History of

Theatrical
Forms and
Theaters
 Ancient Theater

If theatre is to be defined as involving the art of acting a part on stage, that is the
dramatic impersonation of another character than yourself, we begin with Thespis. A
figure of whom we know very little, he won the play competition in honor of the greek
god Dionysus, in 534 B.C. While it is uncertain whether Thespis was a playwright, an
actor or a priest, it is his name with which the dramatic arts are associated in our word
"Thespian"

The Ancient Grecian Empire commenced around 700 B.C.E. with festivals honoring
their pantheon of gods and goddesses. The Ancient Greeks honored Dionysus, the god
of wine, on special occasions with an unusual celebration called the “City Dionysia.” The
ancient Greek theater festival consisted of drunken men outfitted in goat skins that sang
and played choruses to welcome Dionysus. Goat skins were regarded as sexually
potent; therefore, inducing passionate lust during the ceremony, which appeased
Dionysus. Tribes hosted competitions against one another in order to win a highly
regarded prize. Four of the festivals hosted in Athens was only presented at “City
Dionysia.” Scholars have theorized that the Greeks rooted their celebrations after the
festival honoring Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead.

Aeschylus was the first to introduce a second actor during on-stage performances.
Sophocles wrote seven popular tragedies including “Antigone,” “Electra,” and “Oedipus
Rex” to name a few. Sophocles won twenty-four awards for his plays, and, when
competing against fellow playwrights, never ranked lower than second place.

Sophocles introduced a third actor during on-stage performances, adjusted the choral
membership to fifteen, and was the first to include painted backdrops.

Euripedes composed over ninety plays, with roughly eighteen surviving pieces studied
and incorporated by contemporary playwrights, including “Medea,” “Hercules,” and “The
Trojan Women.” Critics lambasted Euripedes’ questionable values presented during his
on-stage performances, oftentimes depicting varying psychological archetypes not
explored by previous playwrights. Many authors modeled Euripedes’ experimentalism
centuries after his death. The Grecian playwrights also injected humor into certain
aspects of theater. Comedy has no specified origins; however, many scholars believe it
started from imitation. Popular comedians competed during the Athenian festivals,
including Aristophanes, who authored more than forty plays. Among his eleven
surviving plays included a controversial script entitled “Lysistrata,” a tale about a strong,
independent woman who leads a female-based coalition against the war in Greece.
Despite the limited number of surviving tragedies and comedies, the Greeks greatly
influenced the development of drama in the Western world.
 Roman Theater

The theatre flourished in ancient Rome for about 800 years, during both the Republic
and the Empire. It developed from village entertainments such as the Atellana, and from
Greek Drama.

The earliest Roman drama probably evolved from jolly carnivals and bawdy fertility rites
performed on religious occasions. Its development was influenced greatly by the
traditions of Greek colonists living in southern Italy and Sicily. The first documented
Roman playwright was Lucius Livius Andronicus (c. 280–204 BC), a freed Greek slave
who translated Greek works into Latin. The first recorded production took place in 240
BC at the Roman Games (Ludi Romani). Unlike their Greek predecessors Roman
playwrights, such as Ennius, Naevius, and Andronicus wrote and published non-
dramatic poetry.

Few Roman tragedies survive; most of the plays seem to have been adaptations of
Greek originals, although Lucius Accius is thought to have written some original works.
The role of the Chorus diminished, until it functioned as little more than a source of
interlude music during scene changes. At the same time rhetoric grew increasingly
important, with plays containing long set speeches. It is not even certain that the nine
gory tragedies of Seneca were written to be performed on stage.

Roman comedy derived from the Greek New Comedy, with such authors as Plautus
and Terence basing many of their works directly on plays by Menander and others.
Although the plays were often set in Greece they tended to satirize Roman society and
featured stereotypical Roman characters. Bawdy and brutal mime and the
performances of the pantomimus eventually superseded literary comedy.

