The History of Theatre

1607 Words7 Pages
The History of Theatre Alanna Leon Effective Essay Writing/COM/150 May 27, 2012 Michael Macbride The History of Theatre Theatre is a fantastic, entertaining, and very old art form. An evolution of storytelling, theatre is an expression of life. The history of theatre can be traced all the way back to the time of Ancient Greece. The art of theatre has survived many years and has evolved greatly during those years. A performance you would have seen in Ancient Greece is not at all what you would see in a performance today. Many things in theatre have changed, from the dialogue and costumes, to the sets, themes, and the playwrights themselves. Just as the human race has had to adapt to changes in order to survive over the years, theatre has done the same. There is one thing that has not changed all that much and that is that people still use theatre as an escape. While theatre was originally used as a form of worship to the Greek god Dionysus, the art of theatre has greatly evolved over the years and is now mainly used as a source of entertainment. There is not much history pertaining to the origin of theatre. Most research comes from wall paintings and hieroglyphics. One of the first dramas was performed in Egypt and is said to be the beginning of theatre. This drama was the Abydos passion play, involving the story of Osiris (Robinson, 2002). Most of the first recorded examples of theatre come to us from Ancient Greece. Ancient Grecians had four festivals honoring gods, which were scheduled around the seasons. City Dionysia, a festival honoring the god, Dionysus, was the only festival to have performances. These performances were part of a contest, with the best playwrights/plays winning a prize. The most well-known playwrights of this time are Thespis, Sophocles, Euripedes, Aeschylus, and Aristophanes (Robinson, 2002). Thespis is credited with
Open Document