People who act in plays, movies, radio, or TV are actors or actresses. They pretend to be someone else. They can show us real people or make-believe people. In the old days, like when Shakespeare wrote plays, only men could act. Now, both men and women can be actors. Women started acting in plays in England a long time ago. A long, long time ago, in a place called Greece, there was the first actor. His name was Thespis. Before him, people would only sing or dance to tell stories. He was the first person to talk as a part of the story. Now, we sometimes call actors "thespians" because of him.

A long time ago, people got their news by talking to each other. This was before papers and computers. Sailors and travelers would tell people what they saw and heard when they were away. This news was not always right. Later, a place called Venice made something like a paper. It was written by hand. People could buy it with a coin called a gazzetta. This was back in the year 1556. The paper told them about important things happening, like wars and what leaders were doing. But this old paper was not like the papers we have today. It was just for some people, not everyone. In England, France, and Spain, they had papers too. They told stories about big events. But it was still not like the papers we read now. Our kind of paper started around the year 1601. It had a lot of different news and was for everybody.

A play is like a story acted out by people in front of others. People who make plays are called playwrights. Plays are shown in big places in London or New York and also in small theaters and schools. A play is for watching, not just reading. Some writers don't mind if you watch or read their play. Some plays are funny and make people laugh. They have jokes and silly characters. William Shakespeare wrote a funny play called "A Midsummer Night's Dream." There is also a funny play now called "The Book of Mormon." There are very silly funny plays called farces. They have lots of jokes and people falling over. Shakespeare wrote a farce called "The Comedy of Errors." Some plays are funny but also talk about real things, like politics. They make fun of problems. A play called "The Government Inspector" by Nikolai Gogol does this. Long ago, there were special funny plays after a big war in England. They are old but some people still like them.