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Western theatre was born in Ancient Greece and evolved from sacred rituals and religious festivals around the 6th century BCE. It is said that the Greek poet, actor, and playwright Thespis invented dramas and tragedies around this time with the use of a single actor wearing several masks to play multiple characters who interacted with the chorus, or dithyramb. Between them, they began a dialogue, which allowed for more complex themes and modes of storytelling to develop. These tragedies became an annual tradition with playwrights evolving the format over the years - Aeschylus introduced a second actor to the drama and Sophocles a third. From here, comedy and satire joined tragedy as dramatic traditions. Romans, on the other hand, favored mime and their early mime shows are potentially the forerunners of pantomime and the commedia dell'arte of the Italian Renaissance. In time, the Christian church became powerful in Europe and set about both suppressing the performance of plays and creating their own style of plays – the mystery play, the miracle play, and the morality. These plays became the basis of medieval drama and all featured elements of scripture or allegory. Initially, they were performed by religious performers, but they later became secularized when they were put on by trade guilds or professional actors.

The renaissance period birthed a more romantic form of drama, with tragicomedies becoming popular and subjects diverging from religion. During this period, opera flourished and Shakespeare triumphed. It is an era marked by sensationalism, spectacle, and wit. Fashions changed, as they often do, and in the passing centuries excess and romance were followed by puritanism and skepticism, flights of fancy were replaced by realism, and back again, depending on the tastes of the time. In the late 15th century, European theatrical styles spread to the New World and evolved there too. Innovation led to variation and now theatre is as diverse as its audiences!