Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative performing art where live performers, typically actors, present real or imagined events to a live audience, usually on a stage. They communicate through gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. As the oldest form of drama, it now exists alongside modern recorded formats. Elements like painted scenery and lighting enhance the physical presence and immediacy of the experience. The term also refers to the buildings where performances regularly occur, derived from the Ancient Greek *théatron* (“a place for viewing”). Modern Western theatre largely originates from ancient Greek theatre, borrowing its technical terms, genre classifications, themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre artist Patrice Pavis defines theatricality, theatrical language, stage writing, and the specificity of theatre as interchangeable terms that set it apart from other performing arts, literature, and the arts generally. A theatre company produces performances, while a theatre troupe (or acting company) is a group of performers working together. Modern theatre includes plays and musical theatre; ballet and opera are also forms of theatre, using acting, costumes, and staging, and they influenced the development of musical theatre.

Western theatre began in the city-state of Athens, part of a broader culture of performance in classical Greece that included festivals, religious rituals, politics, law, athletics, music, poetry, weddings, funerals, and symposia. Participation in festivals—especially mandatory attendance at the City Dionysia—was a key part of citizenship. Citizens also evaluated orators in law-courts and political assemblies, which were seen as analogous to theatre and adopted its dramatic vocabulary. The Greeks developed dramatic criticism and theatre architecture. Actors were amateur or semi-professional. Ancient Greek theatre had three drama types: tragedy, comedy, and satyr play. According to Aristotle, the first theatre theoretician, its origins lie in festivals honoring Dionysus. Performances took place in semi-circular auditoriums cut into hillsides, seating 10,000–20,000 people. The stage had a dancing floor (*orchestra*), a dressing room, and a scene-building area (*skene*). Words were most important, so good acoustics and clear delivery were essential. Actors (always men) wore masks and often played multiple roles.