Origin of Theater |
I think that overall, I believe that Thespis, a Greek man from the 6th century, was the origin of theater as we know it today. I also think that Else's Theory of Spontaneous Generation has some merit, but in a different way. Else's Theory is more surrounding cave paintings and ancient methods of storytelling, which I believe is the basis for theater. Without an urge to tell stories or give others knowledge through passing on stories, it seems unlikely theater would have been created as another way to do so. However, I think that without Thespis, it is very possible that theater today would be radically different. Thespis stepped away from the chorus and began to portray a character himself, independent of the Chorus, making him the first actor. Typically in Greece, theater was presented to the audience by a Chorus of people, who sang or chanted lines of information from a play -a story- to them. But Thespis began the trend of taking on a role, of embodying a character and portraying them through one's own actions and words, and shaped how we act today. I think that when asked to describe the origin of theater, I would choose the story of Thespis to answer, but it would feel wrong not to mention Else's Theory, at least as the beginning of storytelling. After all, all theater is is a means to tell a story.