Greek Theater: The Festival Of Dionysus

Greek Theater first started with festivals in which gods would be honored and where people would come together to celebrate. This event was known as the Festival of Dionysus since it honored Dionysus, who was the god of grape harvest or winemaking. During this festival, people would perform acts and songs to welcome the god of grape and winemaking. Many people attend the festival especially the performance and it became really popular. Soon, the acts that were performed at the Festival of Dionysus evolved from not only performing for Dionysus but instead all the Greek gods and also about life. This started the time of Greek Theater. As theater became a big part in the lives of Greek people, it became their duty or responsibility to attend these

plays. People signed up or volunteered to be part of the chorus or orchestra because it would heighten their social status. The greek actor was usually someone who was wealthy or had a position in the government or in a business. Being a greek actor was a big deal since they received a lot of fame and were excused from military shifts. At this time, only three actors were allowed to perform, which meant that the actors would have to play many roles. Furthermore, these actors were men since women were not allowed to perform or sometimes even attend a play. The actors used props, costumes, as well as masks to make their performance more influential. Within the Greek theater, many plays were performed with different genres.
Since the original Greek theater, performances and plays have really changed and have gotten better. Today, plays are not mandatory for people and neither is it free. Performance's topics can vary and they can be about almost anything. Furthermore, more than three people usually perform and they don't have to male. The theater still has singing but the actors sing rather than chorus singing separation. Also with the help of technology, music can be played digitally but also with a large orchestra. In performances, costumes and props are still used and still have the same importance as they did before. Some plays still use masks but today, makeup can be used to change the actual appearance of an actor to make them look more like their part. Theatre today has really changed since the Festival of Dionysus, but many of the concepts of performing have remained the same.