History of Theatre

History of theatre
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Performer playing Sugriva in the Koodiyattam form of Sanskrit theatre
Hannah Pritchard as Lady Macbeth and David Garrick as Macbeth at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in April 1768
Symbolist Shakespeare at the MAT: Edward Gordon Craig's 1908 design for his collaboration withKonstantin
Stanislavski, the MAT production of Hamlet(191112)
The history of theatre charts the development of theatre over the past 2,500 years. While
performative elements are present in every society, it is customary to acknowledge a distinction
between theatre as anart form and entertainment and theatrical or performative elements in other
activities. The history of theatre is primarily concerned with the origin and subsequent development
of the theatre as an autonomous activity. Since classical Athens in the 6th century BC, vibrant
traditions of theatre have flourished in cultures across the world. [1]
Contents
[hide]
1 Origins
2 Western tradition
2.1 Greek theatre
2.2 Roman theatre
2.3 Transition and early Medieval theatre, 5001050
2.4 High and late Medieval theatre, 10501500
2.5 Commedia dell'arte
2.6 Golden age theatre
2.7 Renaissance theatre
2.8 Restoration comedy
2.9 Restoration spectacular
2.10 Neoclassical theatre
2.11 Nineteenth-century theatre
2.12 Twentieth-century theatre
3 African theatre
o
3.1 Ancient Egyptian quasi-theatrical events
3.2 Yoruba theatre
4 Asian theatre
o
4.1 Indian theatre
4.1.1 Overview of Indian theatre
4.1.2 Sanskrit theatre
4.1.3 Rural Indian theatre
4.1.4 Kathakali
4.1.5 Modern Indian theatre
4.1.6 21st Century Indian theatre
4.2 Chinese theatre
4.2.1 Shang theatre
4.2.2 Han and Tang theatre
4.2.3 Song and Yuan theatre
4.3 Philippine theatre
4.4 Thai theatre
4.5 Khmer and Malay theatre
4.6 Japanese theatre
4.6.1 Noh
4.6.2 Bunraku
4.6.3 Kabuki
4.6.4 Butoh
5 Medieval Islamic theatre
6 See also
7 Notes
8 Sources
9 External links
Origins[edit]
Theatre probably arose as a performance of ritual activities that did not require initiation on the part
of the spectator. This similarity of early theatre to ritual is negatively attested by Aristotle, who in
his Poetics defined theatre in contrast to the performances of sacred mysteries: theatre did not
require the spectator to fast, drink the kykeon, or march in a procession; however theatre did
resemble the sacred mysteries in the sense that it brought purification and healing to the spectator
by means of a vision, the theama. The physical location of such performances was accordingly
named theatron.[2]
According to the historians Oscar Brockett and Franklin Hildy, rituals typically include elements that
entertain or give pleasure, such as costumes and masks as well as skilled performers. As societies
grew more complex, these spectacular elements began to be acted out under non-ritualistic
conditions. As this occurred, the first steps towards theatre as an autonomous activity were being
taken.[3]
Western tradition[edit]
Greek theatre[edit]
The best-preserved example of a classical Greek theatre, the Theatre of Epidaurus, has a circularorchstra and
probably gives the best idea of the original shape of the Athenian theatre, though it dates from the 4th century BC.[4]
Main articles: Theatre of Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek comedy and Satyr play
Greek theatre, most developed in Athens, is the root of the Western tradition; theatre is in origin a
Greek word. It was part of a broader culture of theatricality and performance in classical Greece that
includedfestivals, religious rituals, politics, law, athletics and gymnastics, music, poetry, weddings,
funerals, and symposia.[5] Participation in the city-state's many festivalsand attendance at the City
Dionysia as an audience member (or even as a participant in the theatrical productions) in particular
was an important part of citizenship.[6] Civic participation also involved the evaluation of
the rhetoric of orators evidenced in performances in the law-court or political assembly, both of
which were understood as analogous to the theatre and increasingly came to absorb its dramatic
vocabulary.[7] The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three types of drama: tragedy, comedy, and
the satyr play.[8]
Athenian tragedythe oldest surviving form of tragedyis a type of dance-drama that formed an
important part of the theatrical culture of the city-state. [9] Having emerged sometime during the 6th
century BC, it flowered during the 5th century BC (from the end of which it began to spread
throughout the Greek world) and continued to be popular until the beginning of the Hellenistic period.
