Greek Theatre Research.

Harvard Reference: Page Name: Justice. Web Address:
 http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/creating/justice/pages/greektheatre.htm
Last accessed:13/10/14 

Greek theatres were built in the open air and were usually very large; the Theatre of Dionysus at Athens, had more than 17,000 seats. The theatres were usually built in hollowed-out hillsides, and in spite of its size it had excellent acoustics, this made it easier for performers to be heard across the whole audience, because the sound travelled so well around the theatre.

The theatron was the area which the audience sat. It was shaped similarly to a horseshoe and had rows of stone seating rising upward and backward in levels. In the first row there were stone thrones for the principal citizens and the priest of Dionysus.

HarvardReference: PageName:Justice                                                               WebAddress: http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/creating/justice/pages/greektheatre.htm          
Last accessed: 13/10/14

Harvard Reference: Page name: Rock and Bus.
Web Address:http://greektheatre.rockandbus.com/
Last Accessed:13/10/14

"The city-state of Athens became a significant cultural, political, and military power during this period. It was institutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which honoured the god Dionysus. Tragedy (late 6th century BC), comedy (486 BC), and the satyr play were the three dramatic genres to emerge there. Athens exported the festival to its numerous colonies and allies in order to promote a common cultural identity."

Harvard Reference: Page Name: Ancient Greek Theatre. Web Address: http://www.crystalinks.com/greektheater.html
Last Accessed: 13/10/14

 MASKS

People in Athens would use masks as part of celebrations and ceremonial rituals in the worship of Dionysus. Most of this evidence comes from very a few vase paintings of the 5th century BC. The masks were made of organic materials as they were not considered to be something that needed to be long lasting, the reason behind this idea was at the end of each performance the people would devote the masks to the altar of Dionysus. Nevertheless, masks are known to have been used since the time of Aeschylus and considered to be one of the iconic conventions of classical Greek theatre.

HarvardReference: PageName:Wikipedia. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece#Masks 
Last Accessed: 13/10/14

In a large open-air theatre, like the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, the masks were able to create a feeling of dread throughout the audience creating large scale panic, especially since they had over exaggerated facial features and expressions.The masks enabled an actor to switch between multiple roles, this prevented the audience from identifying the actor and linking them to specific characters. The changes they made to the masks help the audience to distinguish the sex, the age, and social status of the character, furthermore it reveals a change in a particular character’s appearance. There were a limited amount of masks allowing only 2-3 actors on stage at a time, and masks permitted quick transitions from one character to another. There were only male actors, but masks allowed them to play female characters.

Resources: 

http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/creating/justice/pages/greektheatre.htm