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 There were several periods of theatre, but my presentation will focus on the
ones that lasted for longer and had more influence on the evolution of
theatre over time.

 Selecting distinct periods of theatre also helped me break down my research,

so I could put more detail into what I was writing.

 Therefore my presentation today will be organised around the following

topics:

 Ancient Greek Theatre (550 BC-220BC)

 Ancient Roman Theatre (240BC-476)
 Medieval Theatre(401-1500)
 Commedia dell’Arte (1510-1650)
 19th Century Melodrama (1810-1900)
 Silent Films (1894-1929)
 Modern Movies (Now)

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 The Ancient Greeks performed two main theatre genres:
 Tragedy
 Comedy
 Greek theatre began in the 6th century BC in Athens where tragedies were
performed at religious festivals. While people enjoyed watching plays, they
didn’t always want them to be sad. Over time this inspired the genre of Greek
comedy plays.

 These two types of Greek drama were hugely popular and performances
spread to the Mediterranean and inspired Hellenistic and Roman theatre.

 As a consequence of their lasting popularity, the works of great playwrights

such as Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes formed the foundations upon
which all modern theatre is based.

 In a similar way, the architecture of the ancient Greek theatre has continued
to influence the design of theatres today.
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 The Ancient Romans performed three main theatre genres:
 Tragedy , Comedy and Drama

 Theatre in Roman times lacked originality, the plays were very serious and
close to all of the Roman plays were imitations or loosely based on Greek
dramas. They were even sometimes performed in Greek costume.

 Eventually, after 400 years of competing with chariot races, gladiatorial fights
to the death, and the sight of criminals, religious and ethnic minorities being
torn apart by wild animals, theatre almost died out as a form of popular
entertainment.

 Roman actors or performers were known as Histones.

 Luckily theatre did survive this period and went on to influence

commedia dell'Arte.

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 Medieval performers across Europe were generally travelers
with a wagon to use as a stage wherever they could find an audience.

 There were three different types of plays performed:

The Mystery Play, The Miracle Play and The Morality Play.
 Mystery Plays were stories from the Bible. Each play had four or five different
scenes. The priests and monks were the actors.

 Each scene was performed at a different place in town and the people moved
from one stage to the next to watch the play. The play usually ended outside
the church so that the people could go to church and hear a sermon after
watching the play.
 The Miracle Play was about the life or actions of a person that made them a
saint. One popular Miracle Play was about Saint George and the dragon.

 Morality Plays were created to teach people a lesson in how to live their lives
following the rules of the church. Sometimes these plays had fancy sets or no
 sets at all. It didn't seem to matter. The people who attended these plays
found them a good escape from their everyday lives.
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 Commedia dell’Arte was a form of popular theatre that focused on acting in
groups, its improvisations had a set framework of masks and situations.

 Plots from this time were borrowed from the classical literary tradition of the
‘commedia erudite’ or literary drama.

 Despite present day depictions of the theatre presentations from this time, its
use of masks and theatrical situations, these impressions of what the
commedia dell’Arte was like are very much secondhand.

 Therefore, many consider this period of theatre as a ‘lost’ art form.

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 The term ''Melodrama'' is derived from "music drama" – in this form of

theatre music was used to increase emotions or to depict the nature of
certain characters (signature music).

 Melodrama was the primary form of theatre during the 19th century,
becoming the most popular by 1840. In the early 1800’s, most melodrama
plays were about romance, exotic people or creatures or had supernatural
themes.
 Plays during this time used a very simplified moral universe; where stock
characters were either good or evil.
 Dramatic effects were used like fires, explosions, faked drownings and
earthquakes. Animals were also included. Equestrian dramas
were performed using horses, often on treadmills. These were forerunners of
the modern Western Canine Melodramas: like Lassie.
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 A silent film is a film with no recorded sound (and in particular, no
audible dialogue). Though silent films mainly communicate narrative and
emotion visually, various plot elements such as a setting, particular place
or time or key lines of dialogue may be conveyed by the use of title cards.
 The term "silent film" is a bit misleading, as these films were almost always
accompanied by live sounds.
 During the silent era that lasted from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s,
a pianist, theatre organist, or even in large cities a small orchestra, would
often play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would play
either from sheet music or improvise.
 Sometimes a person would even narrate the title cards for the audience.
Though at the time the technology to make the sound go with the film did
not exist, music was seen as a key part of the viewing experience.
 The term “silent film” is also frequently used to describe sound-era films that
have a recorded music-only soundtrack without dialogue.

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 The most common form of modern day theatre are probably “movies”. Often
watched at home, with literally thousands to choose from, this form of
theatre is very convenient for the audience.
 With advancements in technology, including digital animation and CGI, or
computer generated imagery, movie directors can create almost anything
imaginable and include elaborate stunts and special effects.
 In this form of theatre males most often play male characters and females
play female roles. People are now are moving more towards using the single
term ''actor” rather than the terms ''actor'' and ''actress”.
 During most of the 20th and early 21st centuries movies were first released at
the cinema, where the film is projected onto a large screen.
 At one point “drive in” outdoor cinemas were very popular.
 During the late 20th century people could watch films on video tapes and later
DVDs.
 Now it is very common for films to be released straight to TV from a streaming
service like Netflix, Foxtel, Stan or Disney+. There is a long list of film genres
and movies these days can be about almost anything!