1. Introduction

In the function of researching acting and acting tools used by actors in the theater, we will briefly show the development of acting throughout history, from the period of ancient Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, classicism, romanticism, realism, the modern and avant-garde through dramatic and epic theater.

From the beginning of acting until today, there have been several attempts to conceptually define acting. Namely, acting requires faces, actors, who are directed towards each other and connected by a certain interaction. In simplified terms, in order to express the thought positions in the drama and to bring out the contrast between the characters, Hegel points out that the most suitable is a dialogue1, where two people directly speak and present their different positions, standing up for their own, and at the same time challenging others'. However, this definition is very limited, since it does not include action, pantomime, mise-en-scène, gestures, mimicry, or other metalinguistic features.

The term acting2 includes the whole process of searching within oneself, according to one's feelings, perceptions, thoughts, anxieties, fears, experiences, but also, to the same extent, outside oneself, according to other people's experiences. An actor expresses his feelings, his speech on stage, but they are not his, they belong to a character, a character that does not exist in a human body. The actor is, therefore, by his inner being a (Dramatic) character, with whom he is not, and cannot be, identical.

In the continuation of this paper, a brief overview of the development of acting as an art and the actor as an artist throughout history is given, since each direction has its own principles and views.

2. The basics of acting in the period of Ancient Greece and Rome

Ancient Greek drama is the name for the formed theater culture that was current in the territory of Ancient Greece from 550 to 220 BC, with the main events in Athens. The theater arose out of a ritual in honor of the Greek god of wine, Dionysus. The aforementioned festivities were called Dionysia, and they were originally held twice a year, in the spring, at the time of childbirth, and in the fall, at the time of the grape harvest. After that, they were held once a year, in the spring. As a byproduct of the worship of the god Dionysus, drama developed in Athens through three primary forms: satirical poem, tragedy and comedy (Molinari 1982: 23-34).

The term tragicos in translation means - goat’s song. Over the years, festivities have spread from Athens to numerous Greek colonies and cities of its allies with the aim of promoting a common cultural identity.

The new European theater is based precisely on the Athenian drama, which significantly marked the world culture. The center of theater art in the 5th century BC was the largest and most powerful Greek city - Athens. It is a period when the theater experiences a significant literary flourishing, but also a full affirmation through identification with the polis, which was marked by the three greatest Greek tragedians: Aeschylus (525-456), Sophocles (496-405) and Euripides (480-406)3, (Škiljan 1973).

It should be emphasized that the main task of Greek drama was to evoke strong impressions. Aristotle states that all poetry is essentially imitation or mimesis (Aristotle 2005 : 10), and that tragedy is the highest form of all poetry (Aristotle 1912 : 15; Lessing Gottheld Hamburg 1950 : 373). It would be trivial to explain the concept of catharsis according to Aristotle. Namely, by being present in the tragedy, the actor was supposed to see beyond, outside, in front of and around him, those objective gloomy things that more or less stir and are at the bottom of his soul, and he thus, observing them from the outside, in an objective way, liberates (D’Amico 1972 : 33). At that time, the tragedy benefited the citizens as well as the entire social community to recognize the organization of the social structures in which they live and their place in them. Actors used semi-masks or rigid masks.

Drama was a medium that was much more accessible to people since it depicted individual folk everyday problems that concern almost every individual. The tragedy was a synthesis of dance, music and drama elements, while the connection between the choir and the actors was unquestionable.

The first actor, Thespis, contributes to the creation of a satirical drama, in which, as Aristotle claims, the beginning of tragedy is visible. According to Aristotle, Aeschylus introduces the second and Sophocles the third actor. Their importance stands out in the power they had on stage. The task of the actor was to portray several faces. Greek tragedy then enters the chorus, which becomes the collective bearer of the action, from which certain actors are singled out through the creation of diversifications from consciousness and speech (D’Amico 1972: 33).

In ancient Greece, the theater was built in such a way that the audience could focus on the actors. There were three main elements of the Greek theater: kavea (auditorium), orchestra (podium) and skena (stage building). Their fundamental characteristic is that they have always been separate from each other.