[10]
No tragedies from the 6th century and only 32 of the more than a thousand that were performed in
during the 5th century have survived.[11] We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles,
and Euripides.[12] The origins of tragedy remain obscure, though by the 5th century it
was institutionalised in competitions (agon) held as part of festivities
celebrating Dionysos (the god of wine and fertility).[13] As contestants in the City Dionysia's
competition (the most prestigious of the festivals to stage drama), playwrights were required to
present a tetralogy of plays (though the individual works were not necessarily connected by story or
theme), which usually consisted of three tragedies and one satyr play.[14] The performance of
tragedies at the City Dionysia may have begun as early as 534 BC; official records (didaskaliai)
begin from 501 BC, when the satyr play was introduced.[15] Most Athenian tragedies dramatise events
from Greek mythology, though The Persianswhich stages the Persian response to news of their
military defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCis the notable exception in the surviving drama.
[16]
When Aeschylus won first prize for it at the City Dionysia in 472 BC, he had been writing tragedies
for more than 25 years, yet its tragic treatment of recent history is the earliest example of drama to
survive.[17] More than 130 years later, the philosopher Aristotle analysed 5th-century Athenian tragedy
in the oldest surviving work of dramatic theoryhis Poetics (c. 335 BC). Athenian comedy is
conventionally divided into three periods, "Old Comedy", "Middle Comedy", and "New Comedy". Old
Comedy survives today largely in the form of the eleven surviving plays ofAristophanes, while Middle
Comedy is largely lost (preserved only in relatively short fragments in authors such as Athenaeus of
Naucratis). New Comedy is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of plays
by Menander. Aristotle defined comedy as a representation of laughable people that involves some
kind of error or ugliness that does not cause pain or destruction.[18]
Roman theatre[edit]
Roman theatre at Orange, France
Main article: Theatre of ancient Rome

Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans. The Roman
historian Livy wrote that the Romans first experienced theatre in the 4th century BC, with a
performance by Etruscanactors.[19] Beacham argues that Romans had been familiar with "pretheatrical practices" for some time before that recorded contact. [20] The theatre of ancient Rome was
a thriving and diverse art form, ranging from festival performances of street theatre, nude dancing,
and acrobatics, to the staging of Plautus's broadly appealing situation comedies, to the high-style,
verbally elaborate tragedies of Seneca. Although Rome had a native tradition of performance,
the Hellenization of Roman culture in the 3rd century BC had a profound and energizing effect on
Roman theatre and encouraged the development of Latin literature of the highest quality for the
stage.
Following the expansion of the Roman Republic (50927 BC) into several Greek territories between
270240 BC, Rome encountered Greek drama.[21] From the later years of the republic and by means
of theRoman Empire (27 BC-476 AD), theatre spread west across Europe, around the
Mediterranean and reached England; Roman theatre was more varied, extensive and sophisticated
than that of any culture before it.[22] While Greek drama continued to be performed throughout the
Roman period, the year 240 BC marks the beginning of regular Roman drama. [23] From the beginning
of the empire, however, interest in full-length drama declined in favour of a broader variety of
theatrical entertainments.[24]
The first important works of Roman literature were the tragedies and comedies that Livius
Andronicus wrote from 240 BC.[25] Five years later, Gnaeus Naevius also began to write drama.[25] No
plays from either writer have survived. While both dramatists composed in both genres, Andronicus
was most appreciated for his tragedies and Naevius for his comedies; their successors tended to
specialise in one or the other, which led to a separation of the subsequent development of each type
of drama.[25] By the beginning of the 2nd century BC, drama was firmly established in Rome and
a guild of writers (collegium poetarum) had been formed.[26]
The Roman comedies that have survived are all fabula palliata (comedies based on Greek subjects)
and come from two dramatists: Titus Maccius Plautus (Plautus) and Publius Terentius
Afer (Terence).[27] In re-working the Greek originals, the Roman comic dramatists abolished the role
of the chorus in dividing the drama into episodes and introduced musical accompaniment to