Roman drama was generally performed on festival days, together with gladiatorial
contests, circuses, and races; popular actors could be very highly paid, one of the most
successful being Roscius. Theatre buildings were originally wooden, and took their
design from Greek theatres. The first stone theatre was built in Rome in 55 BC. Roman
theatres became considerably more elaborate than the original Greek models; they
were built to be freestanding, and had complex arrangements of curtains and scenery.
There were even some indoor theatres. The amphitheatres designed as arenas for
races were also used for theatrical shows. Performances were sometimes given in
private; players could be hired to entertain dinner guests, while members of the literary
elite would hold prestigious private readings of their works.

Roman drama disappeared in the 6th century AD when Christian opposition to acting
resulted in the emperor Justinian closing down all the theatres.
 Renaissance Theater

Renaissance drama refers to European drama from about the 15th to the early 17th
centuries. During this period the rediscovery and imitation of classical works established
the Renaissance drama foundations of the modern theatre. England’s major
contribution was the lively Elizabethan stage that produced Shakespeare.

Renaissance drama began in Italy, with scholars initially attempting to recreate the
original stagings of Greek and Roman plays, then adapting them to contemporary dress
and speech. The new interest in classical drama was fired by the rediscovery of texts by
Euripides, Seneca, Plautus, and Terence. Aristotle’s Poetics, which defined the
classical genres of tragedy and comedy, came to light in the 15th century. The
disreputable profession of acting began to assume a new dignity and the first
professional companies were formed.

In the field of tragedy, the main influence on Renaissance writers was the work of
Seneca. As early as 1315, Albertino Mussato wrote a Latin tragedy, Ecerinis. The first
important Renaissance tragedy was Giangiorgio Trissino’s Sophonisba, which was
written in 1515. Other authors of tragedy included Italy’s Pietro Aretino, Giovanni Giraldi
and Torquato Tasso; France’s Étienne Jodelle; Spain’s Juan de la Cueva, and Miguel
de Cervantes; as well as England’s Shakespeare, Kyd, and Marlowe.

In the Renaissance theatre the solemn scenes of tragedy were often interspersed
with intermezzi, song and dance interludes that borrowed from the Greco-Roman Satyr-
Play. These interludes ultimately developed into the court masque in England, the opera
in Italy, and ballet in France.

The discovery of Roman comedy, with its stock characters and intricate plots, inspired
Renaissance dramatists to write similar works, such as Udall’s Ralph Roister Doister .
The first significant comedy written in Italian was Calandria  by Bernardo Dovizi da
Bibbiena. In sixteenth-century Italy authors of the commedia erudite began to combine
aspects of Roman comedy and tragedy with elements of the liturgical drama. A leading
writer of the commedia erudite was Lodovico Ariosto. This new genre, however,
provoked an important reaction in the form of the improvised commedia dell’arte. Major
comic playwrights of the era included England’s Shakespeare and Ben Jonson;
France’s Jacques Grévin and Pierre de Larivey; and Spain’s Bartolomé de Torres
Naharro.
 Baroque Theater

The Baroque was a period in art history characterized by the exuberant use of
ornaments and the combination of different arts for creating dramatic pieces. It started
in Italy after the Renaissance and expanded to most of Europe between the 17th and
18th century. The Baroque was encouraged by the Catholic Church and also by the
different monarchies, as it was seen as a symbol of power.

With many artistic innovations happening during the Baroque period, theaters evolved
into more sophisticated and dramatic venues. Both the buildings and the plays were
deeply transformed. The study and development of perspective marked the evolution of
theater design, and the first operas were created, becoming a new, widely accepted
genre. This increased the demand for playhouses all over the continent.

Baroque Theater Architecture

Baroque architecture became known mostly for its impressive churches and palaces,
but the design and construction of theaters was also important. The growing aristocracy
in Europe wanted more venues for entertainment, and theaters slowly evolved from
buildings reserved for the monarchy into more public places.

