Nowadays we think of a play as something that, almost by definition, is performed at night, unless it’s a “matinee.” Until I read Mary Renault’s novel The Mask of Apollo, it never really sunk in, to me, that in ancient Greece, plays were always performed in the daytime. How else, in a roofless outdoor theater, with no illumination available but torches?
When did that change? Were Shakespeare’s plays at the Globe performed during the day? I’m pretty sure Lincoln was assassinated, attending a play, in the evening.
Well, the word “limelight” date from 1803; limelights were used to light the stage.
I doubt that was the first time a play was done at night. According to this page, candles were used to light stages in Italy starting around 1545. It possible that some of Shakespeare’s plays were originally performed in the evening (it would make sense to try, since people had little else to do after dark).
I just toured the New Globe Theater in London last week. The tour guides said the plays in Shakespeare’s day were always daytime events. The theater district then and there was not a safe place to be after dark, among other things.
For the same reason you go to see movies in the evening, have dinners at restaurants, and attend symphonies at night. It’s an evening out. Most people able to afford a typical theatre ticket usually work during the day and don’t attend matinees (which is a shame, because they’re all equally good performances, but there you have it).
