Preceden

Theatre Styles and Playwrights Timeline

Events

Greek Theatre

550 BC - 220 BC

  • There were three types of Greek theatre: Comedy, Satire and Tragedy. They used different techniques such as choral movement and vocal projection because of the environment.
  • They also used masks for characterisation
  • Only men acted, women were not aloud to act
  • everyone was advised to watch for religion Famous playwrights:
    • Sophocles (496-406 BC) and Euripides (480-380 BC)

Roman Theatre

240 BC - 476

  • Roman theatre was in Ancient Greece
  • Main theatre form was farce, they were influenced by old Greek comedy
  • Theatre of the era is generally separated into the genres of tragedy and comedy. Famous playwrights: Livius Andronicus (284-204BC) and Lucius Seneca (4BC-65AD)

Medieval Theatre

401 - 1500

  • In medieval theatre they used exaggeration to create comic characters
  • It was a Liturgical Drama (religious drama) and it usually presents a relatively complex ritual that includes theatrical elements.
  • Medieval plays were performed in markets or town squares and the actors were not paid. After the performance they would go around the audience and collect food and money and then move onto the next town. The plays were used to spread christianity throughout europe. Famous playwrights: Hrosvitha (935-1002) and Adam de la Halla (1237-1288)

Chinese Theatre

618

  • Used storytelling, song, dance and comic pantomime.
  • chinese theatre was performed in a circular space, drawn with chalk.

Commedia Dell'arte

1510 - 1650

  • This is known as the 'Comedy of the Arts'
  • It originated from Roman Farce
  • Theatrical form characterized by improvised dialogue and a cast of colorful stock characters that emerged in northern Italy in the fifteenth century and rapidly gained popularity throughout Europe. Famous playwrights: Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) and Molière (1622-1673), did not write it but influenced it

Elizabethan Theatre

1576 - 1642

  • Elizabethan theatre started in England
  • Also known early modern English theatre and english renaissance theatre
  • The reputation of the early Elizabethan Actors was not good, they were not trusted
  • A play could attract up to 3000 people, so they were famous Famous playwrights: William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe

17th Century French Neoclassicism

1648 - 1749

  • Plays with the ideas and effect on human beings.
  • the theatre at that time is similar today Famous playwrights: Racine (1639 – 1673) and Moliere (1622-1673)

Restoration Comedy

1660 - 1710

  • Mainly known for the comedies of manners
  • Centred on love
  • a style of drama which flourished in London after the Restoration theatre Famous playwrights: William Congreve and Oliver Goldsmith

18th Century Sentimentalism

1701 - 1800

  • Behaviour became more restrained; interest in royal and high class circles reduced – the middle class became more aware of itself
  • Acting became more natural and lifelike Famous playwrights : Richard Sheridan and John Gay

Australian Drama

1788

  • Started in 1788
  • Theatre of Australia refers to the history of the performing arts in Australia Famous playwrights: Lawler and Alan Seymour

19th Century Melodrama

1801 - 1900

  • Classed as the ‘Romantic Age’
  • Melodramas are serious plays in which good and evil are clearly separated
  • Melodrama was the primary form of theatre during the 19th century Famous playwrights: Anthony Hope and Douglas Jerrold

Realism

1860 - 1900

  • Classed as the ‘Romantic Age’
  • Melodramas are serious plays in which good and evil are clearly separated
  • Realism in the theatre was a general movement that began in the 19th-century theatre
  • It developed a set of dramatic and theatrical conventions with the aim of bringing a greater fidelity of real life to texts and performances Famous playwrights: Anthony Hope and Douglas Jerrold

Naturalism

1880 - 1940

  • Believed that theatre should be like ‘a slice of life’ – life like scenery; costumes and methods of acting
  • Natural acting techniques surfaced
  • In 1909 Stanislavski established the acting system that became the foundation for much of the realistic and naturalistic acting of the 20th Century – known as ‘method acting’ Famous playwrights: Emile Zola and Anton Chekhov

20th Century Symbolism and Expressionism

1890 - 1940

  • Strongly fought against theatre being a social/political voice
  • Vocal work had greater emphasis on silence and static
  • There was a concentrated Expressionist movement in early 20th century German theatre famous playwrights: JM Barrie and Alfred Jarry

Epic Style and Didacticism

1910 - 1950

  • Films used as background scenery
  • Brecht was one of the biggest influencers in epic theatre
  • Music to neutralise emotion rather than strengthen it
  • Epic theatre had a techniques (created by Brecht) helped alienate the audience.

Famous playwrights: Jean Genet and Bertolt Brecht

Theatre of the Absurd 1951 - 1972

1951 - 1972

  • Traditional theatrical performances were rejected in favour of illogical speeches and events, characters that change into animals, inappropriate silences and in conclusion
  • Inanimate objects coming to life Famous playwrights: Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco

Eclectic

1960

  • Movement – total body as a communicator
  • Ideas – tend to be complex
  • It incorporates Epic Theatre, Absurdist Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed
  • It uses movement rather than dialogue to tell a story, for example; dance, sound, light as the "primary expressions of language", spacial movement, gymnastics, acrobatics and mime Famous playwrights: Harold Pinter and Joe Orton

Cirque du Soleil theatre

1984

  • Cirque du Soleil has constantly sought to evoke imagination, invoke senses and provoke emotions
  • It's based on circus performances from around the world, with its own theme and storyline