ancient greek theatre?

Dick Baumgarten: The audience was required by law to attend as the theatre was an important religious event. They were represented by the chorus in the play, so they did not have a lot to do. They all knew all the stories by heart from their education. Only men attended as women were not considered worthy of practicing religion.

Heidi Creselious: Wjhat? This question isn't specific enough.The audience sat in a semi-circular auditorium carved into the hillside above the dancing-circle and the skene.Audience role? AUDIENCE. Is your theatre professor stupid?????As for that earlier answerer--the audience was not required by law to attend, Greeks were free to devote themselves to any gods they desired--so if you weren't a Dionysian, you were free to do as you wished.And as for the notion that women were not permitted--that's historically without evidence, and in fact there's the apocryphal story that the costumes for the furies in Aeschylus' "The Furies" were so sc! ary that pregnant women in the audience miscarried. Read some Aristophanes (especially Lysistrate and Thesmophoriasuzae) and ask yourself if these plays would have resonated with an all-male audience....Show more

Shaun Rapkowicz: All roles were played by males, even the female roles. Ancient Greek plays were performed at public religious festivals. Most ancient Greek plays were written for theatrical competitions (at the religious festivals). Colorful, decorative masks (that likely also were constructed in a way that helped magnify the actor's voice) were worn by actors. Many ancient Greek plays, at least in portions, involved dancing and singing or chanting some of the parts (particularly the Chorus). Since the appearance of gods was so common in ancient Greek plays, the stages came to be constructed with a hidden door containing a lifting crane that would, at the right moment, allow the actor portraying the deity to be lifted down onto the stage. This was called th! e 'Deus ex Machina' ("God in the Machine"), a phrase still use! d in drama today to refer to any plot device of an outside power suddenly appearing and resolving the conflict....Show more