On the Origins and Practice of the Dramatic Arts in Tamriel - Introduction

[My first attempt at a lore entry, so I apologize if it's bad. Generally vague because I'm going to be making each province's thing up as I go along]

On the Origins and Practice of the Dramatic Arts in Tamriel

By Tessius Greerus, Guildmaster of the Imperial City Actor's Guild

3E 432

Good fortunate find all those who read these pages. My name is Guildmaster Greerus of the Imperial City Actor’s Guild, the largest and oldest of Tamriel’s many guilds devoted to the creation and performance of theatre. Theatre is a powerful tool in this world. It can move us to laughter, or bring us to tears. It can start revolts, inspire change. In these pages, the result of years of study and travel throughout Tamriel, I will explore the origins of the types of theatrical performances found throughout the Empire. The forms of theatre in Tamriel are as unique and varied as its inhabitants, and in subsequent chapters I shall delve into the specific forms practiced in each province.

Theatre is certainly as old as mortality itself. For as we are finite, we yearn to be remembered, and thus, we pass on stories to our descendants, who pass those same stories on to theirs. A story told around a cookfire, accompanied by gesture and mimicry, is theatre. However, as with many things, it is from the Ayleids, those ancient Elves of the first ever empire, whence came the origins of what is now the common idea of theatre. These performances have their origins as one of the many features of the Festival of Mara, where the Ayleids would gather to worship the Fertility Goddess and pray for a bountiful harvest. Once Daedra-worship took hold amongst the Wild Elves, this event was corrupted into the Festival Sanguine, and Sanguine is still considered by some to be the ‘patron’ of theatre.

The performances were comprised of chanting choruses, adorned in masques, who would in unison recite poetic stories of tragedy and heroism, with occasional monologue by one chorus member. It was after the fall of the Ayleids that the forms of Comedy and Tragedy began to appear, and distinct characters were developed. This will be covered more in depth in chapter on Cyrodiilic theatre.

Theatre today spans various forms and is performed in all types of spaces. From the humble, such as the pageant wagons that ferry troupes around the villages and cities of Cyrodiil and the forest clearings used for performances in Valenwood, to the fantastic, such as the great forums of Alinor and the large, balcony-adorned indoor theatres favored in High Rock.

Theatre is more than just pastime, it gives us understanding. Of our history, our present, ourselves, and the divine and arcane mysteries that surround our very being. I hope through reading the chapters within this work, you come to hold a greater appreciation of our craft.