(Gk.: ‘seeing place’, from theasthai, ‘to see’; Lat. theatrum).
A term originally used to designate the area from which an audience viewed a spectacle. It came to have, even in antiquity, a broader meaning, signifying the whole of an ancient Greek or Roman structure whose function was to provide a place for the performance and viewing of musical and dramatic forms. Remains of many ancient theatres survive, and some even accommodate modern performances, such as the theatre dating from the 4th century bce at Epidaurus and the restored theatre of Herodes Atticus (2nd century ce) in Athens.
These structures varied widely in size: the largest theatre on the Greek mainland, at Megalopolis, seated 21,000; those at Epidaurus and Dodona held about 14,000, and the small one at Priene about 3000. Although there is evidence that some early Greek theatres were rectangular, the horseshoe or semicircular shape became typical in Greek and Roman antiquity.
As the cultural centre of drama during this period (5th and 4th centuries bce), Athens exercised considerable influence on theatre construction in other Greek cities. The origins of the Athenian theatrical tradition date to the 6th century bce. During the reign of Pisistratus (560–527) performances for the festival of Dionysus took place in a circular orchestra in the Agora, while the audience watched from wooden bleachers. It may have been the collapse of these bleachers in the early 5th century bce that provided the impetus for the building of the permanent theatre of Dionysus on the Acropolis. The history of this structure is difficult to trace archaeologically, since many of the early features were erased or significantly modified by later innovations and repairs. Below the Acropolis on its southern side was a precinct of Dionysus, which included a temple to the god. On a terrace above this temple the Athenians built a circular orchestra about 20 metres in diameter, with an altar at the centre. During dramatic performances a tent (skēnē) was erected behind the orchestra for costume changes. In productions of Aeschylus's plays and the early works of Sophocles, additional scenery probably consisted of lightly built, temporary structures. Both actors and chorus entered the performance area by paths (parodoi) that led from the lower terrace to each side of the orchestra.
The slope above and to the north of the orchestra provided a natural foundation for tiered seating. Originally spectators probably sat or stood on the ground. Literary and archaeological evidence suggests that in the early phase of the theatre's development straight wooden benches were installed in polygonal tiers around the orchestra. Access was facilitated by aisles radiating up from the orchestra and dividing the seating area into wedge-shaped sections About halfway up a diazōma, or pathway, further separated the seating area into two galleries; a third was later added, giving the auditorium a seating capacity of about 17,500. Because of the shape of the hillside, as well as the proximity of the odeum of Pericles and the sanctuary of Asclepius, only the lower gallery formed a neat horseshoe slightly exceeding a semicircle.
Changes were made to the theatre of Dionysus in the later 5th century, probably during the Peace of Nicias (421–415 bce), a period of relative calm in the Peloponnesian War. A stone stoa was built, creating a foyer of a type frequently attached to later theatres throughout the Graeco-Roman world; steps and a doorway led from its interior on to the orchestra. The stoa's portico faced south towards the precinct of Dionysus, with its back wall situated behind the orchestra opposite the audience. Sockets cut into the outside of the wall provided support for a temporary and probably adjustable wooden building (also called a skēnē) at the rear of the orchestra; it retained its original role of a changing room for the actors and chorus, and perhaps also served as a storage area for scenery. Whether the skēnē supported a raised stage at this time is doubtful, although still a matter of controversy. Side structures called paraskēnia probably projected from either end of the skēnē towards the seating area. The parodoi, now defined by the space between the paraskēnia and the sides of the seating area, formed entryways for the spectators as well as performers. Actors could also enter through doors in the skēnē.
As scenery became more sophisticated, the skēnē provided a wooden framework for painting and decoration. In addition there is evidence of mechanical scenic devices such as the periaktoi, three-sided structures that could be rotated in order to create a quick change of scene, and the enkuklēma, a movable platform on which scenery could be rolled onto the performance area. Both Aristophanes and Euripides wrote plays calling for the use of a ‘flying machine’ or crane to hoist actors over the stage.
Some of the wooden benches for spectators, especially those closest to the orchestra that were reserved for priests and officials, may have been replaced with stone seats in the 5th century. The entire seating area was finished in stone during the time of the orator Lycurgus (338–326 bce). In the course of these renovations the orchestra was moved slightly northwards cutting into the slope and making the seating area somewhat steeper. It was probably at this time that the skēnē and its attached paraskēnia were rebuilt in stone, although some scholars believe that this structure dates from the late 5th century.
Literary and epigraphic evidence confirms that the stone theatre at Epidaurus also dated from the second half of the 4th century. Like the theatre of Dionysus, it had an altar at the centre of the orchestra and doorways leading from the auditorium to the corners of the skēnē above the parodoi. Other Greek theatres that are similar in plan to the classical theatres at Athens and Epidaurus have been dated to the 5th or 4th century.
The architectural evolution of the theatre during the Hellenistic period (late 4th to 1st century bce) was largely motivated by changes in dramatic forms, in particular the New Comedy of the 3rd century bce, which emphasized dialogue among a small cast of characters instead of a large chorus. One of the most distinctive features of the Hellenistic theatre was the proskēnion, a single-storey building, either closed in or colonnaded, that stood in front of a two-storey skēnē. The proskēnion was used as a stage for performance from the mid-2nd century; the Roman architect Vitruvius stated that actors performed on the proskēnion roof, roughly 3–3.5 metres above the orchestra. The second storey of the skēnē originally consisted of a solid wall with doors leading on to the proskēnion; actors also entered from the sides by means of ramps along the parodoi. By the 2nd century, however, the doors had been replaced by wider openings which displayed backdrops that would be removed to represent interior scenes.
