Playwrights use a chorus or narrator to provide context, commentary, or to guide the audience through the story. It helps to add depth to the themes and events in the play, and can also clarify complex plot points for the audience.
the narrator
The cast of Mel-O-Toons - 1960 includes: Ralph Camargo as Narrator Stan Freberg as Narrator Art Gilmore as Narrator John Griggs as Chorus Ed Herlihy as Narrator Gene Lowell as Chorus Pat McGeehan as Narrator Larry Morey as Narrator Frank Morgan as Narrator Jane Pickens as Narrator Claude Rains as Narrator Norman Rose as Narrator Leonard Stokes as Chorus Don Wilson as Narrator
Morgan Freeman was the narrator. Not sure if he did the chorus or if it was someone else.
None of the above (playwrights use stage directions in all the ways listed)
The chorus is the narrator in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the narrator tells the story. The play is made up of conversations between the characters, comments between the characters and the chorus leader, commentaries by the chorus, and announcements by messengers. What cements the disparate actions and words are the narrative observations and summaries by which the chorus describes cultural events and happenings elsewhere, explains the significance of events, and interprets the characters and the gods.
You can use the word "chorus" in a sentence like: "The chorus of the song was very catchy and had everyone singing along."
There was usually only one actor and then the chorus... However later on other playwrights introduced two actors and then three actors. But originally there was only one.
Shakespeare's Othello has no narrator. Some of his plays, such as Romeo and Juliet or Henry V have what is called a chorus who opens each act with a description of what is to come. The Chorus in Romeo and Juliet describes the plot of the entire play in his famous opening speech. In Henry IV the Prologue is Rumour, bringing false news to the Percy family. Comedies like Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It have epilogues spoken by one of the characters. None of these is a true narrator who comments on the action we see on the stage. The only Shakespearean play with a narrator is Pericles. In conclusion, Othello has no chorus, prologue, or epilogue, and definitely no narrator.
Depending on what period of time you are talking about, the chorus consisted of fifty, twelve, or fifteen singers and dancers. The playwrights often used the chorus to represent the audience. They would warn the protagonist of dangers, or act as the sounding-board for the characters' thoughts. The songs and dances between the scenes could be used to show the passage of time or to comment on the preceding action. The chorus could be used in crowd scenes to show the reaction of the people.
To help the audience follow what is happening in the play
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