During the time of Aeschylus, tragedy consists of trilogies that were presented one after the other, where the catharsis occurs at the very end (D’Amico 1972 : 33). The choir had twelve choir members, and the choir leader, who represented the choir and talked to the actors, had the most tasks. The choir had only one function, the task of singing. Sophocles increases the number of choruses to a total of fifteen, which gives him the opportunity to divide the chorus into two half-choruses. In the tragedy, the choir was placed in rows that formed a quadrangle. The main and most difficult role was performed by the protagonist actor, playing first. The honor of playing the main role goes to the most capable actor, who plays the most with the deuteragonist, the second actor. The least important role is played by the tritagonist actor - who plays as the third one.

Actors could only be men and those who were free citizens, slaves were ostracized. As for the acting equipment, the actors used giant puppets and appeared on stage as such. In this way, they would give the message that the heroes they play are larger than the average person.

The mask that the actor had on his face was very significant. The mask had two tasks, to allow the actor to be someone else, but also to visually increase his character. By the mask that the actors have on their faces, the audience immediately knew who was playing which character when the actors came on stage. Since there were more than three roles in almost every drama, some actors had to play more than one role.

Since the theaters were large and positioned in an open space, the actors had to have a strong voice and excellent diction, so at that time the power of speech reached its peak. Unlike today’s theater, there were no whisperers. Protagonists were highly valued and enjoyed almost all possible benefits, were exempt from taxes and military service, and were guaranteed property security. As far as is known, the Greeks did not have curtains on the stage, which was obviously not, at that time, even necessary because the characters were not on the stage, neither at the beginning nor at the end of the action. The state took care of the performances. Equipping the choirs was extremely expensive, therefore the state transferred part of the financial burden to wealthy citizens4 (Tronski 1951: 26-40).

While Greece developed the spiritual arts, Rome was turned to wildness and entertainment in a different way - it was turned to the circus and gladiator fights. By conquering the Greek polis, the Romans became acquainted with a higher level of culture, so tame theatrical performances gradually entered the social environment, into which they introduced something of their unforgettable circus (Mesarić 1976). Thus, in the play Fire, Emperor Nero ordered that a house be set on fire, while the Roman Emperor Domitian demanded that the role of the Harambasha in the play would be played by a real Harambasha, eventually be nailed to the pillar of shame and wild beasts will be released on him (Mesarić 1976).

The Romans were the first to build a covered theater, so performances could be held even in bad weather. As a rule, the plays were financed by one of the donors, as a sign of social-class prestige (Mesarić 1976).

In the Roman theater, the orchestra was situated in the middle, and around it was a semicircular auditorium. The stage and stage building were connected to the auditorium, which had a very well-designed system of passageways and staircases. The slope of the hill was not always used for the auditorium, which is another distinction between Greece and Rome. Another significant difference is reflected in the fact that the Romans considered the theater to be a distraction for the gentlemen, but they did not close the doors of the theater to the common people, so they also allowed them the joy of playing (Mesarić 1976).

In Rome too, men played female roles, an actor could play multiple roles, but the actor primarium partium - the holder of the main roles - was different from other actors. The actors still wore masks. In tragedies they had casters, and in comedies comedians’ stands, while in mime they performed barefoot (D’Amico S 1972: 72). For the actor, his costume marked his role, so a soldier appeared with a cloak and sword, a peasant in a raincoat and fur, a pimp in a black tunic, a parasite with a rolled up cloak, a man of the people in a cog, a cunning servant in a white tunic (D’Amico S 1972 : 73), which was a sign for the audience to identify and indicate which and what kind of character it is (Božić 2015: 313-327).

3. The basics of the development of acting in the middle ages

In the Middle Ages, the theater is slowly returning to the people, the repertoire of the theater includes liturgical dramas, scenes from the Bible and the lives of saints. The free performances lasted indefinitely, and the costs were covered by the church and communal communities. There were performances that lasted for several days, and were performed in squares and inside church premises.

