Orchestra In Greek Theatre

Introduction

The ancient Greek theater was began around 700 B.C. when they celebrated their god; Dionysus in a festival called City Dionysia. In order to welcome and honored Dionysus, the ancient Greek men would dance, sing and play in choruses which established the classical Greek theater with the chorus as the important and active part in the play. During the classical Greek, the chorus was played by men since only men could involve in play and women should only be slave for men. When it was first being introduced, a man would hold the same roles like actors, directors, and also dramatists. Later, it has evolved slightly where three actors were allowed to join a play. After some time, the play has grown bigger; hence, the non-speaking roles

The core of any Greek theater is the orchestra, the “dancing place” of the chorus and the chief performance space. Orchestra is a large circular or rectangular area at the center part of the theatre where the play, dance, religious rites, acting used to take place. It is located in front of the theatron and the parodos. The orchestra of the theater of Dionysus in Athens is approximately 66 feet in diameter. The earliest orchestras were made by the hard ground. During 5th century B.C., they began to pave with marbles and other materials. There was often a thymele or "the altar to Dionysus" located at the center of the orchestra. Since Dionysus was the Greek God of Theatre, there is an altar dedicated to

Right behind the stage and the orchestra, there was a large rectangular building called skene. Skene was literally defined as “tent” which serves as a backstage because earlier it was made in form of tent or hut using wood as it main material; later it became a permanent stone structure. This covered structure was the place where the actors stored their costumes and masks and also used as a closed and quick changing room. These structures were sometimes painted to serve as backdrops such as a palace, temple, or other building, depending on the needs of the play. It has a large central door and two more doors on its both sides which used as an entrance and exit for the actors during the play. At skene there is an upper platform called the “roof” on which the watchman and actors could appears.

At both side of the theatron there were parodos which are the paths for the choruses and actors (that representing the messengers or people returning from somewhere far) made their entrance and exit of the orchestra. The eisodoi or parodoi are passageways that led into or away from the orchestra. It also used by the audience to enter and exit the theater before and after the performance. The word parodos was also used to designate the choral entrance song which is common for the chorus to remain