The orchestra was still used for musical performances and for productions of older works requiring a chorus. Some theatres were slow to incorporate certain innovations that were designed for the newer comedies but interfered with the performance of the older tragedies. Dinsmoor argued that since the theatres in Athens, Epidaurus and elsewhere had to accommodate performances of classical as well as newer works, their proskēnia were removable and temporary. In other locations, however, such as the large theatre built at Syracuse in the latter half of the 3rd century bce, the proskēnion was part of the original construction.
Roman theatre represents a blending of Greek tradition and earlier forms, largely popular comedies known as Atellan or Oscan farce. They were usually performed on temporary wooden stages that could be disassembled and moved, as they often had to share performance areas with athletic games and other popular entertainments. Greek tragedies and comedies first came to Rome in about 240 bce and were performed, in translation, on temporary wooden stages. Although it is difficult to trace the early architectural development of these structures, it is safe to say that a distinctive ‘Roman’ style emerged by the 1st century bce.
When the Romans began to build permanent theatres, they probably modelled the stage on the earlier Italian theatre, while borrowing other features from the Greek tradition. Roman theatre design differed from the Greek in that it represented a structural joining of components. The Greek theatre had been a complex of separate but related structures: the auditorium, orchestra and skēnē were usually physically separate. The Romans brought these parts together into an architectural whole. The shape of the seating area changed from a horseshoe to a semicircle, and the open space between the seating area and the stage buildings disappeared, so that the seats often directly adjoined the paraskēnia.
Greek theatres were usually built in or next to a sanctuary and depended on existing topography to provide good acoustics, a level performance area and a natural foundation for seating. By Roman times the linkage between theatre and sanctuary had largely dissolved. The only religious elements were shrines sometimes built above the semicircular seating area (cavea) or on the colonnaded gallery at the top of the auditorium. Moreover, Roman construction and engineering techniques allowed for more options when sites for a theatre were being considered; Vitruvius's primary concern was that it be built in a ‘healthy’ location (v.3). Like the Greeks, the Romans sometimes took advantage of natural features in the landscape to attain the ‘bowl’ shape necessary for good acoustics. However, they achieved a more symmetrical shape by using extensive substructures, often built of concrete and with magnificent façades.
The roofed colonnade that ringed the top of the auditorium provided some shelter for the audience in the event of rain. Most of the spectators entered the theatre not through parodoi as in Greek theatres but via entryways leading from behind and outside the seating area, much as in a modern stadium. The parodoi still provided access to the orchestra, but they were now covered with a vaulted roof, creating a structural link between the seating area and the stage building. Above the Roman parodoi were box seats called tribunalia, reserved for the sponsors of the play.
The proskēnion stage of the Greek theatre was replaced by a lower and deeper stage (pulpitum) that according to Vitruvius stood a maximum of 1.5 metres above the orchestra. Vitruvius specified that the depth of this stage was to be half the radius of the orchestra, and it encroached on the orchestra so as to make it only half a circle. The reduced orchestra no longer served as a main performance area, but functioned as a seating area for senators, city council members and other distinguished guests. Both musicians and actors now performed on the pulpitum, the width of which was approximately twice the diameter of the orchestra, whereas the stage building in the Greek theatre was at most only slightly wider than the orchestra.
Behind the pulpitum, occupying the place of the skēnē in earlier theatres, was an elaborate stage-house façade. This scaenae frons was richly covered with architectural and plastic decoration, in contrast to the lightly built, painted set pieces of the Greek skēnē, and it would be adapted to represent a palace, more ordinary dwellings or rural scenes as needed. The typical scaenae frons had three doors by which performers could enter the stage. In addition, two side entrances onto the ends of the pulpitum were provided by rectangular paraskēnia.
W.B. Dinsmoor: The Architecture of Ancient Greece (London, 1927/R, enlarged 3/1950/R)
F. Granger, ed. and trans.: Vitruvius: On Architecture (London and New York, 1931–4/R)
M. Bieber: The History of the Greek and Roman Theatre (London, 1939, enlarged 2/1961)
D.S. Robertson: A Handbook of Greek and Roman Architecture (Cambridge, 2/1943/R)
A.W. Pickard-Cambridge: The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens (Oxford, 1946/R)
A.W. Lawrence: Greek Architecture (Harmondsworth, 1957, rev. 4/1983 by R.A. Tomlinson)
A. van Gerkan and W.Müller-Wiener: Das Theater von Epidauros (Stuttgart, 1961)
R. Martin: Manuel d'architecture grecque (Paris, 1965)
A. Boëthius: Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture (New York, rev. 2/1978 by R. Ling and T. Rasmussen)
P. Levi: Atlas of the Greek World (Oxford, 1980), esp. 146–53
J.B. Ward-Perkins: Roman Imperial Architecture (Harmondsworth, 2/1981)
J.R. Green: ‘Theatre Production: 1971–1986’, Lustrum, xxxi (1989), 7–95
DENISE DAVIDSON GREAVES