Definition and Beginnings of Theatre Arts
Theatre or theater is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion. By this broad definition, theatre had existed since the dawn of man, as a result of the human tendency for storytelling. Since its inception, theatre has come to take on many forms, utilizing speech, gesture, music, dance, and spectacle, combining the other performing arts, often as well as the visual arts, into a single artistic form.
The word theatre means "place for seeing". The first recorded theatrical event was a performance of the sacred plays of the myth of Osiris and Isis in 2500 BC in Egypt. This story of the god Osiris was performed annually at festivals throughout the civilization, marking the beginning of a long relationship between theatre and religion.

Elements and Principle of Theatre Arts
There are six elements necessary for theatre: Plot, Character, Idea, Language, Music, and Spectacle.
Script/Text, Scenario, Plan: This is the starting point of the theatrical performance. The element most often considered as the domain of the playwright in theatre. The playwright’s script is the text by which theatre is created. It can be simplistic, as in the 16thcentury, with the scenarios used by the acting troupes of the Commedia dell’ arte, or it can be elaborate, such as the works of William Shakespeare. The script, scenario, or plan is what the director uses as a blue print to build a production from.

The Process:
This is the coordination of the creative efforts usually headed up in theatre by the director. It is the pure process by which the playwright’s work is brought to realization by the director, actors, designers, technicians, dancers, musicians, and any other collaborators that come together on the script, scenario, or plan. This is the works in progress stage. The Product:
This is the end result of the process of work involved. The final product that results from all of the labors coming together to complete the finished work of script, scenario, and plan, in union with all of the collaborators in the process to create the final product. This is what the audience will witness as they sit in the theatre and view the work. The Audience:
Theatre requires an audience. For all of the arts public is essential. The physical presence of an audience can change a performance, inspire actors, and create expectations. Theatre is a living breathing art form. The presence of live actors on the stage in front of live audiences sets it apart from modern day films and television.

Evolution of Theatre Arts
The ancient Greeks began formalizing theatre as an art, developing strict definitions of tragedy and comedy as well as other forms, including satyr plays. Like the religious plays of ancient Egypt, Greek plays made use of mythological characters. The Greeks also developed the concepts of dramatic criticism, acting as a career, and theatre architecture. In the modern world these works have been adapted and interpreted in thousands of different ways in order to serve the needs of the time. Examples are offered by Antigone, used in 1944 by Anouilh to make a statement about the Nazi occupation of France, and by Brecht in 1948, likening Creon to Hitler and Thebes to defeated Germany. The theatre masks of Greek performance became widely adopted in first- and second-century Rome as a decorative theme, both within the home and in public spaces, and representations of two of the forms, of comedy and tragedy, came to stand for the theatre itself: a symbol that survives today.
Western theatre continued to develop under the Roman Empire, in medieval England, and continued to thrive, taking on many alternate forms in Spain, Italy, France, and Russia in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The general trend over the centuries was away from the poetic drama of the Greeks and the Renaissance and toward a more realistic style, especially following the Industrial Revolution. A uniquely North American theatre developed with the colonization of the new world.
The history of Eastern theatre is traced back to 1000 BC with the Sanskrit drama of ancient Indian theatre. Chinese theatre also dates back to around the same time. Japanese forms of Kabuki,Noh, and Kyogen date back to the 17th century AD. Other Eastern forms were developed throughout China, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
The most popular forms of theatre in the medieval Islamic world were puppet theatre (which included hand puppets, shadow plays and marionette productions) and live passion plays known as ta'ziya, where actors re-enact episodes from Muslim history. In particular, Shia Islamic plays revolved around the shaheed (martyrdom) of Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali. Live secular plays were known as akhraja, recorded in medieval adab literature, though they were less common than puppetry and ta'ziya theatre.

Philippine Theatre Arts
In many forms, theater was and still an effective medium to promote social awareness, as a means of entertainment and a liberal way to express one’s opinion. Most places in the Philippines have their own town fiestas flaunted with festivities and shows. During holy week, people stage the cenaculo- a theatrical presentation of the passion of Christ, and the moro-moro orcomedia that relates to Christian and Muslim conflict. Some towns perform zarzuela, a Philippine version of Spanish light operetta, others present their poetic debate called duplo and karagatans. Another theatre form, the carillo, a shadow drama is usually shown after harvest. Cavite has Sanghiyang, Batangas has Subli and Laguna presents their Turumba and Pasyon. These traditional plays exemplify the union of folk religion and Catholicism.
On the first Sunday of January, Marinduque present its Three Kings’ Pageant and during the Lenten season, the same town performs its famous Moriones Festival. In the streets of Baliwag, Bulacan and Kawit, Cavite, Panunuluyan is staged on Christmas eve- a re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s struggling search for shelter for the birth of Christ.