The Ancient Greek Chorus and Elements of Choral Speaking

The Chorus - Review

• A Chorus was always a chief component of Greek plays.
• The Chorus served to inform the audience about the characters and make comments about the play’s action.
• Therefore, the Chorus served the purpose of playing the part of the audience within the play.

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The Chorus - Details

• An integrated unit, worked primarily as an ensemble, but members could speak on their own for dramatic effect.
• Believed to originally have been a group of fifty, later reduced to twelve, then extended to fifteen for much of the Greek dramatic tradition.
• At fifteen members, the Chorus clearly was a great focus within Ancient Greek theatre.

The Chorus- Functions

• To retain the atmosphere of ritual in the dramatic event – a chorus was present at all Greek ceremonial and religious occasions. Think of the presence of a choir in church or cheerleaders at a sporting event.
• To set a lyrical mood or tone to the drama, reinforcing the acting with vocal performance and choreography (the rhythms of the choral work were often as important as the content).
• To unify the drama – the Chorus was constantly in sight, often between the audience and actors, providing a visual thread to the performance.

The Chorus - Ensemble

• Actors performing within the Chorus must work in unison, as a group.
• Choral gestures and movements completed in unison are powerful.
• Actors performing within the Chorus must also pay close attention to the rhythm of the text and utilize its natural cadences.

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The Chorus – Artistic Choices

• As an ensemble, Chorus members must make decisions regarding the delivery of the choral text.
• Some guidelines:
• Movement and gesture should be integrated, but not with literal text connections, i.e. Do not mime action of text.
• Movement can be in the form of unified walking – like a dance.
• Vocal work can be in the form of speaking, chanting and/or singing.

Choral Speaking - Elements

• Rhythm
• movement or sound in a pattern, usually in a recurring pulse or beat
• Rhyme
• Lines in verse or poetry that agree with each other in terminal (main) sound, i.e. fine-mind-womankind
• Tempo
• Rate of movement, i.e. Slow, fast = adagio, allegro
• Volume
• Degree of sound intensity or audibility
• Crescendo
• Gradual increase of volume
• Decrescendo
• Gradual decrease of volume
• Staccato
• Performed sharply and crisply in a detached manner
• Legato
• Performed smoothly and with connectedness

Choral Speaking – Techniques

• Antiphon
• A verse or selection spoken in response; in choral speaking this often refers to the performance tradition of dividing the choral group and text into several pieces, each group becoming responsible for a selection of the text.
• Solo Lines
• Lines (or even 2-3 successive words) that are delivered by individual choral members to enhance the choral performance.
• Line Around
• A technique where each line of the text is delivered by a different member of the choral group

Choral Speaking in the Ancient Greek Tradition

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• Reflection Questions:
• Although a modern example, do you think this is this an accurate representation of the Chorus in the Ancient Greek tradition? Yes/No, Why/Why not?
• What elements and techniques of choral speaking (previous slides) are evident in this performance?