Roman Theatre
Roman Theatre
#2
Medieval
Medieval Plays
Medieval Plays
#2
100
What type of theatre did Romans prefer?
comedies
100
How did the Romans show great importance on music?
1. Roman actors may have sung their lines, so the play resembled musical comedies. 2. Dialogue in some comedies introduces an interlude of flute playing indicating that there was no action onstage but music to entertain the audience.
100
What is the Medieval time period also called?
The Dark Ages or The Middle Ages
100
What are the three types of plays?
Miracle, Mystery and Morality
100
What were morality plays?
Plays that use allegory to dramatize some aspects of the Christian moral life.
200
Romans were heavily dependent on this civilization's plots and themes, what is it?
Greek civilization
200
What are the names of the three most famous Roman playwrights and how did they differ from each other?
Plautus - farcical, raucous comedies. Romans preferred him. Terence - Comedies are polished and carefully structured. Seneca - Wrote tragedies. Not really performed since Romans like comedies.
200
Who profited from the fall of the Roman Empire?
Roman Catholic Church
200
What were miracle plays? What did the plays focus primarily on?
They were about miracles performed by saints. Plays focused primarily on Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas.
200
What is allegory?
The technique of giving abstract ideas or values a physical representation.
300
The Romans were influenced by a certain kind of farce, what was it and what did the Romans take from them?
Atellan farce and they took the concept of stock characters which are characters that are recognizable and predictable.
300
What did Romans think of actors and who typically were the actors?
Romans actors were thought to be undignified and often they were clever slaves.
300
After theatre disappeared, how did it receive it’s rebirth?
It began it's rebirth in the church with liturgical dramas which were sung during parts of the Mass.
300
What were mystery plays?
A sacred medieval play dramatizing biblical events, like Adam & Eve, birth/death of Christ, etc.
300
What is the central problem in a morality play?
The salvation of human beings: An individual's struggle to avoid sin and damnation and achieve salvation in the other world.
400
What are four things that the Romans changed to Greek form of theatre?
Added violence Eliminated the chorus Added Background music Unlimited number of actors
400
Who were the two great actors of the Roman theatre era? What did each excel in?
Clodius Aesopus - tragedy actor Quintus Roscius Gallus - Comic actor. Slave that gained freedom and high rank because of skill
400
Why was the level of realism achieved by medieval plays startling at the time?
1 - Visual realism of explosions, smoke, elaborate and expensive costumes and props. 2 - Psychological realism - actors suffered like their characters would. Actor being staked to a cross like Christ and an actor being hung like Judas
400
Mystery plays became so popular that what were created?
Cycles
400
What is the best known morality play?
Everyman
500
The most common line in a Roman play had to deal with what?
A statement that the door is opening and someone is coming in.
500
What were the causes for the fall of Roman Theatre?
Fall of Roman Empire Vastness of Roman Empire Theatre less of an art form and more entertainment Rise of Christianity
500
Who do we consider the first female playwright? What was the primary theme of her writings? How were her writings probably used?
Hrosvitha. Illustrating lives of Christian martyred women. Her plays were not produced and just read as closet dramas.
500
The longest some cycle plays would be were?
24 hours
500
What is the best known mystery play?
The Second Shepherd's Pageant
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