Baroque theaters featured several key characteristics and innovations. These new
playhouses were able to accommodate larger crowds and provided better views of the
bigger sceneries.

The horseshoe layout was an invention from the Renaissance that was further

developed in Baroque architecture. All the seating rows were organized inside a semi-
circular area, optimizing the number of seats. The horseshoe layout also allowed interior
space for balconies.

Balconies became an important element of Baroque theaters. They were small shallow

rooms vertically stacked on the sides of the room, around the horseshoe plan.
Depending on the size of the building, there could be several levels. The balcony for the
monarchs, known as the royal box, was usually located in the center. It aligned with the
stage and had the best view.

The orchestra pit was another Baroque innovation. It consisted of an area in front of the

stage, located below the floor level. It was designed to be used by the musicians and
allowed them to play without being noticed by the public.

The proscenium stage from the Renaissance also further developed during the

Baroque. It consisted of an arch enclosing the set, creating a frame around it. The
proscenium allowed for a better perception of everything happening onstage. The
audience had only to focus on this frame instead of constantly having to look in different
directions.

Neoclassical Theater

A concept of drama that originated in the writings of 15th century Italian scholars and
came to dominate the stage in 17th- and 18th-century France was the neoclassical
drama. Neoclassical theorists advocated a return to the values and conventions of
classical Greek drama as these were then understood. In particular, they ascribed a
great importance to the Poetics of Aristotle, and to the unities of time, place, and action
that they deduced from this work.

In France, where the unities became rigidly formalized, the neoclassical style achieved
its fullest expression in the works of Cornielle and Racine (although Corneille’s 1637
tragicomedy Le Cidprovoked a storm by deviating from the unities).

By contrast, neoclassicism never took root in the English theatre, despite distinguished
advocates such as Jonson and Dryden, whose rhymed heroic tragedies enjoyed some
success. Joseph Addison’s blank-verse tragedy Cato (1713) was probably the most
popular neoclassical work on the English stage.

In France neoclassical tragedy eventually gave way to the bourgeois drame, although it
enjoyed a brief revival in some of the works of Voltaire. The movement as a whole was
swept away by the advent of Romanticism.
 La Scala, Milan, Italy

The Teatro alla Scala (as it is known in Italy) was founded in the late 18th century, back
when Milan was under the authority of the Austrian imperial family. In 1776 (while
Americans were busy with their revolution) the people of Milan watched in horror as
their beloved opera house burned down. This structure, the Royal Ducal Theater, had
caught fire during Carnival celebrations.

Milan had to have an opera house, and the aristocratic families who owned boxes in the
old theater wrote to the Austrian royal family for help. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria
came up with a plan. She oversaw the deconsecrating of an old church, which was
demolished to provide space for a new opera house. The name of that church
was Santa Maria alla Scala. The funds for the new La Scala opera house would be
raised by selling the rights to the boxes. The aristocrats quickly bought up the new
boxes, and construction began. Finally, La Scala opened to the public in 1778. Their
first performance was Antonio Salieri's L'Europa riconosciuta, which he had composed
specifically for the opera house's grand opening.

Teatro di San Carlo

The new King of Naples, Charles VII, was very interested in the arts. He wanted the city
to have a new and beautiful opera house. The old one, the Teatro San Bartolomeo, was
falling apart. King Charles paid for building the new theatre. It was built on land next to
his palace and designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano (1703 – 1760). The new theatre
took only seven months to build. It opened on 4 March 1737. The first opera performed
there was Achille in Sciro (Achilles in Skyros). The famous Italian poet, Metastasio,
wrote the words and story. Domenico Sarro wrote the music. He also conducted the
orchestra.
The building burnt down on 12 February 1816. Six days after the fire, King Ferdinand IV
(the son of King Charles) asked the architect Antonio Niccolini to build the theatre again.
Nicolini used Medrano's designs but he made the stage bigger. The inside of the new
Teatro di San Carlo was even more beautiful than the first one. The new theatre opened
on 12 January 1817, with an opera by Simon Mayr, Il sogno di Partenope (Partenope's
Dream). Since then, only small changes were made to the building. It was damaged by
bombs during World War II, but American and British soldiers soon repaired it.

