History of the Theatre

Going to the theatre has been a popular human pastime for thousands of years. It has appeared in various forms since the time history has been recorded and expressed in a variety of different ways. In this review, we will take a look at some of the most popular forms from three key geographical areas - European, African and Asian. While we are unable to cover all form of theatre this article will lay the foundation for an understanding of the theatres' evolution through history.

European Theatre

Greek

European theatre began in ancient Greece, in Athens in particular (long before cars, Ferraris, traffic congestion, car accidents, car insurance for impounded cars became common!) and was the foundation for all theatre to follow in that part of the world. The word theatre actually comes from a Greek word which means a place where a play is staged. There were two key forms of theatre that the Greeks enjoyed creating and watching, these were comedy and tragedy. Comedy was used to express things like satirical views on society, poking fun at politicians, education, and literature. Tragedy took on a more serious note and was used to explore the way the world worked, human nature, and what it meant to be human.

Medieval

Before the middle ages, the ancient Romans had taken on Greek theatre and used it to expand their own ideas about humans and humanity. After the Roman Empire fell, during the Early Middle Ages, the church would often stage theatrical versions of biblical events throughout the year and the theatre in Europe at this time was dominated by religious themes. As the Middle Ages progressed religious and liturgical productions continued to flourish but were also performed alongside more secular plays that often dealt with supernatural, or moral themes. There was a backlash from authorities in the middle of the 16th century which saw several countries ban religious plays altogether. This led to a revival of Greek and Roman theatre during the Renaissance as Europe looked back to the classical world for inspiration.

Elizabethan

The 16th century also saw the establishment of bands of professional actors putting on increasingly professional shows. In London at this time, the city authorities were generally against plays but fortunately, the Queen did not share this view. Theatres sprang up outside the City's jurisdiction to serve the growing popularity of plays in London and one of these was the Globe, made famous by the titan of theatre - William Shakespeare, who lived from 1564-1616. Shakespeare and his contemporaries took the theatre to new heights in their exploration of human nature, history, and dramatic production.

Modern

Shakespeare's plays have continued to be performed in the present day, as well as a whole host of other varieties. The theatre continues to be popular and Shakespeare plays alongside big budget modern productions that travel the world and smaller independent shows that deal with virtually every theme imaginable.

African Theatre

Ancient Egyptian

Some of the oldest records of theatrical style events occurred around 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt. The Ancient Egyptians put on what is called passion plays that told the story of the divinity Osiris at various festivals throughout the year. Some say that the Osiris shares many things in common with the biblical telling of Jesus.

Ghanaian and Yoruban

Ghanaian theatre first appeared as a commentary on the European colonization of Africa. One of the first plays of this form was The Blinkards which was a satirical look at Africans who had taken on European culture. This sharp satire targeted Europeans, rich African farmers, and Africans who were imitating Europeans and was one of the main catalysts for Ghanaian theatre. The origins of Yoruban theatre can be found in a traditional ceremony where the ancestors of the dead come back to the world to visit the living. This form of theatre features gods, and death, ancestors, and their interactions.

African-American

The first African American theatre is the African Grove Theatre in New York which was established in 1821. The origins of African American theatre predate its influence by the environment of the USA and its roots can be found in African culture. African American theatre began being performed in parks and cabins and included music, dance, songs, and the telling of traditional stories.

Asian Theatre

Indian

Indian theatre emerged around the first and second century BC and its earliest form was Sanskrit Theatre. It was popular for over a thousand years until it was forbidden by Islamic conquerors in the 10th and 11th century, then emerged again after the 15th century. The first known Sanskrit play, by Sudraka, involved comedy, court drama, romance and sex and was made into a movie in 1984. In the 17th century, an elaborate form or theatre called Kathakali emerged which involved elaborately made up and dressed actors, music, and movement, which originated in Kerala. A more modern form of Indian theatre was expressed through the playwright Tagore, who dealt with Indian identity, nationalism, greed, and spiritualism.

Chinese

Theatrical entertainment has been performed since at least 1500 BC in China. The Shang Dynasty arranged shows of music, acrobatics, and clown performances. During the Han and Tang dynasties, a very unique form of theatre became popular - shadow puppets. Puppet shows were usually used to depict fantasy and adventure. Originally it was almost never used for political purposes up until the 11th century when the government stepped in to use it more extensively. Theatre, in general, flourished during The Tang dynasty which was referred to as 'The Age of 1000 Entertainments' and many forms were popular from Shadow Puppetry, musical drama, and many acting schools popped up throughout the country. During the Song dynasty plays that involved acrobatics were popular and this was developed further during the Yuan dynasty and has continued up until today with the Beijing Opera.

Japanese

One of the first popular forms of Theatre in Japan is Noh, which is still big today. Noh emerged during the 14th century and consisted of a mixture of vocals and pantomime, and was originally mainly short comedy. Noh and a style called Bunraku (puppetry) evolved into one of Japan's most famous forms of theatre - Kabuki. Kabuki originated in the 16th century and at first, all actors were girls, then boys, then finally just men. Kabuki actors were trained to perform dance, song, and pantomime. Kabuki remains a popular form of theatre in Japan.

A Modern Day Farce - Fast Food Deliveries

A real comedy is being played out in Britain - delivery of millions of hot meals by tens of thousands of, mainly, youngsters on scooters.

We are said to be in the middle of a green revolution. Meat production is an inefficient way of creating food and bad for the environment. Healthy eating is all the rage and sales of vegetarian and vegan meals are booming.

At the same time we have hordes of fast food delivery drivers, all complete with very expensive hot food delivery driver insurance, delivering unhealthy junk food all over Britain. They are not only contributing to obesity but also putting tens of thousands of vehicles on the road, making a hefty contribution to air pollution. How did we come to this?

Partly it is the power of advertising. Companies like Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have stressed the convenience of having meals delivered straight to the door, rather than having the trouble of cooking them at home. The fact that this is a much more expensive way of eating hasn't been mentioned; neither has the fact that much of the food that is delivered is filling rather than truly nutritious.

The booster though was the covid epidemic. The subsequent lockdowns meant that people could no longer go out to a restaurant, a pub or even a local Chinese takeaway for a treat. The big food delivery companies stepped up their advertising and soon tens of thousands of couriers were recruited to fulfill the deluge of orders that came flooding in for home deliveries.

After the end of the lockdowns, it would be reasonable to assume that UK families would revert to cooking their own food, using economical, tasty, fresh ingredients; but it hasn't happened. The number of not only hot meals, but also boxes of ready-to cook ingredients, delivered by car, van or scooter, has actually increased and now this is a multi billion pound market. People in Britain are paying far more than they should, for food which often arrives cold, and which is composed in too many cases of unhealthy ingredients. It is crazy.

What Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan would have made of this I can only dream; where are those two giants of the theatre when we need them?