Theatre of the Ancient Maya

Abstract

T heatre historians are wont to locate the start of Western Theatre in Greece. Tracing its course from there to the present day, they give considerable attention to Rome, England, Italy, France, Russia, Scandinavia, Ireland, and the United States; and they make appropriate glances eastward to note Oriental influence on the theatre of the West. However inclusive this survey is intended to be, there is at least one Western theatre that the historians consistently overlook. This is the theatre of the Mayan Civilization, one that antedates any other in the Western world by hundreds of years.