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is an opera house of an iconic building on the shores

of Sydney Harbour, in Sydney, Australia. It is shaped like the sails of a boat. Many
concerts and events take place here, with 2000 performances a year presented by
Opera Australia, Australia's national opera company.[3] It is a famous tourist attraction.

The land where the Sydney Opera House stands is called Bennelong Point. Bennelong
Point was once home to Fort Macquarie (the fort was built in 1817 and knocked down in
1901). On 10 August 1902, the Fort Macquarie Tram Depot was opened at Bennelong
Point. The depot was knocked down in 1958. The Sydney Opera House was built on the
same spot and the work began in 1959.

It was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon. He won a design competition in 1957.

Utzon left the project in February 1966 because the government was not paying his
invoices. The building finally opened on 20 October in 1973. The project was completed
ten years later and cost more than fourteen times the original budget. In 2001, Utzon
was invited back to restore the building and change it back towards his original designs.

Cultural Center of the Philippines

Before the turn of the 20th century, artistic performances were primarily held in plazas
and other public places around the country. In Manila, the Manila Grand Opera House,
constructed in the mid-19th Century, served as the primary venue for many stage
plays, operas and zarzuelas and other notable events of national significance.
Conditions improve with the construction of the Metropolitan Theater in 1931 and
smaller but adequately equipped auditoriums in institutions like Meralco, Philam
Life, Insular Life, Ateneo de Manila University and Far Eastern University. In 1961, the
Philippine-American Cultural Foundation started to raise funds for a new theater. The
structure, designed by Leandro Locsin, was to be built on a 10-hectare (25-acre) lot in
Quezon City. In the meantime in 1965, Imelda Marcos at a proclamation rally in Cebu
for her husband's bid for the Presidency, expressed her desire to build a national
theater. Marcos would win his election bid and work on the theater started with the
issuance of Presidential Proclamation No. 20 on March 12, 1966. Imelda, now the First
Lady, persuaded the Philippine-American Cultural Foundation to relocate and expand
plans for the still-born theater to a new reclaimed location along Roxas Boulevard in
Manila. To formalize the project, President Marcos issued Executive Order No. 60,
establishing the Cultural Center of the Philippines and appointing its board of directors.
The board would elect Imelda as chairperson, giving her the legal mandate to negotiate
and manage funds for the center.

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera House, built in the 1900s, is one of the city’s most popular
tourist destinations, with thousands flocking annually to see some of the world’s
favourite operatic works, performed live in an authentic setting.

Salzburg-born Amadeus Mozart is probably the most lauded and famous of Austria’s
operatic composers and was one of the first to bring the art form into the consciousness
of the Austrian people, helping introduce the German language into opera. In 1767, one
of his early works debuted at the Archbishop’s Palace in Salzburg and soon afterwards
became a staple in the musical diet of Austrians. Two months prior to the composer’s
tragically early death at the age of 35, The Magic Flute – a mythical tale with themes of
good vs. evil – debuted at Freihaus-Theatre auf der Wieden in Vienna, opening to great
success.

In the 1800s, encouraged by another one of Austria’s musical heroes Johann Strauss II,
a new, lighter variety of opera, known as operetta, emerged in Vienna. Operetta
featured more laid back, humorous storylines, moving the genre away from the deep,
dark, serious nature of earlier works.

Today, opera continues to be widely celebrated throughout Austria, its legacy continuing
even after the fat lady has had a chance to sing. The country is known for possessing
one of the proudest operatic traditions in Europe, with events such as Salzburg Music
Festival and Bregenz Festivalstaging numerous shows every year.