THA 101: Introduction to Drama and Theatre

Introduction to theatre

What is Theatre?

Theatre means different things to different people.

As far as this course is concern, Theatre shall be studied as a work of art. And it is
spelt: T-H-E-A-T-R-E. The word Theatre has it origin in the Greek word
THEATRON which is also from the Greek word THEASTHAL, and Theasthal
means "behold". Theatron means "a place of seeing" or "a place for viewing".

In defining Theatre as a work of art, Babatope Babafemi put it as "the totality of all
the process of play making and play production". Different factors are involved in
play making and play production. Some of the factors are categorized into different
aspect of how theatre can be described i.e. Theatre as performance, theatre as building
and theatre as an enterprise.

Theatre as performance can be define as the enactment of an action, which in other

words means that theatre imitates life, on a stage and before a live audience, present in
the theatre or virtually available to be part of the theatre experience.

Theatre as building can be interpreted as a dedicated facility or building where plays

can be produced or seen. Meaning that in the modern understanding, a theatre as
building can be a place where films are shown (also known as cinema) or where live
stage plays are performed. Theatre as building has 4 salient areas which are: Front of
House (FOH), Auditorium, Stage and Backstage.

Front of House comprises: the Billboard where posters and any information about the
theatre or theatrical activities are display. Also part of the FOH is the Box office,
which is a place/structure in theatre architecture where play or production tickets are
sold. There is Lobby where people stay pending the opening of the house (House
comprises of Stage and the Auditorium).

Auditorium: is, part of the theatre as building, where members of the audience sit to
see and hear a play on the stage. The seats are arranged in rows and the space between
the rows is called Aisle.

Stage: is usually a raised/elevated platforms or pit area of the House where the
actor/actress does his/her business - Acting. (Stage will be elaborated on in the
aesthetics/elements of the theatre, later).

Backstage: this is the area or spaces in the theatre building where activities that
enhances theatrical productions are planned and ensure that the production is a
success. Activities here are not meant to be seen or visible to the member of audience.
There is Green room where actors sit to relax and wait for their cues to go on stage.
Costume room, Dressing room/Make-up room, Carpentry workshop, Lighting and
Sound Booth, Projection Booth, Script dock are some of the sections in backstage area
of a theatre as building.

Theatre as an Enterprise also can be refer to as theatre as an organization. The

preparation of any production requires close cooperation and collaboration of different
specialists in different areas of theatre practice. These areas are categorised into 3 and
they are: Artistic, Management and Technical. This will be further discussed later,
under theatre personnel in the course of this study.

Brief History of Theatre

There is vague difference between drama and theatre and this manifest in how they are
treated historically. The history of theatre is hard to place without referring to drama
history. This is because, theatre can be said to be performance of drama on stage, but
it is not necessary that all dramas are created for stage production.

There are various schools of thought, as to how theatre, just as drama, has come to be.
Two most talked about schools are Ritualism and Mimesis.

The first record of dramatic performance was in Africa in the year 4000 B.C. at the
palace of the Pharaoh of Egypt. But the origin of theatre is generally taken from
Greece in the 5th Century B.C., during a religious ritual, a festival in Athens known as
City Dionysia, in honour of the Greek god known as Dionysus. Theatre, as record
shows "grew out of mimetic worship of Dionysus and ritual performed at the graves
(shrines) of heroes and hero gods. It was important to the Athenians because it was the
climax of a religious and civil ritual", which involved all in the society.

The festival dedicated to Dionysus occurred in late January and early February and in
late March through the beginning of April. The first of these which was called Lenaea,
was the older, and as time went on, it was mainly reserved for comedians. The second
and more important festival was City or Great Dionysia. It was tragedy dominated and
the prize for the best playwright is a very fat goat as a symbol of honour.

The plays are left to be chanted by the chorus, a group of people who sit on stage and
chant about the action that are going on on stage. At first, the chorus with its leader
was the whole show, then Thepsis added one actor to the chorus, Aeschaylus added
the second actor and Sophocles added its third actor. Even with three actors, the
chorus still play a very important role.
During the period of theatre, every other activities must come to a standstill. This
included civil war, when the society is at war and the season for theatre came, they
will abandon the war front to watch theatre.

The plays during this period took place in an outdoor dedicated structure known as an
Amphitheatre, which is an open-air venue, during the day because sunlight was used
as source of illumination.

Functions of Theatre

1. Entertainment and Recreation or Relaxation - most people go to the theatre to

be entertained, to escape from their daily problems.

2. Information - Theatre has the capacity of disseminating information on a

particular subject which is not known before as well as reinforcing known
information on known subject

3. Education - it can use as medium for education

4. It can be use as an instrument for development

5. Job - it creates mediums through which people indulge in commerce.

Elements/Aesthetic of Theatre