March 27: World Theatre Day

The most famous love story of all time started out as a Greek myth: “Pyramos and Thisbe”.  Since then, it’s retold and reinterpreted, from Shakespearean tragedy to modern musicals. The love between Pyramos and Thisbe, or Romeo and Juliet, or Tony and Maria, is forbidden, because of an ancient feud. So, they decide to elope. The girl will wait for the boy, but when he arrives at the designated spot, a series of unfortunate circumstances leads him to believe that his sweetheart is no longer alive. In desperation, he makes an end to his life too, and when the girl later finds his body, she chooses to join him in death. United in grief, their families reconcile, and bury them together. The End. Curtain. And applause. Which is a custom that dates back to Roman times, when playwrights wrote under their piece: “Applaude!” (“Clap your hands!)” Everything was a contest in these days, and no applause meant no new assignments. Remarkably, millennia later, crowds still burst into applause, laughter or cheering, when instructed to do so.

Pyramus and Thisbe, fresco, Pompeï, House of Loreius Tiburtinus

Thisbe, John William Waterhouse, private collection