The Ampitheatre

The Greeks built large, outdoor theaters so that they could perform their Comedies and Tragedies. These theaters are called Ampitheatres. The word comes from the two Greek words: amphi- meaning "around" or "on both sides," and theatron- meaning "a place for viewing." As you can see from the picture below, the Greek audience sat in a half-circle that surrounded the place where the actors and chorus would perform. The seats raised up from the performing area- which was called the Orchestra. In modern English, we now also call both the group of musicians who play music for a show AND the first seating area closest to the stage in a theatre the Orchestra.

Greek Ampitheaters were very cleverly designed. From the Orchestra, the actor's voices would be carried up the steps of the Audience up to the very back rows. Sound would carry very far up the steps. Between the masks and the shape of the Ampitheater, the sound would also be crystal clear so you could hear every word. Look at the picture below and imagine you are standing in the round area of the orchestra and speaking to a crowd of tens of thousands of people all there to watch you perform!

Below, find a picture of a modern-day recreation of an ancient greek performance. From what we know the chorus both spoke and danced together. The lead actors would step forward to speak their lines. Behind the performers was a place called the "Skene" or scene, meaning "tent," which not only was the backstage area but also had doors for entrances and exits, and provided a backdrop for the actors and chorus. The proscenion was the area in front of the scene. It was a raised area (about three to six feet) and sometimes had columns. The scene and the proscenion were at first very temporary structures and than eventually became made out of wood and then stone.
Here is a bird's eye view of what an ancient Greek ampitheatre looks like. As you can see, there were also exits on either side called parodos, where sometimes clowns would have some time during intermission to make fun of what was going on during the play. From the word parodos is where we get our modern word parody meaning a play or an art piece that makes fun of another.
The Greeks developed ways of making spectacles happen. When a god would appear in a play, they devised a pulley and rope system that would make an actor "fly" into the space. Sometimes this trick was also used to help an actor exit (such as Medea in her dragon chariot.) This was known as the Deus ex Machina which literally means "God From Machine."

Lastly, I leave you with another two youtubes for your enjoyment:

first some history...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkaMaeHNSR8&feature=related

and then a very crazy modern/ancient version of a greek tragedy called "Oedipus the King." This is a very imaginative version of old greek theatre. It is not what Greek theatre looked like, but it captures a good spirit...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtMHltBFqlo