by Linda Ann Nickerson

Created on: April 27, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Throughout Western history, theater and religion have been closely linked in somewhat of a love-hate relationship.

Initially, pagan Greek tragedies and Roman theater paved the way for dramatic expression.

During the Middle Ages, ironically, the church experienced a resurgence of drama. Passion plays and religious reenactments were added to the masses, Although dialogue was brief and in Latin, these simple dramas added greatly to the congregants' understanding of biblical truth.

Eventually, these miracle-plays made their way outside the church walls to street fairs, field gatherings, and public-houses.

By the dawn of the Renaissance, drama was growing secularized again. William Shakespeare and other dramatists drew raucous crowds to hear bawdy performances. Free-standing theaters and playhouses were constructed all over Europe. The theater was reborn.

When the New World was discovered and colonized, it was some time before theater planted solid roots in America's soil. As the states were born, classical and patriotic productions began to occur.

Within a century, the American theater was thriving, but it was entirely secular. Live dramas, circuses, vaudeville, and musicals set the stage for what was to come in Hollywood the motion picture industry.

Interestingly, by the 1960s and 1970s, with various factions clamoring for attention, religious-themed theater reemerged. In 1973, both GODSPELL and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR reexamined Christianity through pop-culture lenses.

Today, in the 21st century, although secular theater is thriving, drama is returning to the church as well. Visit any contemporary church on any given Sunday, and you might witness a skit, a reenactment, or even a full-blown pageant.

Has history come around again?

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