THEA 1314 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Indian Classical Drama, Liturgical Drama, Folk Play
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Ancient Theatre
First Actor
• Thespis
o Stepped out from chorus in 534 BCE -- first performance of tragedy
o Portrayed character other than himself
o Origin of term "thespian"
o Supposedly awarded a goat as a prize
Deus Ex Machina -- " God from the machine"
• Mechane (crane) or ekkyklema (rolling platform) or trapdoor
• Now a literary term for a character / event that fixes problem at the end
Medieval Drama
• Two types
o Liturgical drama -- religious drama
o Vernacular drama -- mystery plays and miracle plays moved outside
▪ Folk drama -- not church-sanctioned; technically illegal
• Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim
o German canoness
o Wrote comedic plays
o First person - a woman - since Greek / romans to composed Western drama
Theatre of India / China / Japan
• Sanskrit Drama
o Derived from India
o Sensual in style
o Stock characters
▪ Nayaka (hero)
▪ Nayika (heroine)
▪ Vidusaka (clown)
o Actors trained in vocal and physical techniques
o No barriers for women
o Only surviving ancient Sanskrit drama theatre is Koodiyattam
o Rasa : an emotion inspired in an audience by a performer created by gestures and facial
expressions of the actors, 9 Rasa
▪ Love
▪ Laughter
▪ Fury
▪ Disgust
▪ Horror / terror
▪ Heroic
▪ Wonder
▪ Tranquility
• Shadow Puppetry
o Derived from China
o Depict great adventure and fantasy