Lecture: The Structure of Theater: Narrator: Listen to part of the lecture in an introduction to drama class. Professor: Now, throughout the history of drama, there's been a, well, a relationship between the structure of a play, and the structure of the space where the play was performed. And this goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks. The Greeks built the first theatre in the 5th century BCE. These were out-door theatres. The architects looked for sight where you had a natural bowl-like formation on the side of a hill, and that's where they set the theatre. All Greek theatres were pretty much the same. There was some natural variation to accommodate the size and shape of the site. But as far as the basic elements went, those remained constant. Have a look at this diagram. Let's start with the area where the actors performed, like what we called the stage today. The Greeks referred to this space as the "skene". Eh, there's some confusion about the use of words "skene" by different scholars. Some authors use it to refer only to the structure behind the stage, while others use it to refer to the structure and the stage together, and that's how I'll use the term, to refer to both the stage and the building. Em, so, anyway, the "skene" started as a simple wooden platform, but eventually became much more elaborate. The front wall of the building was decorated like a palace or a temple, and served its background scenery for the play. The building was also a storage place for customs, props, things like that. Yes, Robber? Robber: So, did they decorate the "skene" for each play or, em, change the scenery during the play, like we do today, or did the whole story take place in one setting? Professor: Well, everything the audiences saw happened in that one setting usually in front of either a temple or a palace. But audiences didn't witness all events in the story. Some of them couldn't be presented convincingly so the playwrights had them take place somewhere off the stage where the audiences couldn't see them, and then news of the event would be reported by one of the characters ... Diane? Robber: Last summer I saw Hippolytus. Professor: Excellent! I hope you enjoy it. Diane: Definitely! So one point, you see Hippolytus been sent off by his father, then a little later a messenger arrives and describes how Hippolytus was ridding in his chariot when a giant bull appeared at the ocean and caused the chariot to crush. And then after we hear what happened to Hippolytus, he's carried back on stage where he dies. Professor: Exactly! I mean can you imagine trying to show all that action of giant animal rising out of the sea? Okay. The next theory was the space the ancient Greeks called the Orchestra. The Orchestra was either round as you see here or a semi-circle. Em, in ancient Greek, the word orchestra actually meant the dancing place because this is where the chorus danced and sang. But to understand Greek plays you need to understand an additional function of the chorus. Yes, the ancient Greek chorus did most definitely sing and dance like chorus do today. But, chorus's most important role was commenting on what the characters on the stage were doing and thinking. In fact, Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, thought the chorus should be considered as acting out a role in the play. Robber: Yeah, I read that a chorus could have a distinct personality, just like a person. Professor: Absolutely. In fact, you'll see an excellent example of that in a first play we'll be studying. Okay, the last space was the sitting area for the audiences. This was called the "theatron". In ancient Greek, "theatron" means "seeing". That's S-E-E-I-N- G, seeing place. The "theatron" was shaped in a semi-circle with rows of sitting rising up the sides of the bowl. It was designed to take advantage of the natural acoustics benefits of the setting. The shape of the bowl captured the sound and followed it upward. So that even in the top rows, spectators were able to hear the performers, very clearly. Actually, that the name "theatron" means "seeing place" is kind of ironic. Some theatres have fifty or more rows of seats accommodating up to fourteen thousand spectators, ascending way of the hillside, and this was long before theatre binoculars were invented.