Trace the development of staging

 

Trace the development of staging and production of plays in Greece after Parsian invasion.

 

Ans. The Persian invasion took place in Greece in 480 B.C. Aeschylus, the soldier poet fought against the Parsians at Marathon as an infantryman and later in the naval battle at Salamis. With the beginning of the fifth century B.C. the city of Athens entered the most glorious era of her history. The gallant Athenians had overthrown the tyranny of Peisistratus followed by their achieving a complete democracy through political reforms. But the most glorious achievement was the crushing defeat inflicted upon the invincible power of Asia by a coalition of the tiny Greek city-states under the Athenian leadership. The Greek theatre made a big leap forward with the advent of such powerful poets and playwrights as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

 

The Greek theatre is all through linked up with Greek religion. The front row seats in the house were reserved for the priests of Dionysus. The altar of Dionysus stood in the centre of the theatre. In Athens plays were performed only at the three annual festivals of Dionysus. One morning was assigned to the performance of three tragedies. All poets who wished to exhibit a play were to submit their works to the chief anchor to decide who deserved the coveted honour.

 

A Greek theatre consisted of three parts-the Orchestra, the stage buildings, the auditorium. Subsequently the painted scenery is said to have been introduced by Sophocles. Changes of scene was not necessary in ancient tragedy. Speeches and actions are of supreme importance. Finally the importance of the parts of the messengers and heralds in a Greek tragedy lies in the performance behind or without the  scene.