History of the Theater Industry

The theater industry has been around since the beginning of time, when "one or more human beings, isolated in time and/or space, presented themselves to another or others." And when people started to realize that they could make a profit from doing this, they decided that, that was the best thing to do. The earliest recorded plays that still survive to this day are those of Ancient Greece.

Between c. 550 and c. 220 BC, in Athens, the theater industry began to grow into an entertainment business that people would pay to see its happenings. It was more than just amusement for friends and family. It had become and art, and sometimes a competition to win a wreath and respect.

Amphitheaters were being made just for performance venues, and they were usually always full for every show. Because of the shape of the amphitheaters the acoustics were far better and even people in the 100th row could hear what was happening on the stage. People loved the idea of being able to watch actors act out a story right in front of them.

The Greek way of theater influenced the Romans, and of course like they had been doing all through history, they stole the idea of theater and made it their own. They made it less religious and because the audiences were usually rude and loud during performances, they made up a code by wearing certain outfits to show who they were in the story.

When the fall of the Roman Empire happened, the idea of true theater sort of got lost among the rubble. Most plays didn?t survive, and smaller professions such jesters and mimes, began to take the scene, by providing entertainment solely to royalty. Then religious plays began to come back. This was the beginning of the era of Medieval European Theater.

Only men were allowed to act on stage. Even girl parts were played by men. Some boys were castrated to prevent their voices from becoming lower just to make sure that they could play a female role. It seemed like it would?ve been easier to just have woman in shows, but women still didn?t have a lot of rights, and many people thought that it was unladylike to act and have a woman in a man?s occupation.

Finally, in the late 1500?s, a man named Shakespeare came into popularity with his famous plays, the very plays that are still being performed to this very day.