Why learn about Theatre History and styles?

Any piece of theatre you see today, or any film or television show for that matter, has been influenced by the way theatre has grown and changed over time.

Theatre often reflects some of the beliefs, priorities and stylistic fashions of the time in which is was written or produced - even if the play is set a different time period.

Theatre has always been a place where people come together to celebrate community, to share in storytelling, and sometimes to advocate for political or social change.

PART ONE - Conduct research and create a presentation

As a group you will be given a historical theatre style. You will be given a fact sheet to begin your research. It is expected that you do some of your own research to extend your knowledge. You might like to delegate areas of the fact sheet to individuals in your group to see what extra info you can get.

Your task is to create a 10-15 minute presentation/mini lesson that will teach the rest of the class about this style.

In creating your presentation you need to consider (not all will be relevant for your style, but most will):

• What are the most interesting facts?
• What images or videos can you show to give us the best idea of this style?
• What practitioners (eg. playwrights, directors, actors, designers) or particular performances are famous / should we know about?
• What do we need to know about the historical time period of this style? (eg. location, people, politics, culture, religion) Did any of these aspects influence something about the theatre style?
• What impact has this style of the theatre had on theatre as we know it today?

Outstanding presentations will go beyond using Google Slides. You should attempt to do some/all of the following:

• Lead the class through an activity or exercise that allows them to experience an aspect of this style (eg. acting style, performance space, how to use a convention such as masks).
• Perform yourselves, or have the class read, an excerpt from an important script from that style.

Ensure that everyone in the group contributes/participates equally, speaks clearly and maintains an actor-audience relationship throughout the presentation.

PART TWO - Written Reflection

After all the presentations are complete, you will do a short written task individually.

You will respond to 2 questions: Q1 will ask you to reflect on and creatively apply aspect of the style that YOU presented on. Q2 will ask you to identify and describe key information you have learnt during one of the other presentations.

Q1: Consider what you have learnt about the theatre style you presented about. Now imagine you are a director and you are going to interpret the fairy tale 'Three Little Pigs''. Describe some ways you could adapt or interpret that story using the conventions/style/performance space/typical language of your style. You need to demonstrate your understanding of the style as much as you can.

Example Answer: For my adapation of "Three Little Pigs" influenced by Greek Theatre, I would have a chorus of sheep who provide commentary on the story and warn the pigs not to be too prideful. The chorus will sing songs and do dance moves, and each song will be a version of a lullaby with the lyrics changed. All the performers will wear masks, and the performance will take place outside in an amphitheatre style space. The main characters will do large gestures so they can be easily seen, and at the end the Wolf will be removed by a crane like a 'Deux ex machina".

Q2: Choose one of the styles you learnt about from your classmates. Identify and describe below as many aspects as you can about this style, in as much detail as possible. You should cover at least 3 different aspects including any of: performance space, famous practitioners, plays, theatre technologies used, facts aboutt the time period that are relevant, how this style has impacted modern theatre.