A Greek chorus can be defined as a homogeneous, unison group of performers in Classical Greek plays, who comment on dramatic action using a combined and collective voice. Traditionally consisting of between twelve and fifty members, the Ancient Greek chorus simultaneously danced, sand, or spoke text to offer contextual information to the audience about the happenings in the play. In the early 19th century, August Wilhelm Schlegel proposed that as well as being a tool to comment on the themes in the play, the chorus perhaps demonstrated how the audience might or should react to the events in the plays. In most of the Ancient Greek plays, the chorus indicated to the audience what the main characters did not or could not express themselves, such as clandestine secrets or fears. The chorus would oftentimes postulate other characters with the insight they needed. Personally, I would argue that the chorus should be considered as a character in itself. It does include multiple actors, however, these actors work collectively with the same objective that serves the same purpose as one another. I think that the chorus has multiple members so its perspective is more easily understood and respected by the audience. On stage, the chorus is representative of the general or common population of the particular story, which is sharply contrasted with the themes of most of the Ancient Greek plays, which traditionally circle around individual goddesses, gods and hero’s. Even though the chorus were oftentimes the same sex as the lead character, they were still traditionally performed by male actors. For example, in Sophocles’ Electra, the women of Argos were represented by the chorus, whereas in in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, the elderly men of Argos were represented by the chorus.
A prime example of the Greek chorus being used as a way to communicate the context of the play is in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, which was written in 411BC and was set during the Peloponnesian war between the Spartans and Athenians. Most of Aristophanes plays were political satires that highlighted the troubles in Athens during the period (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014.) Lysistrata is in the style of old comedy where there is a chorus which is used to convey the story to the audience (Delcayre, 2014). The play is about a woman, Lysistrata, in Athens who executes a plan in which the women of Greece (both Spartans and Athenians) agree to force their men, who are fighting in the Peloponnesian war, to negotiate a treaty by getting the women to agree to a sex strike (MBC, 2014).
The choruses interact with the characters on stage, sometimes in conflict, and satirises a variety of people with humorous episodes punctuated by coral odes. The dynamic between the male and female choruses parallels the action and political lives of the Athenians. For example, at the beginning of the play the two choruses of old men and old women, and the Koryphaios (the leaders) of both choruses are fighting with each other both vocally and physically like the Spartans and Athenians fighting in the war (Sparknotes, 04.2014). The Koryphaios voice the thoughts of the choruses who back up what they are saying by agreeing with them. The chorus and leader sing alternately usually satirising a variety of people (Lawrence Tritle, 2004). The chorus provides dialogue and physical movement as well as using a collective voice to comment on the comedic action that is occurring throughout the play. Through voice and movement the chorus helps transfer the story from the play, creating a relationship with the audience. The chorus of old men and the chorus of old women both have contrasting opinions of what is occurring in the play and both want different outcomes from the war; the women want peace, however the men want the war between Sparta and Athens to continue. The action and relationship between the two choruses parallel the action of the story – as the conflict between the men and women increase, so does the fighting between the choruses. And in conjunction with this, at this time the fighting is continuing between the Spartans and Athenians (Lawrence Tritle, 2004). Ultimately the choruses find reconciliation when the two cities find peace. The chorus acts, in this case, as another story line in the background to emphasise the war and fighting in the play and also make it more comical with the exaggerated gestures, actions and vocal elements.
Theatrical styles of performance such as musical theatre and opera include a singing chorus that has a similar purpose to that of the Greek chorus. In Six plays by Rodgers and Hammerstein, “The singing chorus is used frequently to interpret the mental and emotional reactions of the principal characters, after the manner of a Greek chorus.” There was a revived interest in the style of theatre of Ancient Greece during the time of the Italian Renaissance. The Florentine Camerata, a group of musicians, poets and humanists, created their preliminary operas with intermezzo, a short musical piece, that served as a musical or comical relief between the events of the opera. These intermezzos were created entirely around the Greek chorus. (H.C. Montgomery)
The concept of the chorus, subsequent to its origin in classical Ancient Greek theatre, has evolved and expanded, both compositionally and also in its role as a storytelling device. The theatrical device and idea of the chorus has functioned as many various forms, from contemporary plays such as Mac Wellmans’ Bad Penny to musicals and operas, spiking sagacity and intricacy to the way we share and communicate stories.
The Greeks have been aforethought to be the founders of what we know as the Western theatre and pioneered the idea of the chorus as being used as a dramatic element in performance. It was in the beginning of the fifth century BCE where the Greek chorus consisted of around fifty actors who were circumscribed to an area which is now known as the orchestra pit. With the passing of time, the number of chorus members was reduced to twelve by Aeschylus, a Greek playwright, and then raised to fifteen by his beneficiary, Sophocles. Through simply reading the plays of Aeschylus and Sophocles, it is evident that the choruses with less members warranted a more present or active role in the story and storytelling, by having a more specific role in the narrative such as an army or group of civilians, rather than being a broad opinion.
Particularly in modern musical theatre, the role of the chorus is still used as a device for communicating as it is both an internal and external influence. Similar to the Greeks, musical theatre chorus members use song and dance to highlight or focus specific themes or events. This can be seen as an amplification of the audiovisual and affective qualities that the ancient chorus first created. Musical theatre chorus members take on multiple, and sometimes non-specified roles or personas that help establish the social-political or historical context for the interactions or individual actions of the main or distinct characters. This puts the chorus in the position of being a spectator or bystander to the action, much like the audience is a spectator to the story. In Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, the chorus members are portrayed as the townsfolk in the events of the auction scene, and are then portrayed as wedding guests later on in the play.
However, the theatrical device of the chorus is not limited to or hindered by musical theatre. There are various contemporary playwrights who use the chorus as a vehicle for storytelling. For example, How I Learned to Drive by American playwright, Paula Vogel, proves to be a perfect example of a modern usage of the chorus. How I Learned to Drive is set in Maryland in the nineteen-sixties and follows the story of a girl, nicknamed Lil’ Bit, and the abusive relationship between her and her Uncle Peck. It is a five-actor play where, besides Lil’ Bit and Uncle Peck, all roles and voices are portrayed by a chorus of three actors. The chorus members in Vogel’s play shift between conjointly representing particular characters involved in the play, and representing neutral bystanders who collectively watch the story develop. In the case of this play, Vogel’s usage of the chorus helps direct the audiences attention to Lil’ Bit and Uncle Peck, the two lead characters, and their relationship and experiences that unfold as the play advances. The approach of isolating the fundamental aspects of the narrative draws distinct parallels to the guiding and accompanying functions to the choruses of Ancient Greece.
Contrasting to Vogel’s transparent and more evident use of the chorus in How I Learned to Drive, Mac Wellman’s play, Bad Penny, presents the chorus and its strategy in a more subtle and cryptic way. The chorus’ presence in the play, coupled with the ambiguity of their language arouses thought-provoking inquiries about the quality and essence of their presence and its impact on the world of the play.