HISTORY OF DRAMA BY GLENDA GUEVARA

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.

GREEK PERIOD

534 BCE

The first plays were to worship Dionysus The wine god. The plays included death and suffering and soon comedy grew out of them. Audiences would consist of several thousand people. Masks were now used which allowed an actor to play multiple parts. At this time, women were not allowed to act so female roles were played by men. The play would be supported by a chorus with as many as fifty people who would sing or speak simultaneously.

GREAT DIONYSIA

531 BCE

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.

ROMAN PERIOD

509 BCE

Roman drama was strongly influenced by Greeks, however there were some differences. The actors in Rome were usually slaved whereas they were free men in Greece. The Romans built huge theatres including the Colloseum. In these theatres, the focus of entertainement was sport. This included battles of gladiators, circus acrobatics and slaves were made to fight animals. Soon it became more popular than the real theatre. To bring people back towards it, some changes were made.

PLAUTUS (254-184 B.C.)

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.

TERENCE (195-159 BC)

195 BCE

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.

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

5 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,

Theatre in the Medieval Period

5 BCE

This image was designed and executed in copper engraving by David Gee (1793-1872).
It recreates a 15th-century Passion play (The Trial and Crucifixion of Christ) by the Smiths' Company of Coventry. Many of the details are based on written accounts, including pageant wagon design itself and the people in the street.

SÉNECA (4 BC-65 AD)

4 BCE

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a playwright, a lawyer and a Roman senator. He served under the sadistic Emperor Caligula. After returning, Seneca became the advisor of the infamous Emperor Nero. He wrote tragedies, many of them re-inventions of Greek myths of decadence and self-destruction. “Phaedra” is a play and dramatis, which tells the story of Phaedra, wife of King Theseus of Athens, and her consuming lust for her stepson Hippolytus.

Leonardo da Vinci

15

Italian painter, architect, inventor, and “Renaissance man” responsible for painting “The Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper.

Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena

15

The first significant comedy written in Italian was Calandria (1506) by Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena (1470 - 1520).

Giangiorgio Trissino's Sophonisba

15

The first important Renaissance tragedy was Giangiorgio Trissino's Sophonisba, which was written in 1515.

RENAISSANCE PERIOD

16

Theatrical activities, particularly comedies, flourished in Italy, England and Spain during the 16th and early 17th century.
The word Renaissance means 'rebirth'. In this time, society was 'reborn' with new ideas and learning ambitions.

William Shakespeare

16

William Shakespeare started writing plays in 1590, at the age of 26. He wrote about 38 plays in his lifetime. England’s “national poet” and the most famous playwright of all time, celebrated for his sonnets and plays like “Romeo and Juliet.”

MODERN PERIOD

18

During this period, drama was not only performed live on stage but also enjoyed through the mediums of radio, television, and cinema.

MODERN PERIOD

18

In today’s times it revolves mostly around spreading a social message and making the masses aware. The message communicated to the target audience is well narrated to the spectators, and is liked and is able to make the rural audiences to think and analyze the issues and problems. So today majority of drama are based on spreading social awareness and making audience aware about on goings in the society.

1830’s

1830

The idea of wireless communication predates the discovery of "radio" with experiments in "wireless telegraphy" via inductive and capacitive induction and transmission through the ground, water, and even train tracks.

1924

1924

Danger by Richard Hughes was the first radio drama written for the BBC (British Broadcasting).

1928

1928

The very first television drama was filmed in Schenectady. It was a little play called The Queen's Messenger, a British drama with more special effects technicians than there were television sets in the Capital Region. The play itself was a melodrama by Irish playwright J. Hartley Manners.