The ancient Greek theatre (lit. ^{[Note: literally, literature.]} ‘a place of spectacle,’ ‘a beholding place’) was regularly a building of semicircular ground-plan, open to the sky. On the diameter were the stage and everything pertaining to it. The inner part of the semicircle below the level of the stage had an altar in the middle on which incense was burnt. Around this central part the tiers of stone seats rose to the top, intersected at regular intervals by passages to enable the spectators to reach their places. The entrances for spectators were at the ends of the stage. In origin theatrical exhibitions were in honour of the god Dionysos, and were held only on the days of his festivals. Attendance at the theatre on such occasions was an act of worship. Only in course of time did the theatre become a place of amusement entirely, divorced from all connexion with religion. The size of a theatre varied according to the size of the population of the city in which it was. As a general rule it was of necessity the largest building in the city, and, as on most days of the year it was not required for play-acting, it was available for public meetings. In Athens the meetings of the public assembly (ἐκκλησία) took place in the theatre. So at Ephesus (Acts 19), when the disturbance aroused by Demetrius took place, it was the most natural thing in the world that a rush should be made to the theatre (v. 29).

Literature.-A. E. Haigh, The Attic Theatre², ed. A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, Oxford, 1907.

A. Souter.

Bibliography Information
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Theatre'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/t/theatre.html. 1906-1918.

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Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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Theatre