|
|
Article: Acting through the ages: "all the world's a stage ...".
- Article from:
- Appleseeds
- Article date:
- May 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Who is your favorite thespian? That's a hard question, unless you know that thespian is another name for actor. The name honors the first known actor and playwright, the Greek poet Thespis, who lived about 2,500 years ago.
Although stories had been told for thousands of years with dance, song, and poetry, Thespis came up with something different. Instead of simply telling his story, he acted out the part of a character. By "becoming the character he was telling about, Thespis invented acting.
As Thespis continued acting, he performed plays with parts for more than one character. Using different masks, he played all the characters himself, including ...