Greek Theatre

• Most Greek cities had a theatre. It was in the open air, and was usually a bowl-shaped arena on a hillside. Some theatres were very big, with room for more than 15,000 people in the audience.
• Greek actors wore masks, made from stiffened linen, with holes for eyes and mouth. Actors also wore wigs. They wore thick-soled shoes too, to make them look taller, and padded costumes to make them look fatter or stronger.
• The masks showed the audience what kind of character an actor was playing (sad, angry or funny). Some masks had two sides, so the actor could turn them round to suit the mood for each scene.
• The Greek theatre history began with festivals honoring their gods. A god, Dionysus, was honored with a festival called by "City Dionysia".
• Athens Drama Festival originated from the Great Dionysia, a festival where people would take part in performances that explored great issues in their society.
• At the early Greek festivals, the actors, directors, and dramatists were all the same person. After some time, only three actors were allowed to perform in each play. Later few non-speaking roles were allowed to perform on-stage. Due to limited number of actors allowed on-stage, the chorus evolved into a very active part of Greek theatre. Music was often played during the chorus' delivery of its lines.
• Greek theatre has provided inspiration for most playwrights around the world and led to the evolution of the genre .Through the different types of Greek Drama, the ancient Greeks ensured that every aspect of human life is investigated.

Tragedy

• The earliest tragedy that survives, is Aeschylus Persai, dates from 472.
• Thespis is considered to be the first actor and originator of tragedy.- which means 'goat song', perhaps referring to the sacrifice of goats to the god Dionysia. 
• Aristotle argued that tragedy cleansed the heart through pity and terror, purging us of our petty concerns and worries by making us aware that there can be nobility in suffering. He called this experience 'catharsis'.

Comedy

• The first comedies were mainly satirical and mocked men in power for their vanity and foolishness.
• The first master of comedy was the playwright Aristophanes. Much later Menander wrote comedies about ordinary people and made his plays more like sit-coms.
• Aristophanes is considered as the master of producing Comedy plays and his works like “Clouds”, “Birds”, “Frogs”, etc. deal with contemporary problems on a satirical note.

Satyr

• These short plays were performed between the acts of tragedies and made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters.
• The satyrs were mythical half-human, half-goat figures and actors in these plays wore large phalluses for comic effect
• Few examples of these plays survive. They are classified by some authors as tragicomic, or comedy dramas.

All Sophocles’ tragedies were written for and first performed at the Great Dionysia, a series of celebrations lasting several days in honour of Dionysus, god of wine, theatre, and transgression. Each year, three playwrights were chosen to write three plays (plus a Satyr play) for the competitive spectacle. The cost for each set of plays was born by a wealthy citizen (the choregos), who was obliged by the city to undertake such liturgies as a kind of taxation on the wealthy, In turn, the choregos and the playwright stood to gain a great deal of prestige from a successful production. A panel of judges was chosen by lot to adjudicate the competition, and Sophocles’ popularity is demonstrated by the claim of ancient authorities that he won first prize twenty-four times, and his plays were never given third place.
The Great Dionysia’s civic processions, priestly actions, and political ceremonials provide an inescapable backdrop to the plays themselves. At the beginning of the competition, the ten strategoi poured libations to the gods, opening the ceremony in front of the assembled citizen body in the theatre. The tribute paid to Athens by its allies was laid out in the theatre, the sons of those who had lost their lives fighting for Athens were paraded, and those who had done conspicuous service to Athens were named and honoured. It was a celebration of the power and civic identity of democratic Athens, in front of both its citizens assembled as the polis as well as visitors from across the Greek world.

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/322578-set-text-guide-sophocles-antigone-handbook.pdf