How It All Began

It started as a solemn religious ceremony, but became one of the world’s favorite pastimes. Theatre was started in ancient greece around 700 B.C. as a ritual to the God Dionysus. 

In an article on wikipedia, which links to numerous scholarly references, we learn about the origins of theater in Ancient Greece.

Tragedy was created around 532 B.C. Thespis is often considered the first tragic actor. His name is where the term thespian (meaning an actor) came from. He won a theatrical contest in Athens and was put in charge of what was called the dithyrambs. These were songs and dances that were used to honor Dionysus. When Thespis was put in charge of the dithyrambs they were performances with songs and the poetry of Arion.

Phrynichus was another ancient actor of note and also wrote the play the “fall of miletus” which was so greatly tragic he was fined 1,000 drachmas (25,000 US dollars). He was also the first writer to have female characters, but female actresses were not in play until much later (starting in the 1600s). Comedies were introduced in 486 B.C. There was never a mix of the two in Greece. Satyr plays were mythological and were considered a different genre as well .

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Actors often wore masks on stage. These masks we called Prosopon. These masks were worn during celebrations and other praises of Dionysus. There was a chorus of people who would be in the background for various reasons such as narration and for setting the mood and would wear the same masks to represent being one person. Masks were worn so that the actors could become whoever they were playing. They could be used to tell the age, gender, and social status of the character based off the mask. Masks had small holes for the mouth so the audience could not see it, and the eyeholes were too small to see well out of. Masks warley covered the ears for this purpose.

Future Research: how did theatre change between ancient times and modern times?