Make Your own greek tragedy
Instructions:
At the completion of your script, you must submit/share the script with me. Please include all your annotations, changes, brainstorms, etc.
- Your group will write and perform a play according to the Greek Tragedy structure. You must choose a current social issue to dramatise. Remember that Greek Tragedy uses 'Late Point of Attack'. What is Late Point of Attack?
- Everyone in your group will be an actor. You may have as many characters as you want, as long as you never have more than three onstage at any given time.
- Your chorus must involved as many of you as possible. Here is where we are breaking the rules of Greek Tragedy. Normally, actors and chorus members never mix. If you are an actor, you are never a chorus member, and vica-versa.
- You can replace your choral odes with popular songs or lyrics from popular songs. Just make sure it suits your piece.
- You must make the necessary masks for your characters. We will not worry about masks for the chorus - just know that they would traditionally wear them. However, make sure the text tells us who the chorus is. N.B. The chorus must be ONE group of people with any distinguishing ranks or personalities. They are a unit! (i.e. the woman of Corfu is acceptable. The Democrates with one member playing the chairman and another playing the president is not acceptable.)
- You will not be required to memorize your lines.
- You are not required to use props or scenery, but if you do you will have to make that work for your presentation.
- Your play MUST have a tragic ending! All must die, or your play can be used as a warning/cautionary tale, etc.
- Use the 'Show do not Tell" rule with Greek tragedy!
- Your play must have the following structure (some tragedies have one more or one less episode and stasimon):
- Prologue: opening scene of expository dialogue or monologue - characters speak, perhaps directly to the audience. Tell us what the play is going to be about, and what you think we will learn from it.
- Parodos: chorus entrance song- Chorus, in unison, tell us what has happened before the beginning of the action of the play. They should tell us who they are. They can speak in verse. In traditional Greek theatre the chorus would enter here and stay on stage. Seeing how you are both actors and chorus members, we will have to imagine that the chorus stays on stage throughout the entire piece.
- First Episode - Characters, in masks, of course, act out the beginning of the action of the play. If you want, you can have the chorus leader interrupt the action to ask questions or to make comments. Remember, characters in Greek Tragedy tend to talk a lot about decision making, moral choices and what they 'should' do. "Am I making the right choice? Am I doing the right thing? N.B. All action must be offstage, with a character or "messenger" entering to tell us what happened.
- First Stasimon/Choral Ode - Chorus speaks about something connected with the theme of the story, but not necessarily about the story itself. Or, if you prefer, you may use a popular song/poem here. You can recite or play the song. In a real Greek Tragedy the chorus would probably also dance or move in unison (much like we did in class) at this point.
- Second Episode - same as episode one.
- Second Stasimon - same as stasimon one.
- Third Episode
- Third Stasimon
- Fourth Episode (optional)
- Fourth Stasimon (optional)
- Exodos: exit scene - dialogue, monologue or kommos (a dialogue/monologue mixed with song) - this can be performed by the chorus leader or actor(s). This tell us what we have learned from the play. Do not use "Now you have learned" when writing this part. You want to show not tell throughout your play - this includes this section.
At the completion of your script, you must submit/share the script with me. Please include all your annotations, changes, brainstorms, etc.