- Tonight in America, approximately 5.5 million will attend a movie, - more than 40 million will listen to the radio and - more than 150 million will turn on their tvs, - while fewer than 100, 000 will attend the theater - Theater has had great influence on society for over 2500 years - unlike tv and motion picture which hasnt sprung up til this century - although, tv, radio and movies have added a lot to the world of entertainment - they are based on theater in some way or another - Theater was the first form of real entertainment - First established theater- theater if the greeks - performances were based on religion and the worship of gods - at first, playwrights acted in their own plays but prof. Actors soon took over the stage- actor had to have a powerful voice and the ability to to play many diff. Roles b/c there were only 3 actors and the audience had to be able to differentiate b/w the characters- Roman theater- greatly influenced by greeks- Actors never aquired the the respect of the greek actor- Plays comedies dealing with everyday situations and social conflicts- collapsed with the fall of Roman empire- by 400bc , roman theater was lost only to be rediscovered- After the collapse of the roman empire, society- structured around the church- Theater slowly returned in the form of miracle and mystery plays- performed in churches- stories form the bible acted out by priests- later moved to the streets were prof actors took over- not produced with entertainment in mind- did a lot to rediscover theater- Medieval drama continued to be produced into the 16th century, but the renaissance brought a new theater into being, one that would dominate until the 20th century- With william shakespeares, the Globe, and many other famous theaters, london became a bustling theater town- Not since the greeks had the theater reached such heights- Theater was once again a popular...
