Lesson 1: Origins of Theatre
Learning objectives:
List the performance elements and understand their role in both ritual and theatre: time, place, participants (players, audience), scenario (agenda/goal/text/rules), clothing (uniform, costume, mask, makeup), sound (speech, music), movement (gesture, pantomime, dance), and function or purpose. Can be clock or fictional time, places vary (designed to meet needs), rituals might take place in one space or they might involve a procession with portions of the ritual being performed at various places along the way, elements can be combined, ritual and theatre employ the same basic elements as other human activities do but have diff purposes in mind and choose the particular form needed 4 each …show more content…

Abydos passion play-tells of the death and resurrection of Osiris and the coronation of Horus (was the most revered of all Egyptian myths, historians interpret this as the libretto of a drama in which Horus, symbolizing the regenerated year spirit, was impersonated by the pharaoh, who performed it each year on the first day of spring. At Abydos, the most sacred spot in Egypt, some kind of performance related to Osiris occurred annually from about 2500 until about 550 BCE. No text remains of it, but there are hieroglyphics and the Ikhernofret stone, in which he tells what he did during one of the celebrations, disagreement among scholars about his interpretations, was one of the most elaborate dramatic spectacles ever staged.
Notes: cultural biases always play a part in the study of history, developments and innovation attributed to Greek civilization actually could have originated in Northern Africa, many assumptions about history discounts pre-literate societies that may have developed performance practices of their own. Rituals of ancient Egypt are seen as the first theatrical activity, then Greece civilization led to advanced performances and more developments and rituals changed leading to autonomous theatrical activities that formed the basis for Western European drama. (pdf notes)
Lesson 2: Theatre and Society in Ancient Greece
Learning objectives:
Explain the major theories of origins of Greek