The Theater in Ancient Greece

The time period around 600 to 200 BC in Ancient Greece was a time where the Greek people really enjoyed the theater. The theater was available to all Greeks, no matter if they were of the upper class or not, it was truly an equal opportunity form of entertainment. The theaters were of the open air type with seating situated in different levels or tiers formed in a semi-circle around the central stage. This was so the rear area of the stage couldn't be seen by the audience, which allowed the actors to change their costumes and arrange different props for each new scene. Having elaborate costuming and overly emphasized and over-sized masks to show emotion were needed so that the audience members sitting way in the back in the upper seats could still see the actors and could figure out who was who and what was going on.

The masks were carefully constructed for each actor's character and were made so that they would completely cover the actor's head and face. Even the actor's hair didn't show, because it was the persona of the character, not the actor, that had to show through. The masks were made with eye and mouth holes that were also over-sized, allowing the actors to see, breathe and speak easily. There are some researchers and historians who think that another purpose of the Greek mask was to act like a short of megaphone so the actor's voice would carry to the far seats.

The moods or emotions of the masks depended on what was happening in the play and what the character was doing or feeling. Some emotions portrayed in the masks include happiness, sadness or tragedy. There were many different masks throughout the play since the characters didn't always have the same emotion or mood, so when a scene was changed, the actors would go behind the stage and switch into a different mask and maybe a different costume as well. The costumes were also designed to change the appearance of the actor. If a character was supposed to be taller than the actor portraying them actually was, the actor could wear extended heels or '˜lifts' to make them taller. Some of the costumes were made so that the actor seemed taller by making the shoes or boots bigger than they should be.

Another interesting fact about the Greek theater is that all of the actors were men. This meant that when there was a woman character in the play, the male actors would have to have costumes and padding that made them look like a woman. This was the same with the masks. Female masks and wigs were used to give the illusion that the actor was a woman. To make the masks seem more like a woman than a man, the eyes were bigger to differentiate them from the male masks.

Citations:

Greek Theater. From http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/GreekTheater.html

Philips, K. Ancient Greek Actors. From http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/theatre/actors.html