The Greek Chorus: In the Greek plays that remain, the main characters were written for only a few actors. The majority of performers involved in the plays were members of the Chorus. The number of chorus members changed over time; in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE (500s and 400s), when Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides wrote, the chorus had 50 men. In tragedies, the masked chorus sang and danced imparting histories relevant to the play's plot to the audience (for instance, the chorus might fill us in on the family history of our main characters). The chorus also commented on the play's conflict, commentary that variously affirmed and challenged the positions held by the play's main characters. For example, in Euripides's Medea, the chorus of Corinthian women sympathize with Medea and don't condemn her for murdering her children nor do they attempt to prevent the act. Some scholars argue the chorus represents the ideal audience member's understanding of the play while others align the chorus with the perspective of the playwright. Sometimes the chorus interacts with the main characters while in other iterations, they remain separate from the action, delivering their analysis of the play to the audience (http://www.sonoma.edu/theatreanddance/_docs/badpenny_chorus.pdf).
Modern takes on the Greek chorus: How do modern directors deal with Greek choruses? Some directors, like Peter Hall, emphasize the chorus's anonymity; the members are not unique characters, but form a whole as in his 1981 production of The Oresteia pictured here:
For more on Greek theatre at The National Theatre in London, visit: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/modern-interpretations-of-greek-chorus
In Deborah Warner's 2002 production of Medea starring Fiona Shaw, she envisions the chorus as a group of gawkers obsessed with gossip and celebrity; these chorus members represent the audience. In Ben Brantley's New York Times review of the production, he describes the chorus as "five townswomen who emerge from the audience and swarm onto the stage as if to act as your proxy. They have the feverish look of fans addicted to real-life soap operas, like the kind of people who rushed to the site of Nicole Simpson's murder and stood in line for the trial of Michael C. Skakel." You can see them desperately pawing at Medea in this image from the production.
Modern takes on the Greek chorus: How do modern directors deal with Greek choruses? Some directors, like Peter Hall, emphasize the chorus's anonymity; the members are not unique characters, but form a whole as in his 1981 production of The Oresteia pictured here:
For more on Greek theatre at The National Theatre in London, visit: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/modern-interpretations-of-greek-chorus
In Deborah Warner's 2002 production of Medea starring Fiona Shaw, she envisions the chorus as a group of gawkers obsessed with gossip and celebrity; these chorus members represent the audience. In Ben Brantley's New York Times review of the production, he describes the chorus as "five townswomen who emerge from the audience and swarm onto the stage as if to act as your proxy. They have the feverish look of fans addicted to real-life soap operas, like the kind of people who rushed to the site of Nicole Simpson's murder and stood in line for the trial of Michael C. Skakel." You can see them desperately pawing at Medea in this image from the production.