Modern Theater

Introduction

Throughout Greek and Roman antiquity and the European Middle Ages, the theater was a central part of civic life and a collective experience. Shows were put on in accordance with civic and religious calendars and played an important role in creating a sense of community identity. The economic organization of the theater, however, varied greatly across these periods, as did the relationship between performers, audiences, and patrons.

Greek Theaters

The Greek world in the classical period was dominated by the city of Athens, where theatrical performance was an integral part of several religious festivals. As such, it was a collective experience, in which citizens played active roles as performers, spectators, and organizers, and the theater served as a vehicle for the city's self-presentation and self-examination (Hindley, 63).

In the following discussions, Greek plays are also seen to migrate to new literary cultures and sociocultural arenas through not only linguistic translation or adaptation but also the reinterpretation of ancient Greek social behaviors and religious values to suit contemporary audiences. Migration of plots to modern-day settings also serves as urgent political commentary following international military crises. Touring productions may be perceived as acts of migration - of performance trends and of theater itself to hitherto excluded socioeconomic demographics. Indeed, so can the translation of Greek texts by classical scholars and translators, in the sense that this is the first act that makes these works accessible to readers who do not read Greek.

Some plays have resonated particularly strongly with modern theater practitioners and audiences: Euripides' Trojan Women, for example, served as an archetypal antiwar play for the twentieth century, with productions inviting identification with the victims of war and recognition of common humanity over and above national or other demarcations. Yet political identities, too, are easily grafted onto ideas from Greek plays: for example, the same Greek tragedy, in this volume, is seen to offer useful material to both antifascists and anticommunists; and theater groups are observed to have turned to Greek plays to express their political ideologies and social concerns(Easterling, 234).

The most important of these festivals was the Great or City Dionysia in the spring of each year, when tragedies and comedies were performed over a period of several days, along with choral songs (dithyrambs) celebrating the god Dionysus. These festivals were political and religious occasions, opening with processions, sacrifices, and public ceremonies in the theater during which public honors were announced and, at the height of Athenian power, the tribute paid by the city's allies was displayed. The dithyrambic performances alone involved 20 choruses of 50 members, 2 from each of the 10 tribes that represented one of the basic units of democratic organization. It has been calculated that 1,200 individuals were involved in performing at each City Dionysia.

Though the origins of Athenian drama predated the beginnings of democracy at the end of the sixth century, the theater came to be closely intertwined with Athenian democracy in its themes and organization. All performers were Athenian citizens, and the dithyrambic choruses made visible on stage ...