History of Acting

Origin of Acting
Little information about the origin of theatre has survived. The information we do have comes
from wall paintings, decorations, artifacts, and hieroglyphics that show the importance of
successful hunts, seasonal changes, life cycles, and stories of the gods. From these we see the
necessity of passing along the experiences of the old to the young through art, storytelling, and
dramatizing events. This practice gave the youth of a culture a guide and a plan for their own
lives.
Theatre emerged from myth , ritual, and ceremony. Early societies perceived connections
between certain actions performed by the group or leaders in the group and the desired results of
the whole society. These actions moved from habit, to tradition, and then on to ceremony and
ritual. The formulation of these actions, and the consequent repetition and rehearsal, broke the
ground for theatre.
According to the mythologist Joseph Campbell, rituals are related to three basic concerns:
pleasure, power, and duty. Power- influencing and controlling events- was often the intention of
rituals such as ceremonies to guarantee a successful crop or to please the gods. Usually societies
had rituals that glorified supernatural powers, victories, and heroes. Often supernatural forms
would be represented using costumes and masks. Rituals that were practiced as duty to the gods,
also brought entertainment and pleasure.
These rituals are accompanied by myths. The myths enter the storytelling tradition, gaining a life
beyond the original rites. This new life allows the myths to move towards entertainment and the
esthetic. These stories now are performed for their own sake and move towards theatre.
Through these rituals, leaders, or actors of sorts, emerged. These acting/leadership roles were
often filled by elders and priests. In addition, the beginnings of acting spaces or auditoriums
developed as a result of more elaborate rituals.
The earliest example of ceremony and ritual evolving towards theatre comes from ancient Egypt.
"Pyramid texts" dating from 2800 to 2400 B.C., contain dramas sending the dead pharaoh off to
the underworld. These dramas also the continuity of life and the pharaoh's power. There is also
the Memphite Drama, recounting the story of the death and resurection of the god Osiris, and the
coronation of his son Horus. The most important Egyptian drama, though, was the Abydos
passion play. Like the Memphite drama, the Abydos passion play concerns the story of Osiris.
The paramont egyptian myth, this drama was enacted at the most sacred place in Egypt, Abydosthe
burial site of Osiris. .Performed annualy from 2500 to 550 B.C. and full of spectacle, this
passion play is the first of its kind ever recorded and is the first example of theatre.
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any
other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and,
usually, speaking or singing the written text or play.
Acting requires a wide range of skills, including vocal projection, clarity of speech, physical
expressivity, emotional facility, a well-developed imagination, and the ability to interpret drama.
Acting also often demands an ability to employdialects, accents and body
language, improvisation, observation and emulation, mime, and stage combat. Many actors train
at length in special programs or colleges to develop these skills, and today the vast majority of
professional actors have undergone extensive training. Even though one actor may have years of
training, they always strive for more lessons; the cinematic and theatrical world is always
changing and because of this, the actor must stay as up to date as possible. Actors and actresses
will often have many instructors and teachers for a full range of training involving, but not
limited to, singing, scene-work, monologue techniques, audition techniques, and partner work.
Greek theatre
The Greek theatre history began with festivals honoring their gods. A god, Dionysus, was
honored with a festival called by "City Dionysia". In Athens, during this festival, men used to
perform songs to welcome Dionysus. Plays were only presented at City Dionysia festival.
Athens was the main center for these theatrical traditions. Athenians spread these festivals to its
numerous allies in order to promote a common identity.
At the early Greek festivals, the actors, directors, and dramatists were all the same person. After
some time, only three actors were allowed to perform in each play. Later few non-speaking roles
were allowed to perform on-stage. Due to limited number of actors allowed on-stage, the chorus
evolved into a very active part of Greek theatre. Music was often played during the chorus'
delivery of its lines.
