An Argument with the Gods

I remember reading about the history of theatre. There was a feisty camp who argued that theatre's roots were in dance and ritual. However, a second camp said no to that! They argued that although theatrical performance might borrow some techniques from dance and ritual, its motive, its reason was diametrically opposed.

Dance and especially ritual, they said, worked to imbed superstitions and beliefs - theatre, they argued, challenged and confronted all of that. And, that that challenge demanded a shift in consciousness, a self-consciousness - an argument with the "gods".