Theatre Has No Place in Modern Society

‘Theatre has no place in modern society’

Written By Lucy Mumford – Year 12

Within this essay I am going to discuss the title, ‘Theatre has no place in modern society’, and also why I disagree. I will include the history of theatre, the history of film and modern media and finally my conclusion.

“All the best performers bring to their role something more, something different than what the author put on paper. That's what makes theatre live. That's why it persists.” Stephen Sondheim

The first recorded theatre was in Ancient Greece, around 600BC. Actors wore masks which were designed to show the age, gender and emotion of the character. Women were not allowed to perform, so men wore female masks to play their parts. In Greek theatre, part of the broader culture included festivals, gymnastics, music, poetry and much more. Ancient Greek theatre consisted of three types of drama, tragedies, comedies and satires. Tragedies and comedies were viewed as completely separate genres. Satirical plays dealt with mythological subjects in a comic manner.

Later, at around 300BC, the Romans began to show an interest in drama and were fascinated by Greek art and theatre, in general. The Roman Empire was important in helping theatre spread west across Europe, the Mediterranean and England. The Romans used slaves to perform their plays and unlike the Greeks, women were allowed to perform on stage, although they did not have very important roles. The first important Roman literatures written were tragedies and comedies written by Livius Andronicus from 240BC.

In early medieval theatre, there are existing records that show, mime, pantomime and scenes from popular tragedies, comedies and dances. From the 5th to the 10th century, Western Europe was plunged into a general disorder, therefore such theatrical events and activities disappeared. By the early middle ages, churches in Europe would perform dramatized sections of biblical events on specific days of the year....