Tragedy plays
Thespis is considered to be the first Greek "actor" and originator of tragedy (which means "goat
song", perhaps referring to goats sacrificed to Dionysus before performances, or to goat-skins worn by the performers.) However, his importance is disputed, and Thespis is sometimes listed as late as sixteenth in the chronological order of Greek tragedians. Aristotle's Poetics contain the earliest known theory about the origins of Greek theatre. He says that tragedy evolved from dithyrambs, songs sung in praise of Dionysus at the Dionysia each year. The dithyrambs may have begun as frenzied improvisations but in the 600s BC, the poet Arion is credited with developing the dithyramb into a formalized narrative sung by a chorus. Three well-known Greek tragedy playwrights of the fifth century are Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. Comedy plays Comedy was also an important part of ancient Greek theatre. Comedy plays were derived from imitation; there are no traces of its origin. Aristophanes wrote most of the comedy plays. Out of these 11 plays survived - Lysistrata, a humorous tale about a strong woman who leads a female coalition to end war in Greece. Greek Theatre Theatre buildings were called a theatron. The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three main elements: the orchestra, the skene, and the audience. Orchestra: A large circular or rectangular area at the center part of the theatre, where the play, dance, religious rites, acting used to take place. Skene: A large rectangular building situated behind the orchestra, used as a backstage. Actors could change their costumes and masks. Earlier the skene was a tent or hut, later it became a permanent stone structure. These structures were sometimes painted to serve as backdrops. Rising from the circle of the orchestra was the audience. The theatres were originally built on a very large scale to accommodate the large number of people on stage, as well as the large number of people in the audience, up to fourteen thousand. Acting The cast of a Greek play in the Dionysia was comprised of amateurs, not professionals (all male). Ancient Greek actors had to gesture grandly so that the entire audience could see and hear the story. However most Greek theatres were cleverly constructed to transmit even the smallest sound to any seat. Costumes and Masks The actors were so far away from the audience that without the aid of exaggerated costumes and masks. The masks were made of linen or cork, so none have survived. Tragic masks carried mournful or pained expressions, while comic masks were smiling or leering. The shape of the mask amplified the actor's voice, making his words easier for the audience to hear. Roman Theatre The theatre of ancient Rome was a diverse and interesting art form, ranging from festivalperformances of street theatre and acrobatics, to the staging of Plautus's broadly appealing situation comedies, to the high-style, verbally elaborate tragedies of Seneca. Although Rome had a native tradition of performance, the Hellenization of Roman culture in the 3rd century BC had a profound and energizing effect on Roman theatre and encouraged the development of Latin literature of the highest quality for the stage. Roman drama was highly influenced by Greek drama. Roman playwrights included Seneca for tragedy and Plautus and Terence for comedy. Two of the most famous plays of the Roman Theatre were the Menaechmi by Plautus and Oedipus by Seneca. Roman dramas had two sets of actors. There was an actor who spoke the character's lines and a different actor mimed the part on stage. The gestures used were also stylized to emphasize the lines as were the masks that they wore. Roman Theatre props would have included easily moveable objects such as weapons including swords and daggers, goblets and plates, stools, torches, blood soaked clothing, wine or ale containers, whips, helmets, armor, false jewels, crowns and wreaths, skulls and bones, animal furs, standards and banners, caskets and containers and flowers and petals. Larger props might include larger items of furniture, statues, exotic plants and even trees. The scena was a partition reaching across the theatre and was made either to turn round or draw up, to present a new prospect to the spectators. The audience seating portion of the Roman theatre was called the Cavea and arrange in wedgeshaped seating sections. In the early Roman Republic (before the emperors emerged after Julius Caesar), women did not enter the profession; it was considered inappropriate for them. However, in the Imperial period, a number of women became famous actresses, and earned reputations as infamous as their male counterparts.Roman actors had bad reputations and their morals challenged even the decadence of Roman society. Their performances could be lewd, highly sexual and offensive, and they sometimes even appeared naked on stage and engaged in sexual acts. The Roman theatre was laid out like a Greek theatre. There was a backstage area, seating arrangements for the audience, and an orchestra. The Roman stage went through many different stages before reaching the form we all recognize today.[citation needed] Theatres started out as simple, temporary wooden structures. The layout of the stage was the same as in later stone stages: three doors, opening to the brothel, temple, and hero's house. The stage itself was enclosed by wings at each side, and the scene house had a roof. Sanskrit Drama The Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of Sanskrit drama.This treatise on grammar from 140 BCE provides a feasible date for the beginnings of theatre in India. Its drama is regarded as the highest achievement of Sanskrit literature. It utilised stock characters, such as the hero (nayaka), heroine (nayika), or clown (vidusaka). The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is A Treatise on Theatre (Nātyaśāstra), a compendium whose date of composition is uncertain (estimates range from 200 BCE to 200 CE) and whose authorship is attributed to Bharata Muni. The Treatise is the most complete work of dramaturgy in the ancient world. It addresses acting, dance, music, dramatic construction, architecture, costuming, make-up, props, the organisation of companies, the audience, competitions, and offers a mythological account of the origin of theatre.[11] In doing so, it provides indications about the nature of actual theatrical practices. Sanskrit theatre was performed on sacred ground by priests who had been trained in the necessary skills (dance, music, and recitation) in an hereditary process. Its aim was both to educate and to entertain. Under the patronage of royal courts, performers belonged to professional companies that were directed by a stage manager (sutradhara), who may also have acted.[12] This task was thought of as being analogous to that of a puppeteer—the literal meaning of "sutradhara" is "holder of the strings or threads". The performers were trained rigorously in vocal and physical technique. There were no prohibitions against female performers; companies were all-male, all-female, and of mixed gender. Certain sentiments were considered inappropriate for men to enact, however, and were thought better suited to women. Some performers played characters their own age, while others played characters younger or older than themselves. Of all the elements of theatre, the Treatise gives most attention to acting (abhinaya), which consists of two styles: realistic (lokadharmi) and conventional (natyadharmi), though the major focus is on the latter.