Ancient Greek god

Theater is widely considered to have emerged in Athens when the city began hosting annual
events to honor the Greek god Dionysus around 480 B

In Greece, early theater was often not a "performance" in a traditional sense. It was usually a
famous or local poet reading out their work. These readings would gradually lead to:

Acting

Hiring actors

Longer scripts

Italy and Egypt, two other fast-emerging countries and populations on the Mediterranean coast,
would also quickly adopt a love of theater, albeit in different ways.

Much of the early evolution of theater was driven by these countries. As wars took place and
people began to travel, different cultural influences would spread across the lands.

One of the most significant evolutionary elements of early Roman theater was the inclusion of
women in performances.

From around 500 CE, many theatrical activities disappeared across Europe. Small bands of
traveling performers toured Europe but were often denounced by various churches as spreading a
dangerous message.

However, the church would also be responsible for starting the re-emergence of theater,
organizing performances based on content from the Bible. Priests themselves typically performed
these!

By the end of the 15th century, religious dramas could be found across Europe. Comedy had also
been re-established, while burlesque performances were popular and becoming more
widespread.

At this time, actors performing in plays were typically local citizens and would create their
costumes based on the part they were to play. Actors across Europe were usually not paid, but
such enjoyment was found in the art of performance that playwrights seldom struggled to find
willing participants.

However, it had a positive by way of:

Forcing countries to further develop unique theatrical styles, which had started to emerge over
the previous 200 years anyway.
Commedia dell’arte – “Comedy of the Profession” – was Italy’s answer to professional theater
following the banning of religious plays. Troupes of around a dozen actors typically performed
Commedia dell’arte shows. These performances quickly became popular across Europe, with
several plot devices and theatrical elements proving hugely influential and surviving to this day.

One of the most notable features of commedia dell’arte was the lack of scenery and props used.

Thanks to performers’ willingness to work in this way, commedia dell’arte became widely
accepted as being the founding of what we’d today call “slapstick” comedy.

1562 to 1642

While English Elizabethan theater, also popularly known as Renaissance theater, was only around
for 80 years between 1562 and 1642, but was hugely influential at the time and as a precursor for
what would come in later years.

During this time, the first purpose-built theaters began to appear in London, while drama became
a focus both from an educational and performance perspective in English schools and universities.

These developments helped to lay the foundations for how theater would evolve into the
centuries beyond.

Legendary playwright William Shakespeare also lived during this period, with many of his most
famous plays written and first performed around the turn of the 17th century. Despite this period
of dramatic history being short, it is undoubtedly the most critical era, thanks to Shakespeare.

Perhaps the most notable thing about Shakespeare’s work is its reliance on plot devices and
characters from ancient Greek and Roman theater. As such, Shakespearean plays are the most
evident link between ancient theater and the drama of today.

Estimates of the Spanish “Golden Age,” which stretched from 1590 to 1681, say anything between
10,000 and 30,000 plays may have been written!

Most notable about Spanish theater during the "Golden Age" is that it wasn't class-driven. While
aristocrats and other wealthy individuals would sponsor actors and full productions, theater shows
were accessible to all. They were hugely popular among the less well off.
The restoration comedy era in England began in 1660. The 18-year gap between the start of this
era and the end of the Renaissance theater era was due to the English Civil War and the
subsequent banning of theater by the regime of the day.

While theaters began to open almost immediately after King Charles II took the throne, the types
of performances were often far different from what had been taking place just two decades
earlier.

King Charles II was even known to encourage sexually explicit language.

By the 19th century, European theater had moved through the neoclassical period, which saw
grandiose and melodramatic performances come to the fore. Sexual farces and political satire had
also emerged across Europe. However, in the mid-18th century, theater in England was highly
regulated and censored by the state.