In the western world theatres have been closed for various reasons at different times in history. People in the Caribbean have had the experience of exactly what that feels like over the past two years with the kind compliments of the shutdowns forced by the Coronavirus pandemic. The world is now slowly reopening bit by bit including theatres, but in Guyana there is a threat they might not really reopen at all.
Throughout the history of drama in the west there have been major periods of forced closure of theatres. In Greece, in the Classical era, theatre faced its first crisis when it declined and suffered closure in the fifth century AD. This accompanied the fall of the Classical period itself at the decline of the Roman Empire. But it was also hastened by the disapproval of the Roman Catholic Church. The great theologian St Augustine was theatre’s strongest critic, condemned it in his writings and rejoiced that it was crumbling. There was no western stage for quite a stretch in the Middle Ages – no wonder it is referred to as the Dark Ages.
