Stage Acting
by
Madison Ely
“Lights, Cameras, Action!” That is
the words that most people think of when they think of acting these days. But
long before there was movies and shows to watch on pretty much every
interconnected device, tv, and cinema acting was something that happened on a
stage. People would go watch a play be performed, and each performance would
have slight differences. These days the
theater is not something everyone gets to experience, but once it was the
primary form of entertainment.
The classical period of Ancient
Greece was from 480-323 B.C. and a new form of literature appeared, that of
Drama. Drama included the works of
tragedy and comedy. Tragedy originated in the city of Athens where it started
as a religious ritual for the god Dionysius. Originally it was a speaker, who
interacted with a chorus. This speaker
became the first actor. The stories were
based on myths. Aeschylus was a famous dramatist who wrote over 90 plays,
although only 7 survive to this day. His most famous is called Oresteia.
Sophocles was a Greek playwright whom composed 120 different works, but only 7
survive. His most well-known work is
Oedipus Rex, which is often still put on to this day. Another famous Greek
playwright was Euripides whom there are 18 surviving works, the most well-known
is a play called Media. Aristophanes was a famous comedy playwright, whom we
know of 11 surviving plays, most of which made fun of current events during his
time.
Another period of history that
impacted the History of Acting is that of the Elizabethan Era, Under Queen
Elisabeth the First. William Shakespeare
is known for writing numerous plays, sonnets, and poems. He is the most
well-known author in the world. He is known for working at the Globe Theater,
where many of his plays were first performed. Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and A
Midsummer’s Night’s Dream are some of his most popular works. Christopher
Marlow was a contemporary of Shakespeare, only two months his elder. And like Shakespeare was from the middle
class. His best known work is the Tragedy of Doctor Faust. William
Kempe was an actor who is credited for being part of the Globe Theater. He is known for having done a Morris Dance
from London to Norwich. The Globe
Theater was known to have 11 performances of 10 different plays in a week. This created a unique style of acting known
as Cue Acting.
The
modern area has seen the rise of many changes in acting. From the introduction of the moving picture
to the era of the television, acting has dramatically changed. However, theater continues to be a living
vital thing. George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950) was one of the most influential playwrights of the 20th
century. His most famous play is
Pygmalion (1912), on which the musical My Fair Lady was based. He wrote about
50 plays in his lifetime. Musical Comedy and review developed around the same
era. This was the time of Vaudeville, in
the 1800’s in America. It was from these
mixed with the Opera that musical theater began. Oscar Hammerstein’s work is probably the best
known in the Theater community, with such plays as The Sound of Music and The
King and I. The rise and fall of the Broadway musical seems to have happened in
stages, with bursts of famous works by the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and
other creative genius who leave us with a legacy such as The Phantom of the
Opera and Les Miserables by Claude-Michel Schonberg.
Acting
is an ancient tradition that is constantly evolving. From the festivals of
ancient Greece where it first evolved, to the famous Globe theater, to the lights
of Broadway and the glamour of Hollywood.
While more and more acting is seen as something done behind a camera,
the skills and history of stage acting is not something that anyone should
forget.
Bibliography
Driscoll, P. (2015). Shaw, George Bernard (1856–1950). The
New Book of Knowledge. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from Grolier Online
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Greece, Literature of. (2015). The New Book of Knowledge.
Retrieved November 16, 2015, from Grolier Online
http://nbk.grolier.com/ncpage?tn=/encyc/article.html&id=10002292&
type=0ta
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Halio, J. L. (2015). Marlowe, Christopher (1564–1593). The
New Book of Knowledge. Retrieved November 30, 2015, from Grolier Online
http://nbk.grolier.com/ncpage?tn=/encyc/article.html&id=a2018377-
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Bordman, G. (2015). Musical Theater. The New Book of
Knowledge. Retrieved November 30, 2015, from Grolier Online
http://nbk.grolier.com/ncpage?tn=/encyc/article.html&id=a2020175-
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http://www.bardstage.org/globe-theatre-actors.htm
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