in Greece. Theater played an important role in ancient Greece. The two types of Greek drama would be hugely popular and performances spread around the Mediterranean and influenced Hellenistic and Roman theatre.Thus the works of such great playwrights as Sophocles and … Democracy and theatre – and by extension all creative culture – are inextricably bound. A canyon site was chosen because of its good acoustics. The Greek theatre: 4th century BC: An exclusively Greek contribution to architectural history is the raked auditorium for watching theatrical performances (appropriately, since the Greeks are also the inventors of theatre as a literary form). Sadly, we don’t have the actual music or understand what compositions were most popular. in the Greek city-state of Athens. Ancient Greek drama was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 600 BC. The symbol of today's theater -- the tragedy and comedy masks -- comes to us from between 500 and 300 B.C. Almost every Greek city had a theatre because plays were part of many religious festivals. The Greek Theatre . W e can trace the history of theater as far back as 700BC and the Ancient Greek civilization. History. The idea for the Greek Theatre originated with wealthy landowner Griffith J. Griffith, who donated 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of land to the city of Los Angeles in 1896 to create Griffith Park. For most of the sixth century BCE, Athens was a city-state divided among four warring tribes. The theatres were built on hillsides in the open air and could often hold more than 18,000 spectators. Clan conflicts resulted in a series of strongmen coming to power. However, we can still see how the Ancient Greeks’ love of theater plays a part in the Broadway, and the West End shows we know and love today. Seeing a Greek tragedy performed in English, let alone in the ancient Greek, may sound like hard work to many nowadays. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was institutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which honoured the god Dionysus. Greek theater as we understand it today likely began around the year 532 B.C.E. The masterpieces of Greek drama date from the 5th century BC. History of the Greek theatre started with festivals held in honor of their gods honoring their gods. These, in turn, inspired the genre of Greek comedy plays. One of the favorite forms of entertainment for the Ancient Greeks was the theater. How big were the theaters? A god, Dionysus, was honored with a festival called by "City Dionysia". Ancient Greek theatre, which thrived from around 550 BCE to 220 BCE, lay the foundations for theatre in the western world.Greek theatre may be traced to the festival of Dionysia in Athens, which was the cultural centre of Ancient Greece.The theatrical genres of tragedy, comedy and satyr all emerged at this festival. At first, theatres were only used for festivals. It began as part of a festival to the Greek god Dionysus, but eventually became a major part of the Greek culture. Greek theatre began in the 6th century BCE in Athens with the performance of tragedy plays at religious festivals. Democracy began as theatre began, and Athenian democracy ended when its great theatre ended. In his will he left money for the construction of a Greek theatre. Some of the theaters were quite large and could seat over 10,000 people. What did ancient Greek costumes, masks and theatre look like? The Greeks enjoyed singing and dancing. We even know that the Greeks enjoyed musicals! 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