Through their singing and dancing, the people of the Dionysian cult would tell stories. It was very much a group event with everyone acting as a chorus . . . until one day a man named Thespis stepped out of the chorus and took on the role of a character. He became the first actor and the first playwright.
From that point on, things began to change. Instead of just telling about a story, the idea of physically enacting the story became popular.
In 534 BC, theater was integrated into a festival that was influenced by the followers of Dionysus. The Dionysian Festival allowed theater to participate as a sort of competitive event. The Greeks were very competitive by nature.
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