Today, the word theatre still describes a performance venue, but it also means much more.
Theatre is the art of telling a story or communicating an idea through performance .
Act 1, Scene 1 Scripted plays were first performed by the ancient Greeks as early as 500 BC , at religious festivals and for entertainment. The development of writing meant that scripts from that time survived and are still performed today. Under Roman rule, the focus was on entertainment rather than religion - the Roman circus, with its lions, gladiators and condemned men, created an atmosphere similar to televised wrestling matches. But during the middle ages, religion came back to the fore and theatre was dominated by morality and miracle plays. Shakespeare is still one of the most popular western playwrights, and several of his works have been made into Hollywood block-busters.