Though it may not seem like it, theater plays a significant role in our lives by shaping and impacting the world around us and influencing our everyday actions alongside. Take it into consideration; look at it from a broader point of view. Take books for example. With seemingly random letters scrambled on a piece of paper, the words combined are capable of whisking you away to another dimension, one far, far away from Earth. The storyline is able to move you to the brink of tears, have you shaking with uncontrollable laughter, or keep you perched on the edge of your seat, which proves the compelling effect of storytelling. This ties into theater, which has similar effects on the audience, with its dynamic plot and characters acting out live scenes right on the stage.

But, where did theater originate? Initially arising in Ancient Greece, theater served a purpose as a way to understand the world and what it meant to be human. The three types of Greek tragedies, comedy, satyr, and tragedy, were performed at Dionysia, a festival celebrated to honor Dionysus, the god of wine. The tragedies revolved around Greek gods and goddesses, the most famous being Oedipus the King, in which the Greeks’ belief concerning unchangeable fate was established. Greek tragedy aspects eventually coalesced with Roman theater, which dominated following the gradual expansion of the Roman Republic. However, some key features that distinguished Roman theater from Greek theater included the addition of double-plots and the role of the chorus in dividing the scenes to add a musical element into the unfolding drama. Additionally, the incorporation of entertainment and diversion into a play clearly differentiated Greek from Roman; however, some argue that many Roman playwrights got their inspiration from the Greeks and that Roman plays derived from Greek theater. Whether or not this fact remains true, both types of theater paved the way for the great rebirth of literature and art, better known as the English Renaissance, which flourished in England between 1562 and 1642. William Shakespeare, a world-famous poet and playwright, contributed greatly toward English Renaissance theater, with his most notable works being Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, and A Midsummer’s Night Dream. At this point, significant alterations to theater were made, such as the allowance of women to act alongside men in plays, and the gap between theater for the upper-class audience and for the lower-class audience was diminished, allowing for people of all social classes to merge.

Theater encourages globalization, gives us a voice to freely express our creativity, and invigorates those with aspiring, ambitious dreams. Even though theater first emerged many, many years ago, the world of theater is constantly alive and modernizing.