its dialogue (between one-third of the dialogue in the comedies of Plautus and two-thirds in those of
Terence).[28] The action of all scenes is set in the exterior location of a street and its complications
often follow from eavesdropping.[28] Plautus, the more popular of the two, wrote between 205 and 184
BC and twenty of his comedies survive, of which his farces are best known; he was admired for
the wit of his dialogue and his use of a variety of poetic meters.[29] All of the six comedies that
Terence wrote between 166 and 160 BC have survived; the complexity of his plots, in which he often
combined several Greek originals, was sometimes denounced, but his double-plots enabled a
sophisticated presentation of contrasting human behaviour.[29]
No early Roman tragedy survives, though it was highly regarded in its day; historians know of three
early tragediansQuintus Ennius, Marcus Pacuvius and Lucius Accius.[28] From the time of the
empire, the work of two tragedians survivesone is an unknown author, while the other is the Stoic
philosopher Seneca.[30] Nine of Seneca's tragedies survive, all of which are fabula
crepidata (tragedies adapted from Greek originals); his Phaedra, for example, was based
on Euripides' Hippolytus.[31] Historians do not know who wrote the only extant example of the fabula
praetexta (tragedies based on Roman subjects), Octavia, but in former times it was mistakenly
attributed to Seneca due to his appearance as a character in the tragedy.[30]
Transition and early Medieval theatre, 5001050[edit]

Main article: Medieval theatre
As the Western Roman Empire fell into decay through the 4th and 5th centuries, the seat of Roman
power shifted to Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire, today called the Byzantine Empire.
While surviving evidence about Byzantine theatre is slight, existing records show
that mime, pantomime, scenes or recitations from tragedies and comedies, dances, and other
entertainments were very popular. Constantinople had two theatres that were in use as late as the
5th century.[32] However, the true importance of the Byzantines in theatrical history is their
preservation of many classical Greek texts and the compilation of a massive encyclopedia called
the Suda, from which is derived a large amount of contemporary information on Greek theatre.
From the 5th century, Western Europe was plunged into a period of general disorder that lasted (with
a brief period of stability under the Carolingian Empire in the 9th century) until the 10th century. As
such, most organized theatrical activities disappeared inWestern Europe. While it seems that small
nomadic bands traveled around Europe throughout the period, performing wherever they could find
an audience, there is no evidence that they produced anything but crude scenes. [33] These
performers were denounced by the Church during the Dark Ages as they were viewed as dangerous
and pagan.
Hrosvitha of Gandersheim, the first dramatist of the post-classical era.
By the Early Middle Ages, churches in Europe began staging dramatized versions of particular
biblical events on specific days of the year. These dramatizations were included in order to vivify
annual celebrations.[34] Symbolic objects and actions vestments, altars, censers,
and pantomime performed by priests recalled the events which Christian ritual celebrates. These
were extensive sets of visual signs that could be used to communicate with a largely illiterate
audience. These performances developed into liturgical dramas, the earliest of which is the Whom
do you Seek (Quem-Quaeritis) Easter trope, dating from ca. 925.[34] Liturgical drama was sung
responsively by two groups and did not involve actors impersonating characters. However, sometime
between 965 and 975, thelwold of Winchester composed the Regularis Concordia (Monastic
Agreement) which contains a playlet complete with directions for performance.[35]
Hrosvitha (c.935973), a canoness in northern Germany, wrote six plays modeled on Terence's
comedies but using religious subjects. These six plays Abraham, Callimachus, Dulcitius,
Gallicanus, Paphnutius, and Sapientia are the first known plays composed by a female dramatist
and the first identifiable Western dramatic works of the post-classical era. [35] They were first published
in 1501 and had considerable influence on religious and didactic plays of the sixteenth century.
Hrosvitha was followed by Hildegard of Bingen (d. 1179), a Benedictine abbess, who wrote
a Latin musical drama called Ordo Virtutum in 1155.
High and late Medieval theatre, 10501500[edit]
Stage drawing from 15th-century vernacularmorality play The Castle of Perseverance.
