece to modern-day events.

Professor Lewis identifies seven metaphors to describe theatre purposes: entertainment, education, and reform, escape, education, transformation, and social change.
Theatre can be a space for social change, allowing for collective transformation through performances.
Theatre as a network creates community, fosters relationships between performers and spectators, and reflects society.
Theatre explores philosophical and existential questions.
It can be viewed as a dream, suggesting possibilities beyond reality and fantasy.

The word "theatre" comes from the Greek word "theatron," meaning "a seeing place."
Theatre encompasses variety of aspects – teaching, viewing, acting, directing, design, playwriting.

Richard Schechner distinguishes performances that "make believe", with clear boundaries between performance and daily life, and those that blur the boundary.
The ancient Greeks influenced theatrical conventions and styles, which are still used today.
Theatre is often associated with illusion or pretense but can also create social realities that blur the lines between performance and reality.

Theatre is live, a synthesis art form, and collaborative.
The live aspect creates a unique energy and potential for transformation.
Theatre combines various elements – language, painting, sculpture, costume, music, dance, light, history, psychology, literature, philosophy, sociology, business, science.

Performance has existed since humans started mimicking each other.
The origins of theatre in the West are often attributed to ancient Greece, particularly Athens.
"Poetics" by Aristotle (circa 335 BCE) defines tragedy and discusses elements of theatre, such as plot and character.
Aristotle's concept of tragedy involves pity, fear, and catharsis for the audience.

Plot, character, thought, diction, song, melody, and spectacle are six core components of Greek tragedies according to Aristotle.

Theaters were often built into the sides of mountains.
An orchestra (circle space for the chorus), skene (scene), and proscenium (platform) were standard components.
Chorus of 12-16 men who commented on the action used masks.
Actors used techniques like periaktoi settings and mekhe (the gods in the machine) to enhance spectacle and movement.

Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were key tragic playwrights.
Specific plays, such as Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Medea, and Agamemnon, were discussed showing the complexity of characters and themes.

Greek tragedies were viewed as a form of education and an entertainment.
The experience of attending a Greek tragedy was a festive event, part of a larger festival such as the Dionysia.

In the Elizabethan and Spanish Golden Ages theatre's style and audiences expanded.
Theatre throughout history combines myths, symbolism, and sensory elements in powerful ways for both education and entertainment.