Elements of Greek Tragedy in Westminster’s Production

The word “tragedy” comes from the Greek words tragos, which means goat and oide or a goat song.   Therefore, in a Greek Tragedy, music is a very important element.  I think that Westminster did a great job in using music to portray theatrical responses.   There were scenes where the chorus would sing parts and use instruments.  I feel like the way the chorus and actors responded with song made it more of a tragedy.   

In Greek Tragedies, there were usually only two or three actors on the stage.  I liked how Westminster used the same actors in order to play different parts they just changed their costumes by flipping them.  I also liked how the actors faced the audience a majority of the time like they would do in an original Greek production.  

The last element that Westminster used well was that of drama.  Original Greek tragedies where performed mostly at festivals.  They were meant to be eye catching and dramatic to win over audiences.  I feel like actors used body language, expressions, and physical movements to portray the dramatic intent of the scene.  Instead of using masks like in usual Greek productions, they painted masks to attract attention.  

 

One thought on “Elements of Greek Tragedy in Westminster’s Production

  1. Personally, there were times when I thought they were a little overly dramatic, but I guess for Greek theater, that was the norm. And yes, it was clever to have the chorus play most of the characters besides Oedipus and his daughters.

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