In November 1991, some of the students who would become professors within the Section of Classical Studies staged an original play at the commemorative ceremony of the consecration of the Old Cathedral of Coimbra. The text, titled “Old Cathedral – Living Stones,” was authored by Delfim Leão. This first initiative would undergo an important advance in March 1992, when 4th year undergraduate students organised a conference on "Love since classical antiquity." There, part of Plautus’s “The Swaggering Soldier” was presented, staged by C. A. Louro Fonseca, who also authored the Portuguese version of the comedy. The project was resumed only in 1996 with the shooting in Conimbriga of the video version of Aristophanes's comedy "Women in Parliament," under the direction of Delfim Leão. There, the project could take advantage of the privileged archaeological site. The next step was the staging of Gil Vicente’s "Act of the Soul" (1997) by José Luís Brandão, which integrated the programme of the international congress "Graeco-Latin Rhetoric and Its Perpetuity," organised by the Institute of Classical Studies. Following these activities, the existence of the group was formalised. Since then, Thíasos has presented Plautus's “Epidicus" (1998), staged by Paulo Sérgio Ferreira, “The Heraclidae" of Euripides (2001) by Delfim Leão, and “The Host" of Plautus (2002), by Victor Torres. To commemorate the 2500 years since the birth of Sophocles, his “Trachiniae" (2003) was staged by Delfim Leão, while "Martial in Scene Costumes" (2004) and “Theocritus and Virgil" (2005) were adapted by Carlos de Jesus and Carla Brás. Other stagings include:
- Aristophanes’s "Women in Parliament" (2005) by José Luís Brandão;
- Euripides’s "The Suppliants" (2006) by Carlos de Jesus and Carla Brás;
- Aeschylus’s "Agamemnon" (2007) by Lia Nunes;
- Aristophanes’s “The Wasps" (2008) by Carlos de Jesus;
- Plautus’s "Poenulus" (2009) by José Luís Brandão;
- Euripides’s “Hippolytus" (2010) by Carlos de Jesus;
- Terentius’s "Hecyra” (2011) by José Luís Brandão;
- Aeschylus’s “The Suppliants” (2012) by Lia Nunes;
- Aristophanes’s “Lysistrata" (2013) by Elizabete Cação;
- Euripides’s “Andromache" (2014) by João Baptista;
- Aristophanes’s “The Frogs" (2015) by Ricardo Acácio;
- Aeschylus’s "Prometheus Bound" (2016) by António Gil Cucu;
- Plautus’s “The Casket Comedy” (2017) by Cátia Alves Coelho and Diogo Ribeirinha;
- Euripides’s “Hecuba" (2018) by Cátia Alves Coelho and lara Paz;
- Euripides’s “Medea” (2018) by Cláudio Castro Filho;
- Plautus’s “The Swaggering Soldier" (2019) by José Luís Brandão.
Thíasos has also staged one of Horatius’s satires – “The Poet and the Bore” (2001) – adapted by Rui Henriques, and Gil Vicente’s “Monologue of the Cowherd” (2001), by Nuno Gertrudes.
The emergence of the Association for Promoting Classical Theatre FESTEA, operating since 1998 but only formalised in 2003 (which Thíasos promotes), marked the start of Thíasos’s periodic participation in two annual festivals: the School Festival of Classical Theatre and the International Summer Festival of Classical Theatre. Touring the country with its productions, Thíasos also had the possibility to present its work to foreign audiences. It visited Segobriga (XVII European Youth Greek-Roman Festival of Segobriga) in 2000, returning there in 2001 (XVIII European Youth Greek-Roman Festival of Segobriga). Other destinations include Italy (XVI Rassegna Internazionale del Teatro Classico Antico - 2001), Mérida (2002), Puerto de Santa Maria (2004) and Tours (2004), Nantes (2005), Malaga (2008), Madrid (2012), Sagunto (Ludi Saguntini 2014, 2015, and 2016), and Millau (Ludi Condatomagi 2015).
At the same time, the group has collaborated in cultural events with the presentation of poetry recitals (not exclusively of classical themes). This proved to be a winning strategy. The three shows on Portuguese poetry throughout the ages, hosted at the Joanine Library (2004), the recital honouring Sophia de Mello Breyner (2005), and the recital of Christmas poems (2005) are some examples of such recitals. A more recent recital would be “Wine is the Mirror of the Soul”, held at the Wine Museum, Anadia (2012) and by the Mondego river in Coimbra (2014).
With over 25 years of work, having faced some difficulties typical of a university group along the way, Thíasos stands firm in its mission to introduce classical theatre, as well as its enduring lessons to a wider, contemporary audience.