The liturgical drama developed over the theatrical elements of the church ceremony. The ceremony takes place in a dialogic form between the priest who serves the mass and his assistants (D’Amico S 1972: 91). The need to further expand that dramatic meaning is indicated, therefore the ritual is expanded with certain performance aspects. It is possible to divide rites into ritual dramas, dramatic rites and rites without dramatic expression (Car-Mihec 1996: 83-91). It is a ritual drama if the person who interprets the text is marked with a suit and mask as a character of the dramatic text (Demović 1985: 244).

Liturgical drama is woven from dramatic elements, and that is why it differs from rites in the church. The goal of the liturgical drama is to instruct the people in the mysteries of faith. The liturgical drama was performed in the area where the ceremony was held. The spectators are in the same position as the person who is in the church during the ceremony, their backs are turned towards the exit from the church, and their faces are towards the center of the church, the altar. The time of presentation is strictly related to the duration of the ceremony. The dialogue was realized through interrogatio and responsio so that the rhythm was adapted to the rhythmicity of the music, and the time required for the performance was subordinated to the melodic beat of the song, so that, in essence, liturgical dramas were melodramas (Molinari 1982: 85).

Events that took place in temporally distant places were marked by slow walking, which symbolized the passage of time (Molinari 1982: 85). Such a walk is mimetic and symbolic, it signifies the passage of time and the existence of distance between point A and point B.

Facial expressions, as well as body posture, include gentle, basic and slow movements. The actor’s head is slightly tilted, hands are folded or very slightly moved away from the body. The entire acting movement is based on this basic posture and movement.

A lot of actors were involved in the theater productions, between one hundred and one hundred and fifty, who would interpret over three hundred (300) or four hundred (400) roles. Medieval actors were dilettantes, they belonged to certain guilds, they performed for the love of God and were not paid for it. So, on some occasions the actors were, as we have seen, also priests. Their acting style was contradictory, in their ceremonial roles they declaimed, while in the roles of citizens, enemies of religion and devils they were simple and rude. Men continued to play all the roles, with the fact that, in some countries, young men had the upper hand. Such twisted simplicity created a religious effect and the potential achievement of Aristotle’s catharsis in the spectator of the faith, but the influence that the theater had on the individual was also slowly developing. However, the time of darkness and fear of the Church slowly subsided.

In Metz, in 1486, the first woman took the role of Saint Catherine (D’Amico S 1972: 97; Car-Mihec 1996: 83-91), which heralds the imminent entry of women onto the stage, which will take place only during the Italian Renaissance.

4. The basics of the development of acting in the Renaissance period

The Renaissance tries to reject overly religious considerations, however, the greatest knowledge is still in the hands of church officials. The Jesuits stand out for their activity, which, along with classical schools, also founded school theaters. They strove, above all, to create various grandiose style allegories. Their theater was open and attractive to the widest audience. Quite a large number of significant European playwrights honed their craft as cadets of Jesuit colleges; in Spain Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molino and Calderon, and in France the comedy writer Moliere and the great writer of tragedies Corneile (Molinari 1982).

Renaissance creators paid great attention to acting formation. In the beginnings of the Renaissance theater, theatrical creation stems from the study of Father Lang’s Dissertatio de actione scenica, which was the only textbook of acting skills (Molinari 1982).

At that time, Italy was, still, the legitimate representative of the past Roman and Greek theater, while England presented the world with theatrical works of deep artistic content. England becomes a country of drama, actors organize themselves into their own troupes and so, at the beginning of the 17th century, they travel around the world and perform Shakespeare’s works. Theater boards find their place at fairs, on city squares, but also in front of inns and cafes. Shakespeare’s Globe Theater was located on the south bank of the Thames. Based on the example of England and Europe, numerous theater companies have sprung up that tried to look like the Globe Theatre.

The dramaturgy is inherited from antiquity, the play consists of five acts, the symmetry of the characters is constant, the characters are constant, in contrast to the texts of the Middle Ages. Renaissance comedy promoted messages of activism, victories of the new young generation, mocked human flaws and vices, criticized existing social customs and freed them from prejudices. From the aspect of theatrical life that she improved, she gave a special dynamic to the theater and democratized the existing situation by creating a new dramatic consciousness in the viewer (Batušić 1978: 284–287). The speech of the actors had to be energetic and dramatic.