Main article: Medieval theatre

As the Viking invasions ceased in the middle of the 11th century, liturgical drama had spread
from Russia to Scandinavia to Italy. Only in Muslim-occupied Spain were liturgical dramas not
presented at all. Despite the large number of liturgical dramas that have survived from the period,
many churches would have only performed one or two per year and a larger number never
performed any at all.[36]
The Feast of Fools was especially important in the development of comedy. The festival inverted the
status of the lesser clergy and allowed them to ridicule their superiors and the routine of church life.
Sometimes plays were staged as part of the occasion and a certain amount
of burlesque and comedy crept into these performances. Although comic episodes had to truly wait
until the separation of drama from the liturgy, the Feast of Fools undoubtedly had a profound effect
on the development of comedy in both religious and secular plays.[37]
Performance of religious plays outside of the church began sometime in the 12th century through a
traditionally accepted process of merging shorter liturgical dramas into longer plays which were then
translated into vernacular and performed by laymen. The Mystery of Adam (1150) gives credence to
this theory as its detailed stage direction suggest that it was staged outdoors. A number of other
plays from the period survive, including La Seinte Resurrection (Norman), The Play of the Magi
Kings (Spanish), and Sponsus (French).
The importance of the High Middle Ages in the development of theatre was
the economic and political changes that led to the formation of guilds and the growth of towns. This
would lead to significant changes in the Late Middle Ages. In the British Isles, plays were produced
in some 127 different towns during the Middle Ages. These vernacular Mystery plays were written in
cycles of a large number of plays: York (48 plays), Chester (24), Wakefield (32) and Unknown (42). A
larger number of plays survive from France and Germany in this period and some type of religious
dramas were performed in nearly every European country in the Late Middle Ages. Many of these
plays contained comedy, devils, villains and clowns.[38]
The majority of actors in these plays were drawn from the local population. For example,
at Valenciennes in 1547, more than 100 roles were assigned to 72 actors.[39] Plays were staged
on pageant wagon stages, which were platforms mounted on wheels used to move scenery. Often
providing their own costumes, amateur performers in England were exclusively male, but other
countries had female performers. The platform stage, which was an unidentified space and not a
specific locale, allowed for abrupt changes in location.
Morality plays emerged as a distinct dramatic form around 1400 and flourished until 1550. The most
interesting morality play is The Castle of Perseverance which depicts mankind's progress from birth
to death. However, the most famous morality play and perhaps best known medieval drama
is Everyman. Everyman receives Death's summons, struggles to escape and finally resigns himself
to necessity. Along the way, he is deserted by Kindred, Goods, and Fellowship only Good
Deeds goes with him to the grave.
There were also a number of secular performances staged in the Middle Ages, the earliest of which
is The Play of the Greenwood by Adam de la Halle in 1276. It contains satirical scenes
and folk material such as faeries and other supernatural occurrences. Farcesalso rose dramatically
in popularity after the 13th century. The majority of these plays come from France and Germany and
are similar in tone and form, emphasizing sex and bodily excretions.[40] The best known playwright of
farces is Hans Sachs (14941576) who wrote 198 dramatic works. In England, The Second
Shepherds' Play of the Wakefield Cycle is the best known early farce. However, farce did not appear
independently in England until the 16th century with the work of John Heywood (14971580).
A significant forerunner of the development of Elizabethan drama was the Chambers of Rhetoric in
the Low Countries.[41] These societies were concerned with poetry, music and drama and held
contests to see which society could compose the best drama in relation to a question posed.
At the end of the Late Middle Ages, professional actors began to appear
in England and Europe. Richard III and Henry VII both maintained small companies of professional
actors. Their plays were performed in the Great Hall of a nobleman's residence, often with a raised
platform at one end for the audience and a "screen" at the other for the actors. Also important
were Mummers' plays, performed during the Christmas season, and court masques. These masques
were especially popular during the reign of Henry VIII who had a House of Revels built and an Office
of Revels established in 1545.[42]
The end of medieval drama came about due to a number of factors, including the weakening power
of the Catholic Church, the Protestant Reformation and the banning of religious plays in many
countries. Elizabeth I forbid all religious plays in 1558 and the great cycle plays had been silenced
by the 1580s. Similarly, religious plays were banned in the Netherlands in 1539, the Papal States in
1547 and in Paris in 1548. The abandonment of these plays destroyed the international theatre that
had thereto existed and forced each country to develop its own form of drama. It also allowed
dramatists to turn to secular subjects and the reviving interest in Greek and Roman theatre provided
them with the perfect opportunity.[42]
Commedia dell'arte[edit]
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removed. (April 2011)
The greedy, high-status Pantalonecommedia dell'artemasked character.
