Greek Theatre

There are 3 types of Greek theatre: comedy, tragedy and satire. Electra is a Greek Tragedy. A convention of a greek tragedy is a character who is a flawed hero. A film example of a flawed hero is Jay Gatsby, although you love him, you are reminded of how corrrupt he truly is. 

The plays were based on ancient, classical myths. Greek theatre was performed in a colessium/arena - in open air. The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens was able to hold more than 17,000, which tells us that the Greek theatres were quite large. Due to the largeness, the audience would stretch so far back that actors would use masks with exaggerated emotions. Despite being outside, the acoustics in the theatre were fantastic; the performers could be heard clearly by everyone, wherever they were sat.

The layout of Greek theatres
The theatre was shaped like a horseshoe, and had rows which rose upwards and backwards in tiers. The first row consisted of stone thrones, who were strictly for respectable citizens and Dionysus' priest.
1) Orchestra - the modern word for this section is the 'pit'. It was the dancing place of chorus. Musical accompaniment, e.g. a flute player, would sit in the corner.

2) Stage - also known as proscenium. This is where the most of the play's action took place. Actors sometimes would move to the orchestra, or the roof of the skene.

3) Paradoi - these were the wings, which were both sides of the stage, after the seating stopped. The chorus would come marching through and in.

4) Altar - to Dionysus, where sacrifices were made. It was sometimes used as a stage prop.

5) Skene - the modern word for this is 'scene'. It was a wooden structure. It was a dressing room for actors, with its facade being used to resemble a place, acting as the backdrop for a play. It had 3 doors, which were used for entrances and exits.

6) Theatron (seating) - where the audience watched the show. It was U-shaped.

There were few items of technical equipment, which were available to creat special effects on stage. There was equipment which could immitate lightning and the sound of thunder. The ekkyklema was a wheeled platform which came in and out of the skene, revealing actions that was taking place indoors.

In this time period, casts were only made up of males, which meant men had to play all the roles. With maks, they could play male, female, old, young. The actors would wear elaborate formal costumes. As well as having the ability to act, the men had to be good singers. Most of the acting was conventional and stylised, not having a naturalistic element.