ANTIGONE :: Drama

ANTIGONE HISTORY OF GREEK THEATRE 25 hundred years ago, two thousand years before Shakespeare, western theatre was born in Athens Greece. Between 600 and 200bc the ancient Athenians created a theatre culture whose form, technique and terminology have lasted to millennia and they created plays that are still considered amongst the greate3st works of world drama. By 600bc Greece was divided into two states. The most prominent city state was Athens where at least 150,000 people live. It was there that the rites of Dionysus evolved into what we know today as theatre. Dionysus was cult that arose in northern Greece. Since Greek and Attica theatre are sometimes referred to as attic theatre. Sometime during the next 75yrs thepis of Attica added on an actor who interacted with the chorus. The actor was called the protagonist, from which the modern word protagonist is derived meaning the main character of drama. An important part of Dionysus was dithyrambs which meant chronic hymn. This chant or hymn was probably introduced accompanied by mimic gestures and probably music. It began as part of a purely religious ceremony. MASK/CHOROUS Plays where performed in day time. The annual drama competitions in Athens spread over several entire days. Actors probably wore little or no make up. Instead they carried masks with exaggerated facial expressions. They also wore buskins which were leather boots laced up to the knees. There was little or no scenery. Initially, most of the acting took place in the orchestra. Later as the importance shifted from chorus to the characters, the action moved to the stage. UNDERSTANDING MY CHARACTER Choosing to play the part of a man didn’t seem a big deal to me even though this character I was to play was a king. I thought I could easily relate to the character even though I am not a man but during my character development process I started finding it more difficult to get into the role. I decided at this point that if I was going to play this character properly I would need some help and practice. My character Creon comes across as a very strong character and quite arrogant to a certain extent. I thought to get an insight into my characters personality and mind set I would put myself in a higher position than everyone else, I would act as if every one around me were peasants. I tried to do this for a couple of hours at first I did get it right and I managed to carry myself graciously but lost it after a wile. Later in the evening I was watching TV and then it