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the "Cult of Dionysus" practiced ritual celebrations of fertility, which over time altered and became Spring rituals with theatre at the center of the celebration
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The choros, originally danced in a circle by temple virgins, is the centrepiece of the developing Greek theatre.
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Thespis wins the first public contest for tragic poets in Greece, and the term thespian derives from his name. He also introduces masks, which become a staple of Greek and Roman theater.
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The theatre at Epidaurus is the earliest and best surviving example of a classical Greek stage and auditorium
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In this era Comedy is preferred over tragedy. Old Comedy, buffoonery and farce that often attacks individuals and portrays the foibles of a social class, evolves into New Comedy, a more polished and refined humor that centers on the shortcomings of the middle class. Comic drama moves from politics and philosophy to everyday life.
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The play "The Mystery of Adam" takes place outside a church somewhere in France.
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Ballet is performed for the first time.
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Everyman, the best surviving example of a morality play, is written. The morality play touches on large contemporary issues with moral overtones and describes the lives of everyday people facing temptation.
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William Shakespeare writes Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Anthony and Cleopatra.
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Following the civil war of 1642, the Puritans close or burn down all English theaters and forbid acting.
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Women start appearing in French and English plays. Elizabeth Barry and Anne Bracegirdle are among the pioneers.
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Romeo and Juliet, the first play by Shakespeare to be presented in America, is performed in New York
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Gaslighting is used for the first time in American theater at Philadelphia's Chestnut Street Theatre. Thomas Drummond invents the limelight, which is used in the same manner as the spotlight is used today.
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The Theatre Regulation Act of 1843 bans drinking in legitimate theaters. Many tavern owners take advantage of the situation and renovate their establishments to accommodate live performances.
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Cats opens on Broadway. Becomes Broadway's longest-running play.
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The Wizard of Oz, based on the book by Frank Baum, opens on Broadway as a musical to huge success
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The Broadway musical links with opera in Jerome Kern's revolutionary Show Boat. Dancer Isadora Duncan dies when her scarf gets caught in the wheel of a moving car
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Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy wins the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and Tony Award for best play, marking the acceptance of gay theatre.
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The Metropolitan Opera installs screens on audience seats that display captions, to attract a wider audience
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Chechen terrorists take hostage the entire audience of a Moscow theatre in an atrocity resulting in the death of more than 150 people
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Theater is all but extinct in both the western and eastern Roman Empires during the Dark Ages because Christians oppose the entertainment.
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The church introduces dramatic performances to Easter services, acting out the story of the Resurrection. Ironically, the institution that discouraged theater is responsible for its rebirth.
