History of Drama

Prehistoric period

2000 BCE

The earliest recorded theatrical event dates back to 2000 B.C. with the passion plays of Ancient Egypt. The story of the god Osiris was performed annually at festivals throughout the civilization, marking the known beginning of a long relationship between theater and religion

Modern Period

1830 BCE

During this period, drama was not only performed live on stage but also enjoyed
through the mediums of radio, television, and cinema.
Stage performers became television and movie actors to gain more popularity
since television and film have wider audiences compared to stage; moreover
they receive a higher pay.

Modern Period

1830 BCE

Three still cameras were used to film the program. Two cameras shot the faces
of the actors. The third was used to show props and other images. For close-ups
on hands, they used the hands of two "assistant actors" in front of the third
camera.

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

1300 BCE

In the Middle Ages, theater was reborn as liturgical dramas, written in Latin and
dealing with Bible stories and performed by priests or church members. Then
came vernacular drama spoken in the vulgate (that is the language of the
people as opposed to Church Latin); this was a more elaborate series of oneact dramas enacted in town squares or other parts of the city.

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

1300 BCE

Medieval drama was for the most part very religious and moral in its themes,
staging and traditions.
The most famous examples of Medieval plays are the English cycle dramas,
the York Mystery Plays, the Chester Mystery Plays, the Wakefield Mystery Plays,
as well as the morality play, Everyman (Late 15th Century). One of the earliest
surviving secular plays in English is The Interlude of the Student and the Girl (First
performed 1300 AD)

Greek period

534 BCE

The earliest days of western theater remain obscure, but the oldest surviving plays come from the ancient Greece. Most philologists agree that Greek theater evolved from staged religious choral performances, during celebrations to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility.  Great Dionysia, also called City Dionysia (534/531 B.C.), is an ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine.

Great Dionisia

487 BCE

The tragic and satyr plays were always performed at the festival where they
were part of a series of four performances (tetralogy): the first, second, and third
plays were a dramatic trilogy based on related or unrelated mythological
events, and the culminating fourth performance was a satyr play, a play on a
lighter note, with enhanced celebratory and dance elements

Great Dionisia

487 BCE

At the early Greek festivals, the actors, directors, and dramatists were all the same person. After some time, only three actors were allowed to perform in each play. Later few non-speaking roles were allowed to perform on-stage. Due to limited number of actors allowed on-stage, the chorus evolved into a very active part of Greek theatre. Music was often played during the chorus' delivery of its lines.

Greek period

450 BCE

the historical period of ancient Greece is unique in world history as the first period attested directly in comprehensive, narrative historiography, while earlier ancient history or proto-history is known from much more fragmentary documents such as annals, king lists, and pragmatic epigraphy.
Herodotus is widely known as the "father of history": his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Written between the 450s and 420s BC, Herodotus' work reaches about a century into the past,

1 PLAUTUS

254 BCE

Said to be the Roman comedy master. He created over a hundred plays, many
of which lampooned iconic figures within Roman society: the soldier, the
politician, the clever slave, the philandering husband, and the wise but nagging
wife

SÉNECA

54 BCE

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a playwright, a lawyer and a Roman senator. He
served under the sadistic Emperor Caligula. The next emperor in line, Claudius,
banished Seneca, sending him away from Rome for over eight years. After
returning, Seneca became the advisor of the infamous Emperor Nero.
During the playwright's lifetime he wrote tragedies, many of them re-inventions
of Greek myths of decadence and self-destruction

Terence

195

Terence's life story is an ancient tale of rags to riches. Terence was the slave of
a Roman senator. Apparently, his master was so impressed with young Terence's
intellect that he released him from his service and even funded Terence's
education. During his adult years, he crafted comedies which were primarily
Roman-styled adaptations of Greek plays by Hellenistic writers such
as Menander