Renaissance drama was a mediator between the great moments of ancient theater and the modern need for theater, one of the sources of artistic knowledge and human enrichment. The Renaissance dramaturgical background based on the Aristotelian system could be presented and performed in three ways: on the tragic, comic and pastoral stage, which, by its solution, according to Batušić, indicated the space, and did not turn it into an illusionistic space, like the later Baroque, into a three-dimensional ambient scene (Batušić 1978: 284–287).

In the Renaissance theater, the human body was the expression of his soul, the signs were objectively shown, exactly as they are in nature (Goethe 1995; Fischer-Lichte 2015).

As for the costumes, for comedy everyday civilian clothes were needed, and for tragedy imitations of antique clothing were sufficient. A dramatic work carries a performance and it represents an essential element of a theatrical act in the Renaissance (Batušić 1978: 284–287).

5. The basics of the development of acting in the baroque era

The term baroque itself is not precisely defined, it is assumed that it comes from the Spanish word baruecco or the Portuguese barocco, which means pearl of irregular shape (Vujaklija 1980). Baroque was mostly interested in expression through operas and melodramas (Pavlović 2005).

If we look at the baroque elements on the stage of the theater, we will first notice the limitations of the actors on the stage in terms of free movement and improvisation. Stages required to be equipped with various technical devices, and thus the need for large halls was imposed. The lack of literary top creativity conditioned the growth, and later hypertrophy, of theatrical techniques.

The scenography of the baroque theater is connected to the stage by the props. The props with wooden frames were covered with strong and stretched linen cloth, which were placed on both sides of the stage parallel to the ramp (Fischer-Lichte 2015).

It was necessary to find new scenographic solutions, however, in the illusionistically painted scenographies, certain spaces were soon codified. Thus, painted scenographies appear on the stage, such as the throne room, the harbor, the underground, the seashore, an island in the middle of the sea and other similar spaces (Batušić 1978: 284-289).

Technical effects such as thunder, flames of fire and smoke, rain were used, which would evoke the nature of the painted scenographies in a specific way. Dolls of monsters, but also dolls of divine beings, found their place in the stages painted in this way. The limitation of the scenery also limited the type of roles an actor could play, despite the variety of roles and their costumes.

In the baroque theatrical expression, the dramatic work itself did not come to the fore, it became a less important part of the theatrical act, which had the task of attracting the audience’s interest with its theatricality and effectiveness of stage and technical solutions. In other words, the focus was on the visual rather than the literary element.

The drama consisted of three acts, in the first act the viewer is introduced to the issues of the drama, the plot or conflict is connected to the second act, while the third act was reserved for resolving the situation. The themes of the plays were about love, dignity and jealousy. The most represented characters were the lady, the aggressor and the madman. For the baroque theater, it is interesting to draw attention to the prominent make-up of the actors around the eyes and mouth, to the baroque court costumes of the actors, which evoked their character. Inserts in costumes, high hairstyles, sparkling stones, decorated the actors. The actor had a distance from the role he was portraying, while the signs were extremely rigged. Feelings were conventionally shown by gesticulation, e.g. by placing the hand on the heart (Goethe 1995; Fischer-Lichte 2015).

Although the epoch was conceived in Italy, Spain assumed primacy in creativity. It is enough to recall Miguel de Cerventes or Francisco de Quevede, who did not avoid staging and mocking all elements of human stupidity. Calderón de la Barca and Lope de Vega are also considered to be one of the greatest artists of that era (Dočkal 1939). The Lope de Vega Theater has its civic characteristics, the stage was located in the city courtyard and was very modest. De Vega drew the material for his plays from life, he directed special attention to the dynamics of the plot and interesting plots. Calderón’s theater is courtly, the scenographies are lavish, the works are decorated with rich metaphors, the themes are universal and moral, they care less about the plot twists and turns, and more attention is paid to individuals, thus creating psychologically deepened characters (Dočkal 1939).

For the first time, there is a need to change the decoration in the theater. On the stage during the play, the stage equipment had to be changed, because that is what the writer would have asked for in the didascalia (Dočkal 1939).

