‘A kingdom for a stage,’ proclaims the Chorus in Henry V, ‘princes to act, and monarchs to behold the swelling scene!’ This ‘swelling scene’ is Shakespeare’s description of what we unimaginative types might call the play. And what better way to introduce a play than with a swift-spoken Chorus? Singing, dancing masked men who intervene can only make the play more interesting, surely?The Chorus is a dusty old device, and has been around since the era of Classical Greek theatre. In ancient Greek drama, particularly tragedy, the Chorus were masked men who explained and commented on the events of the play, advising audience and actors alike. In Greek theatre one actor could be playing three or four different roles, which meant that the action could get quite confusing. The Chorus navigated this chaos. It explained the drama to the audience and make suggestions to the play’s characters, becoming both commentator and character all at once. It appeared in full force in plays like Euripides’ Hippolytus, where they enhance the tragic ending and mime Phaedra hanging herself.The tradition of the Chorus seems to have faded over the centuries, but has been revived perennially. Shakespeare occasionally used the Chorus as an introduction; in Romeo and Juliet the Chorus is like a gypsy fortune- teller, prophesying a tragic ending: ‘a pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life’. In Henry V the Chorus acts as a bridge between audience and theatre, encouraging the audience to suspend disbelief and imagine that the mighty wars and kings depicted ‘within this wooden O’ are actually real. However, Shakespeare dismissed the Chorus as soon as the action began, preferring not to use them as a narrator in the way that the Greeks did.Modern theatre has not been very keen to resuscitate the Chorus, but Brecht is one of the few modern playwrights who very much liked the device. He included the Chorus in his vision of Epic Theatre and used it as a narrator who directs the reader’s interpretation of the story being portrayed on stage. A Brechtian Chorus preaches moral messages and occasionally bursts into song, but does not don the masks of Ancient Greek tragedy. The Chorus has been snubbed by modern playwrights, but it actually might make heavy drama more palatable and provide a bridge between the audience and the characters in the play. It played an important role in Classical Greek tragedy, and I think jazzing up modern plays with singing, dancing masked men would make them a lot more fun. It’s worth a try, anyway.
By Elen Griffiths
Old Stagers
