The word theatre means a “place for seeing,” it originated in Ancient
Greece some 5000 years back. but theatre is more than just a building where
plays are performed. Theatre is a branch of performing arts that focuses on
live performances by actors, which creates a self-contained drama. It’s the
whole idea behind what happens there. Since its inception, theatre has
taken many forms that involve dance, gestures, and pantomime combined with
various other performing arts to portray a single artistic form.
The history of theatre charts the development of theatre over the past
2,500 years. The
first buildings used for theatrical performances in Britain were amphitheatres introduced
by the Romans, who copied theatres from ancient Greece.
Medieval theatre was presented
on elaborate temporary stages inside great halls, barns, or in the open
courtyards of galleried inns. It was from these that Elizabethan timber-framed
open-air theatres took their form, such as the Globe in London. The most famous Elizabethan playhouse which
was built by the company in which Shakespeare had a stake - now often referred
to as the Shakespearean Globe as many believe that Shakespeare
influenced us by helping make the English language universal, and introduced
hundreds of everyday remarks into the language through his plays and poems.
By the middle of the nineteenth century theatre building
was becoming a specialist architectural discipline, led by architects such as J T Robinson and C J Phipps. Often,
older theatres were demolished and rebuilt to accommodate larger audiences. In
the auditorium, rectangular galleries began to be replaced by horseshoe-shaped
balconies that enveloped the stage and provided better viewing. The intention
was to bring respectability to theatre-going and make it more socially
acceptable for the middle classes.
The beginning of the twentieth
century saw the introduction of a new component – the cinema. It was so popular
that new or refurbished theatres often included provision for screening films. But In 1976, the Theatres Trust Act was
passed, founding a new organisation, The Theatres Trust, the National Advisory
Public Body for Theatres. It is tasked with protecting theatres and theatre
use, and has a statutory role to advice on all planning applications affecting
land on which there is a theatre. Further good news for theatres came in 1994,
with the creation of the National Lottery. Such funding for the Arts has helped
in educating the new generation on theatre and its importance to London’s
culture.
Sayonara
Joycelyn