Main article: Commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell'arte troupes performed lively improvisational playlets across Europe for centuries. It
originated in Italy in the 1560s. Commedia dell'arte was an actor-centred theatre, requiring little
scenery and very few props. Plays did not originate from written drama but from scenarios
called lazzi, which were loose frameworks that provided the situations, complications, and outcome
of the action, around which the actors would improvise. The plays utilised stock characters, which
could be divided into three groups: the lovers, the masters, and the servants. The lovers had
different names and characteristics in most plays and often were the children of the master. The role
of master was normally based on one of three stereotypes: Pantalone, an elderly Venetian
merchant; Dottore, Pantalone's friend or rival, a pedantic doctor or lawyer who acted far more
intelligent than he really was; and Capitano, who was once a lover character, but evolved into
abraggart who boasted of his exploits in love and war, but was often terrifically unskilled in both. He
normally carried a sword and wore a cape and feathered headdress. The servant character
(called zanni) had only one recurring role:Arlecchino (also called Harlequin). He was both cunning
and ignorant, but an accomplished dancer and acrobat. He typically carried a wooden stick with a
split in the middle so it made a loud noise when striking something. This "weapon" gave us the term
"slapstick".
A troupe typically consisted of 13 to 14 members. Most actors were paid by taking a share of the
play's profits roughly equivalent to the size of their role. The style of theatre was in its peak from
1575 to 1650, but even after that time new scenarios were written and performed. The Venetian
playwright Carlo Goldoni wrote a few scenarios starting in 1734, but since he considered the genre
too vulgar, he refined the topics of his own to be more sophisticated. He also wrote several plays
based on real events, in which he included commedia characters.
Golden age theatre[edit]

Main article: Spanish Golden Age theatre
Calderon de la Barca, a key figure in the theatre of the Spanish Golden Age
During its Golden Age, roughly from 1590 to 1681,[43] Spain saw a monumental increase in the
production of live theatre as well as the in importance of theatre within Spanish society. It was an
accessible art form for all participants in Renaissance Spain, being both highly sponsored by the
aristocratic class and highly attended by the lower classes. [44] The volume and variety of Spanish
plays during the Golden Age was unprecedented in the history of world theatre, surpassing, for
example, the dramatic production of the English Renaissance by a factor of at least four.[43][44]
[45]
Although this volume has been as much a source of criticism as praise for Spanish Golden Age
theatre, for emphasizing quantity before quality,[46] a large number of the 10,000[44] to 30,000[46] plays
of this period are still considered masterpieces.[47][48]
Major artists of the period included Lope de Vega, a contemporary of Shakespeare, often, and
contemporaneously, seen his parallel for the Spanish stage,[49] and Calderon de la Barca, inventor of
the zarzuela[50] and Lope's successor as the preeminent Spanish dramatist.[51] Gil Vicente, Lope de
Rueda, and Juan del Encina helped to establish the foundations of Spanish theatre in the midsixteenth centuries,[52][53][54] while Francisco de Rojas Zorrillaand Tirso de Molina made significant
contributions in the later half of the Golden Age.[55][56] Important performers included Lope de Rueda
(previously mentioned among the playwrights) and later Juan Rana.[57][58]
The sources of influence for the emerging national theatre of Spain were as diverse as the theatre
that nation ended up producing. Storytelling traditions originating in Italian Commedia dell'arte[59] and
the uniquely Spanish expression of Western Europe's traveling minstrel entertainments[60]
[61]
contributed a populist influence on the narratives and the music, respectively, of early Spanish
theatre. Neo-Aristotelian criticism and liturgical dramas, on the other hand, contributed literary and
moralistic perspectives.[62][63] In turn, Spanish Golden Age theatre has dramatically influenced the
theatre of later generations in Europe and throughout the world. Spanish drama had an immediate
and significant impact on the contemporary developments in English Renaissance theatre.[47] It has
also had a lasting impact on theatre throughout the Spanish speaking world. [64] Additionally, a
growing number of works are being translated, increasing the reach of Spanish Golden Age theatre
and strengthening its reputation among critics and theatre patrons. [65]
Renaissance theatre[edit]
removed.(April 2011)
A 1596 sketch of a performance in progress on the thrust stage of The Swan, a typical Elizabethan open-roof
playhouse.