6. The basics of the development of acting in the era of classicism, romanticism and realism

Classicism, a movement in European culture from the middle of the 17th to the second half of the 18th century, means a review of Greek and Roman antiquity. The artist’s task is to imitate nature, which for the classicist as an artist meant the depiction of man as a moral being. The artist should depict those average and general human qualities of man. Likewise, it should avoid some special and specific characteristics or features.

Tragedy and epic were the most prominent literary genres. The leading French dramatists in the 17th century, Corneille and Racine, distinguished themselves by treating themes from antiquity, adhering to ancient theoretical principles (Pavlović 2005).

Civil tragedy had no place in the classicist doctrine due to the principle of propriety according to which the tragic hero had to be a king or a prince, while for citizens and the people, the place was in comedy. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere is the most prominent French comedian of classical poetics. Classicist tragedy had to be written in verse. The style of classicist tragedy is sublime.

The nobility of character and the action divided into five acts are the characteristics of the tragedies of this time. Respect for the principle of unity of plot, time and place was extremely required, and it was strictly prescribed what befits a presentation on stage. It is precisely the principle of the unity of action, time and place that tells us about the dramatic theater. It should be emphasized that the theater in Moliere’s time developed gesticulation in the direction in which it signifies the typicality of a certain person in terms of his character and social status (Goethe 1995, Fischer-Lichte 2015).

The drama of classicism is an example of a rational drama, it requires the clarity of presented ideas and motivation based on reason. The drama contains a lesson for the viewer. The drama is to a certain extent moralistic - it condemns evil and vice, and praises virtues and the victory of duty over passion (Pavlović 2013).

Romanticism is an epoch, or rather a stylistic formation, given that it has its own characteristic themes, its own hero, its own style, aesthetics and theorists. The word itself was used in the form of the adjective romantic, which referred to the literature of the Romanic peoples from the Middle Ages until the 19th century (Šesnić 1996: 43-48).

The period of Romanticism is the first period of modern European literature, theater and culture. Its origin, around 1800, coincides with the establishment of modern civil society in most European countries, guided by the spirit of the French Revolution of 1789.

Instead of classicist reason, the soul comes to the fore in romanticism, and the principle of originality of creation is put in place of the principle of imitation (Božić 2018: 68). Romantics reject standardized and highly stylized poetic forms, they create in simpler forms, often inspired by folk forms.

Romantic scenes often feature humanized landscapes that amaze with their poetic beauty or the restless and unusual wildness of natural phenomena, so that the scenery on the stage becomes the main tool of artist expression.

In Europe, theater life is most represented in Germany, Austria and France. In Germany, resistance to classicism is already appearing in the youth movement Sturm und Drang, who demand to be freed from the principles of traditional dramaturgy, schools and poetics (Pederin 2005).

Realism means any art that insists on a believable relationship to the real. Of central importance is the relationship of literature, theater and culture to the existing, ongoing time. Realism creates an image of reality exactly as it is (Šicel 2000: 5-17). Contrary to romanticism, in realism narrative prose is fundamental as a longer form, and as a shorter form it exists as a short story, a novella, while poetry also found its place there.

The sphere of interest is a realistic narrative prose of shaping characters, which are no longer superficial, but are formed from a number of different traits. The characters develop and change through the text. It shows the inner life of the characters, who are socially, psychologically and intellectually motivated. Realistic characters have a unique character, they are motivated by their social affiliation (Žigo 2012: 445-458).

An essential feature of realism is the tendency to describe the external appearance of characters and space. The appearance of the interior space is often related to the character’s characterization. The objectivity of the author is also visible when describing the characters and building their character (Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary). There happens the shaping and placement of as many different characters as possible, where it is insisted to show the consciousness of the characters through their inner monologue.

The plot and descriptions are subordinate to character determination. A socially motivated character is placed in the center. The most common realistic procedures have become physical, social and psychological portraiture, with the help of the environment that provides additional information about the character and provides detailed and precise description and narration with which the writer wants to achieve an impression of truthfulness and believability (Šicel 2000: 5-17).

