Even in the days of the ancient Greek theater, there was a division into certain types of characters. This is how the role of an actor arises - the distribution of roles in accordance with external data, as a result of which, until the last century, throughout their lives, actors were forced to embody only one image.
In ancient Greece, dramatic works were divided into two main types: tragedies and comedies. Accordingly, two types of actors stood out - tragedians and comedians. Getting into any group was determined to a large extent not by the style of the game, but by the external data of the actor. Tragedians were people who were tall, well-built figure, with a low timbre of voice. Their opposite is actors low and full, speaking in a high voice. They could only play comic roles.
Medieval Italian
commedia dell'arte expanded antique images and created new roles. These are servants, gentlemen, as well as heroes-lovers. A distinctive feature of the commedia dell'arte is a leather mask, an obligatory attribute of the character. At the beginning of a theatrical career, each actorchose a mask for himself, and then almost all his life he played only one role. Theatrical historians count more than a hundred different masks, but most of them belonged to similar characters who differed from each other only in names and small details. Actors performed female roles without the use of masks.
In the 17th century, in the era of classicism, the French theater continued to create basic stable images in dramaturgy and fixed the distribution of roles for actors of certain psychophysical data. At this time, the concept of role also arose - this is a term derived from the French word "emploi", which translates as "role", "position", "use".
In order to get a role, an actor must meet a certain set of requirements, among which, as in ancient times, there are height, physique, voice timbre, face type. But the role is not only the appearance of the character, but also the declamatory and plastic features, the behavioral line. The transition from one role to another was not approved, therefore, as in the medieval theater, the actors throughout their theatrical career played monotonous roles, improving their skills and trying to add some zest to the character. The only exceptions were age roles, to which the theater management transferred older actors.
In the French theater in the 18th century, such roles of an actress as ingenue appeared - a sincere, but naive and ingenuous girl. Heroes-boys of a similar warehouse of character were called simpletons. Subbretka (male version)servant) is distinguished by fun, enthusiasm and a lively disposition, often this character provides his masters with invaluable help in love affairs. The concept of travesty appears - ob
meaning that the female role is played by a male actor, and vice versa.
fully. Such an opinion was taken with disbelief, but now, watching the amazing reincarnations of modern actors, we see that the great directors were right.
