The theater of dionysus was an outdoor amphitheater built into the Athenian hillside. You can still visit the ruins today. Its first incarnation might not have had seats.
But eventually, they were added wood first and then stone. The seated section was known as the Theatron or seeing place.
The chorus performed on a flat part called the Orchestra, and in the center of the Orchestra was the Thymele or Altar. At some point, a dressing hut called a Skene was also built, so that actors could change masks.
With only two or three actors playing every role, you got to change masks pretty often. There were several ways on and off stage known as Paradoi, including two side entrances, so big Choruses could march on and off when needed.
There was also a place on top of the Skene, where an actor playing a God could appear and descend in a cart, which was called the God in the machine or The Deus Ex Machina, maybe you're wondering why might a playwright need a god to descend from the heavens.
Well sometimes, you write your way into a situation and you can't write yourself out. So it's pretty helpful to have Zeus or Apollo come on down and make everything right.
All of the actors wore masks made of linen with hair attached. So they probably looked pretty frightening, especially, the one of Oedipus with blood all around the eyes.
Tragic actors also wore robes and platform shoes called Cothurni. So just imagine a lot of big sweeping gestures, and trying not to trip.
Thanks thought-bubble. Yeah. Thing is no less terrifying from the inside either.
So during the dithyramb contest, after each playwright presented his Tetralogy, a group of 10 randomly chosen citizens would select the winner, who was honored with an ivy wreath, sacrificial animals, and a big banquet.