The realism artists of the 19th century did not aim to imitate and portray reality as such. They give the theater a completely new function, which is the realization of the very relationships in society. The characters are brought into mutual social-psychological relations so that an analysis of social behavior can be done by the artists of realism. In this way, the viewer gains insights and has knowledge about social relations (Posavac 1986: 210-225).

Criticality, typicality and objectivity are the basic principles on which the art of realism rests (Žigo 2012: 445-458). Realism fulfills its function if it serves as a critique of social problems, if it warns of problems and potentially offers solutions. Typical characters of realism are set in such a way that one described character has all the character traits of the group to which he belongs. By showing one character on stage, the director also shows the entire group of people to which that character belongs.

7. The basics of the development of acting in the modern and avant-garde era

The modern period is considered to begin in 1857, when Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil was published. The modernists of the 19th century draw their foundations from the romantic beginnings of literature, their basic motto is the creation of a liberated literary and theatrical culture, newer and more modern, which will meet the needs of modern man.

Henrik Ibsen writes plays with social themes (Pillars of Society, Enemy of the People), but also plays with themes from current civil life in which the psychological conflict between the characters dominates, the ending of which is mostly tragic. Common to his works (Nora, Wild Duck and Woman from the Sea) is the dominance of female characters and their destinies. The unattainable pursuit of ideals in Ibsen’s plays, in the later phase, is marked by symbols that unify the meaning of the text. The wild duck and the sea, in his works, are symbols with which the destinies of the characters are identified (Ibsen1928: 243-247).

Russian novelist and playwright Antun Pavlovich Chekhov is a supporter of the state of the soul, not of events. He is dedicated to the psychological states of the characters with symbolically displayed meanings. Chekhov’s dramatic texts do not have a classic structure like a civil drama, plots are omitted in the dramas, there is no longer an emphasis on main and secondary characters. There are many characters, very often several characters are placed in the same situation (Three Sisters). The central themes around which the plays are built acquire a symbolic meaning, and the category of time and temporal transience determine the way in which Chekhov’s heroes perceive the world (Маtek 2006: 373-383).

New attempts to revive the theater appeared in the thirties of the 20th century when the theater faced a crisis. Some linked the theater crisis with the emergence of new media. The work of Oscar Kokoschka, The Killer of Women’s Hope, is the first work that has elements of pantomime, rhythmic speech and scenographic fantasy. In the play, importance is given to the play of light, and the spotlights and the stage are in motion. Theoreticians of dramatic art most often associate it with Alfred Jarry and his King Ubu (1896), (Šimundža 1976: 165–165).

Avant-garde drama loses connection with both realistic and naturalistic theater, logical dramatic flow and conflict are omitted, spatial and temporal categories are negated, dialogues based on communication do not exist, psychological feelings are abolished, and the world is interpreted through irony, and monologue, pantomime and gestures are increasingly coming to the fore.

In dramas, the plot is thrown out, situations are introduced that do not make any sense (Ionesco: Chairs, Beckett: Waiting for Godot), which keep the audience all the time in some hope that something will happen, only to disappoint them in the end. The new drama has become a drama without events, there is no clearly indicated beginning or end. The psychology of people is a foreign concept to the new drama, social relations seem not to exist between people, the structure of the drama has collapsed. Attention is focused on seeing, on the action of the relationship between people and things (Metesi 2008: 945-958).

While the traditional drama had content and a message that it managed to convey to the viewers, the new drama represents a drama that has no lesson, a drama that says nothing. Traditional drama strove for the unity of the entire performance, while avantgarde drama completely destroyed that unity. At the moment when the message was supposed to be addressed to the world, the situation, plot and/or characters fall into farce (Metesi 2008: 945-958).

The word has changed the most in avant-garde drama, it does not have the same meaning as a word in classical drama; speech and its importance is no longer such an important element, it is reduced to the minimum of existence.

8. Conclusion

Drama and theater have been together for more than two thousand years and are inextricably linked. Although we have seen in this paper that in some periods there were efforts to destroy the dramatic components, the structure of the dramatic theater was still maintained. With justification, it should be emphasized that all forms of theater originated from drama and are based on it.