Main article: English Renaissance theatre

Renaissance theatre derived from several medieval theatre traditions, such as the mystery plays that
formed a part of religious festivals in England and other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages.
Other sources include the "morality plays" and the "University drama" that attempted to recreate
Athenian tragedy. The Italian tradition of Commedia dell'arte, as well as the
elaborate masques frequently presented at court, also contributed to the shaping of public theatre.
Since before the reign of Elizabeth I, companies of players were attached to households of leading
aristocrats and performed seasonally in various locations. These became the foundation for the
professional players that performed on the Elizabethan stage. The tours of these players gradually
replaced the performances of the mystery and morality plays by local players, and a 1572 law
eliminated the remaining companies lacking formal patronage by labelling them vagabonds.
The City of London authorities were generally hostile to public performances, but its hostility was
overmatched by the Queen's taste for plays and the Privy Council's support. Theatres sprang up in
suburbs, especially in the liberty of Southwark, accessible across the Thames to city dwellers but
beyond the authority's control. The companies maintained the pretence that their public
performances were mere rehearsals for the frequent performances before the Queen, but while the
latter did grant prestige, the former were the real source of the income for the professional players.
Along with the economics of the profession, the character of the drama changed toward the end of
the period. Under Elizabeth, the drama was a unified expression as far as social class was
concerned: the Court watched the same plays the commoners saw in the public playhouses. With
the development of the private theatres, drama became more oriented toward the tastes and values
of an upper-class audience. By the later part of the reign of Charles I, few new plays were being
written for the public theatres, which sustained themselves on the accumulated works of the
previous decades.[66]
Puritan opposition to the stage (informed by the arguments of the early Church Fathers who had
written screeds against the decadent and violent entertainments of the Romans) argued not only that
the stage in general waspagan, but that any play that represented a religious figure was
inherently idolatrous. In 1642, at the outbreak of the English Civil War, the Protestant authorities
banned the performance of all plays within the city limits of London. A sweeping assault against the
alleged immoralities of the theatre crushed whatever remained in England of the dramatic tradition.
Restoration comedy[edit]
removed. (May 2011)
Main article: Restoration comedy
Refinement meets burlesque inRestoration comedy. In this scene fromGeorge Etherege's Love in a Tub(1664),
musicians and well-bred ladies surround a man who is wearing a tub because he has lost his trousers.
English comedies written and performed in the Restoration period from 1660 to 1710 are collectively
called "Restoration comedy". After public stage performances had been banned for 18 years by
the Puritan regime, the re-opening of the theatres in 1660 signalled a renaissance of English drama.
Restoration comedy is notorious for its sexual explicitness, a quality encouraged by Charles
II (16601685) personally and by the rakish aristocraticethos of his court. The socially diverse
audiences included both aristocrats, their servants and hangers-on, and a substantial middle-class
segment. These playgoers were attracted to the comedies by up-to-the-minute topical writing, by
crowded and bustling plots, by the introduction of the first professional actresses, and by the rise of
the first celebrity actors. This period saw the first professional woman playwright, Aphra Behn.
Restoration spectacular[edit]
Main article: Restoration spectacular
The Restoration spectacular, or elaborately staged "machine play", hit the London public stage in
the late 17th-century Restoration period, enthralling audiences with action, music, dance,
moveable scenery, baroque illusionistic painting, gorgeous costumes, and special effects such
as trapdoor tricks, "flying" actors, and fireworks. These shows have always had a bad reputation as
a vulgar and commercial threat to the witty, "legitimate"Restoration drama; however, they drew
Londoners in unprecedented numbers and left them dazzled and delighted.
