Theatre (a brief history)

Theatre is something that has been around for a very long time. The origins lie in the revels of the followers of Dionysus, a god of fertility and wine. He would have cult ceremonies and the women would dance around. But his followers developed a more structured form of drama. They would sing and dance, in choral form the stories of Greek Myths. Later in the 6th century BC a priest of Dionysus engaged in conversation with the chorus which some would say was the birth of theatre but he became the first actor. Ever since then actors have been proud to call themselves Thespians. Tragedies have been around since 5th Century BC. A small number of full text survive form Athens.

Theatre went through different stages, styles, and it has definitely evolved since the roots of it. It has always been looked at as something taboo, for a while it was banned by the Puritans in 1642. It was then performed in secret, until Charles II restored it in 1660.

Even today theatre is looked at oddly. They think that it’s weird and not relevant but it is.