У наставку закључних разматрања, у Table 1, указали смо, suma sumarum, на главне карактеристике и обележја глуме кроз историју, а које смо истражили у раду.

Table 1. The main features of acting throughout history

	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
Ancient Greece	- the task of drama - to evoke strong impressions
	- drama shows individual everyday problems
	- actor - plays multiple faces
	- the choir - sings
	- actors wear half masks or rigid masks
	- the actors use huge puppets
	- actors are only free men
	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
Rome	- they built the first covered theater
	- men still played female roles
	- the actor could play multiple roles
	- the main actor was different from the others
	- the actors wear masks
	- in tragedies actors use reels
	- in the comedy of the actor’s stand of comedians
	- in mime they perform barefoot
	- the costume indicates the actor’s role
	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
Middle Ages	- ritual drama
	- a character in a dramatic text marked by a suit and a mask
	- the distance is shown by walking slowly
	- facial expressions and body position - gentle, basic and slow movements
	- the actor’s head is slightly tilted - basic posture
	- the actors are dilettantes, they were not paid for it
	- actors were also priests
	- actors are still men, preference is given to young men
	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
Renaissance	- theatrical boards are placed at fairs
	- there are theaters in city squares and in front of inns
	- inherited dramaturgy from antiquity
	- the play has five acts
	- the symmetry of the characters is constant
	- characters are permanent
	- the actors’ speech is energetic and dramatic
	- a man’s body is an expression of his soul
	- civil suit is required for comedy
	- for the tragedy of imitation of antique clothing
	- a dramatic work carries a performance and is an important element of a theatrical act
	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
Baroque	- actors have limited freedom and movement on stage
	- actors are constrained in improvisation
	- scenography woven from scenes
	- large halls
	- the scene is full of theatrical techniques
	- the scene abounds with painted scenographies
	- numerous use of technical effects
	- the dramatic work is less important
	- scenic and technical solutions are interwoven with theatricality and effectiveness
	- the predominant characters are the lady, the aggressor and the madman
	- prominent make-up of the actors around the eyes and mouth
	- baroque court costumes that evoked character
	- inserts in costumes, high hairstyles, sparkling stones
	- the actor has a distance from the role
	- expressive gesticulation of the actors
	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
Classicism	- nobility of character
	- respecting the principle of unity of action, time and place
	- gesticulation in accordance with the character’s typical character
	- gesticulation also shows the social status of the character
	- the drama contains a lesson for the viewer
	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
Romanticism	- the soul comes to the fore
	- the principle of imitation is omitted
	- traditional dramaturgy is rejected
	- it is done according to the principle of originality of creation
	- the landscapes amaze with their poetic beauty
	- the landscapes are painted by the restless and unusual wilderness of natural phenomena
	- the scenery on the stage becomes the main tool of the artist’s expression
	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
The Modern	- the dominance of female characters and their destinies
	- plots are omitted in dramas
	- there is no more emphasis on the main and secondary characters
	- there are a lot of characters
	- very often several characters are placed in the same situation
	Actors, Methods, Means, Props, Theater, Tasks
Avant-garde	- importance is given to the play of light
	- the spotlights and the stage are in motion
	- pantomime elements
	- rhythmic speech
	- scenographic fantasy
	- logical dramatic flow omitted
	- no conflict between characters
	- spatial and temporal categories are negated
	- dialogues based on communication do not exist
	- psychological feelings are abolished
	- the world is interpreted through irony
	- monologue, pantomime and gestures are increasingly coming to the fore
	- dramas do not have a plot
	- the structure of the drama is collapsed
	- situations are introduced that do not make sense
	- the drama has no lesson
	- the drama says nothing
	- speech reduced to the minimum of existence

Ancient tragedy is a drama indees, given that it has dramatic elements that developed in the pre-dramatic period. On the other hand, Racine’s Phaedra is considered a classical drama, while we consider other dramas that have show elements as epic dramas. Avant-garde dramas such as Ionesco’s plays are also dramas, although they completely omit the concepts of classical drama. In the continuation of the concluding considerations, in Table 1, we pointed out, suma sumarum, the main characteristics and features of acting throughout history, which we investigated in this paper.