Egypt.. Home to Ancient Greek Theatre Performances

Ancient Greek theatre began in Alexandria during the Graeco-Roman period in Egypt. The Greeks introduced their theatrical traditions through performances which usually took place at Ptolemaic princes’ palaces and courtyards until Roman- style theatres started to be built in Egypt like the Roman theatre which was discovered in 1964 in Alexandria.

Recent studies revealed that Ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to ever perform shows publicly according to the discovered documents that contained more than 12 scripted plays dating back to the middle ages till the Persian era in Egypt.

Ancient Greek theatre

The scripts were mostly inspired by the pharaonic mythology and religious rituals ceremonies and moral lessons.

Example of theses scripts were “Isis and seven scorpions” and ” the triumph of Horus” and all the texts included instructions for the actors and actresses on how to act properly on the stage.

During the French campaign in Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte established a theatre for entertaining his soldiers and it mostly introduced comedian plays in French then after the French campaign left Egypt.

Roman Theatre

The theatre activities stopped in 1869 when Khepe Ismail built khepial Opera House in Attaba Square. In 19th century, theatre started to be popular among Egyptians who became familiar with theatre art, another form of storytelling performances called public theatre started to spread throughout Cairo’s streets.

Egyptian theatre began with shadow play and puppetry which was known during the Mamluk era then contemporary theatre started to appear in Egypt in 1876.

Roman Theatre Performances

Another famous figurers who influenced the theatre in Egypt were Marun and Salim El-Naqqash as they visited Alexandria at that time and introduced their performances to Egyptians and helped them to translate.