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No-one can say when the first true theatre performance took place. When the first cave-man realised that banging rocks together made noise they probably used it for entertainment. Religious acts and rituals were obvious theatricals from the dawn of time but it was in Greece in the fifth century BC that the first purpose built spaces were constructed and acting and writing for performance became professions.
Mosaic of the theatrical masks (100/200)Musei Capitolini
Thespis is generally credited with being the very first actor by removing himself from the chorus to act as narrator in the guise of a god. The Greek Tragedies and Comedies which survive were all written for the annual celebration of Dionysus when a huge festival was held and poets submitted their dramas to be selected for performance in the hope of winning a prize.
We know little about the style of acting or music employed, but we do know that elaborate costumes and masks were employed from vase paintings and friezes on buildings.
By Gjon MiliLIFE Photo Collection
Tragedies have survived from Aeschylus and Sophocles whilst Aristophanes is remembered for his satiric and bawdy comedies. The most famous plays such as Medea, Phaedra, Elektra, Antigone and Oedipus the King are still performed today.
In the 1980s, Sir Peter Hall staged Aeschylus' trilogy The Oresteia at the National Theatre with masks accompanied with stylised movement and music in an attempt to recreate the original experience for a modern audience.
Fragments of a marble statue of the Diadoumenos (youth tying a fillet around his head) (ca. A.D. 69–96) by PolykleitosThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Think the Greeks were bawdy? Just wait until you experience Roman Comedy next!
