DE LEON, Maila L.

SE_Eng302

Theatre and Stage Arts

Ms. Mikaela Soriano

Significance of Theatre Arts for Students

1. Drama improves academic performance
2. Research indicates that involvement in the arts increases student
engagement and encourages consistent attendance, and that drop-out rates
correlate with student levels of involvement in the arts.
3. From learning to read to the in-depth study of Shakespearean literature,
drama can play a significant role in the continual development of students
reading comprehension skills. Studies indicate that not only do the
performance of a story and a number of other drama activities in the
classroom contribute to a students understanding of the work performed, but
these experiences also help them to develop a better understanding of other
works and of language and expression in general.
4. In addition to building social and communication skills overall, involvement in
drama courses and performance has been shown to improve students selfesteem as well as their confidence in their academic abilities.
5. Since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, there has been a
national focus on closing the "achievement gap between students of varying
abilities, socioeconomic status, and geographies among other factors that
may directly or indirectly affect a students academic success. The arts,
including drama, address this issue by catering to different styles of learning,
and engaging students who might not otherwise take significant interest in
academics. Additionally, research indicates that drama courses and
performance have a particularly positive effect on at-risk youth and students
with learning disabilities.
Origins of the Theatre

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

DE LEON, Maila L.
SE_Eng302

Theatre and Stage Arts

Ms. Mikaela Soriano

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, Abydos- the 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.

Theories of the Theatre

Having been an important part of human culture for more than 2,500 years, theatre
has evolved a wide range of different theories and practices. Some are related to
political or spiritual ideologies, while others are based purely on "artistic" concerns.
Some processes focus on a story, some on theatre as event, and some on theatre as
catalyst for social change. The classical Greek philosopher Aristotle's Poetics
(c. 335 BCE) is the earliest-surviving example and its arguments have
influenced theories of theatre ever since. In it, he offers an account of what he
calls "poetry" (a term which in Greek literally means "making" and in this context
includes dramacomedy, tragedy, and the satyr playas well as lyric poetry, epic
poetry, and the dithyramb). He examines its "first principles" and identifies its
genres and basic elements; his analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the
discussion. He argues that tragedy consists of six qualitative parts, which are (in
order of importance) mythos or "plot", ethos or "character", dianoia or "thought",
lexis or "diction", melos or "song", and opsis or "spectacle". "Although Aristotle's
Poetics is universally acknowledged in the Western critical tradition," Marvin Carlson
explains, "almost every detail about his seminal work has aroused divergent

DE LEON, Maila L.
SE_Eng302

Theatre and Stage Arts

Ms. Mikaela Soriano

opinions." Important theatre practitioners of the 20th century include Konstantin

Stanislavski, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Jacques Copeau, Edward Gordon Craig, Bertolt
Brecht, Antonin Artaud, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski, Augusto Boal,
Eugenio Barba, Dario Fo, Keith Johnstone and Robert Wilson (director).
Stanislavski treated the theatre as an art-form that is autonomous from
literature and one in which the playwright's contribution should be
respected as that of only one of an ensemble of creative artists. His
innovative contribution to modern acting theory has remained at the core of
mainstream western performance training for much of the last century. That many
of the precepts of his system of actor training seem to be common sense and selfevident testifies to its hegemonic success. Actors frequently employ his basic
concepts without knowing they do so. Thanks to its promotion and elaboration by
acting teachers who were former students and the many translations of his
theoretical writings, Stanislavski's 'system' acquired an unprecedented ability to
cross cultural boundaries and developed an international reach, dominating debates
about acting in Europe and the United States. Many actors routinely equate his
'system' with the North American Method, although the latter's exclusively
psychological techniques contrast sharply with Stanislavski's multivariant, holistic
and psychophysical approach, which explores character and action both from the
'inside out' and the 'outside in' and treats the actor's mind and body as parts of a
continuum.