CHAPTER 2:

A background element which every member

of the audience brings to a theater
performance is his or her own individual
memories and experiences.
When we see a play that has been written in
our own day, we bring with us a deep
awareness of the world from which the play
comes, because we come from the same
world.

We can also relate to characters and events
onstage when we see plays set in other times
and places.
Any activity onstage that reminds us of
something in our own lives will trigger deep
personal responses which become part of the
equation of our theater experience.
Art does not occur in a vacuum.
Art frequently challenges society and is
sometimes on the leading edge of history,
appearing to forecast the future.
Art grows in the soil of a specific society. Art
is the mirror of its age.
Art is universal.
In ancient Greece, civilization reached a high
point in Athens during the time of Pericles,
the latter part of the fifth century B. C. E. This
was the golden age of Greece.
As the Athenians of that period gained
control over the world around them and took
pride in human achievements, they
developed ideals of beauty, order, symmetry,
and moderation.

PERICLES
The two most well known city-states during this
period were the rivals: Athens and Sparta. It was the
strengths of these two societies that brought the
ancient world to its heights in art, culture and with
the defeat of the Persians, warfare. It was the same
two Greek states whose thirst for more power and
territory, and whose jealousy brought about the
Peloponnesian wars which lasted 30 years and left
both Athens and Sparta mere shadows of their
former selves.
One which stands in contrast to the classical
Greek period is the Elizabethan age.
Named after Queen Elizabeth I who reigned
from 1558 to 1603, this period saw England
become a dominant force in the world.
England was expanding confidently on all
fronts, and these characteristics were
reflected in the drama of the period.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I
Moving to the contemporary period, we find
once again a tie between theater and society.
The twentieth century was marked by
increasingly swift global communication.
When cultures and societies are brought
together, we are reminded of the many things
people have in common but also of the
differences among us.
Discoveries by Charles Darwin about evolution
raised fundamental questions about views of
creation.
Shortly after Darwin published his findings, Karl
Marx put forward revolutionary ideas on
economics that challenged long-held beliefs
about capitalism.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Sigmund
Freud cast doubt on the ability of human beings
to exercise total rational control over their
activities.
Later, Albert Einstein formulated theories about
relativity that questioned long-established views
of the universe.
These two developments the bringing
together of cultures by population shifts and
communication, and the challenges to long-held
beliefs are reflected in todays theater.
It is the theater of fragmentation and of
eclecticism the embracing of different
strains.
The three periods we have looked at are
examples of the close relationship between a
society and the art and theater it produces.

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage!
Blow!
You cataracts and hurricanes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples,
drowned the cocks!

-Shakespeares King Lear
We need additional knowledge not only
about the historical period of a play but also
about the play itself.
When we see a play from another time or
culture, or a play on a subject with which we
are not familiar, the experience will be greatly
enhanced if we have some knowledge of
what the playwright was trying to do and of
the context in which the play was written.
Expectations about the nature of the theater
experience affect our reaction to it.
In the past, theater experiences were relatively
uniform within any one society, but in
contemporary society, their time, place,
content, and purpose are far more varied.
Theater groups today produce works expressing
the viewpoints of people of all political, ethnic,
gender, and racial perspectives.