Basically home-grown and with roots in the early 17th-century court masque, though never ashamed
of borrowing ideas and stage technology from French opera, the spectaculars are sometimes called
"English opera". However, the variety of them is so untidy that most theatre historians despair of
defining them as a genre at all.[67] Only a handful of works of this period are usually accorded the
term "opera", as the musical dimension of most of them is subordinate to the visual. It was spectacle
and scenery that drew in the crowds, as shown by many comments in the diary of the theatrelover Samuel Pepys.[68] The expense of mounting ever more elaborate scenic productions drove the
two competing theatre companies into a dangerous spiral of huge expenditure and correspondingly
huge losses or profits. A fiasco such as John Dryden's Albion and Albanius would leave a company
in serious debt, while blockbusters like Thomas Shadwell's Psyche or Dryden's King Arthur would
put it comfortably in the black for a long time.[69]
Neoclassical theatre[edit]
Further information: Neoclassicism
An 18th-century Neoclassical theatre in Ostankino, Moscow
Neoclassicism was the dominant form of theatre in the 18th century. It demanded decorum and
rigorous adherence to the classical unities. Neoclassical theatre as well as the time period is
characterized by its grandiosity. The costumes and scenery were intricate and elaborate. The acting
is characterized by large gestures and melodrama. Neoclassical theatre encompasses the
Restoration, Augustan, and Johnstinian Ages. In one sense, the neo-classical age directly follows
the time of the Renaissance.
Theatres of the early 18th century sexual farces of the Restoration were superseded by politically
satirical comedies, 1737 Parliament passed the Stage Licensing Act which introduced state
censorship of public performances and limited the number of theatres in London to just two.
Nineteenth-century theatre[edit]
Main article: Nineteenth-century theatre
Theatre in the 19th century is divided into two parts: early and late. The early period was dominated
by melodrama and Romanticism.
Beginning in France, melodrama became the most popular theatrical form. August von
Kotzebue's Misanthropy and Repentance (1789) is often considered the first melodramatic play. The
plays of Kotzebue and Ren Charles Guilbert de Pixrcourt established melodrama as the
dominant dramatic form of the early 19th century.[70]
In Germany, there was a trend toward historic accuracy in costumes and settings, a revolution in
theatre architecture, and the introduction of the theatrical form of German Romanticism. Influenced
by trends in 19th-century philosophy and the visual arts, German writers were increasingly
fascinated with their Teutonic past and had a growing sense of nationalism. The plays of Gotthold
Ephraim Lessing, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, and other Sturm und
Drang playwrights, inspired a growing faith in feeling and instinct as guides to moral behavior.
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton.
In Britain, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron were the most important dramatists of their time
(although Shelley's plays were not performed until later in the century). In the minor
theatres, burletta and melodrama were the most popular. Kotzebue's plays were translated into
English and Thomas Holcroft's A Tale of Mystery was the first of many English melodramas. Pierce
Egan, Douglas William Jerrold, Edward Fitzball, and John Baldwin Buckstone initiated a trend
towards more contemporary and rural stories in preference to the usual historical or fantastical
melodramas. James Sheridan Knowles and Edward George Bulwer-Lytton established a
"gentlemanly" drama that began to re-establish the former prestige of the theatre with
the aristocracy.[71]
The later period of the 19th century saw the rise of two conflicting types of drama: realism and nonrealism, such as Symbolism and precursors of Expressionism.
Realism began earlier in the 19th century in Russia than elsewhere in Europe and took a more
uncompromising form.[72] Beginning with the plays of Ivan Turgenev (who used "domestic detail to
reveal inner turmoil"), Aleksandr Ostrovsky (who was Russia's first professional playwright), Aleksey
Pisemsky (whose A Bitter Fate (1859) anticipated Naturalism), and Leo Tolstoy (whose The Power
of Darkness (1886) is "one of the most effective of naturalistic plays"), a tradition of psychological
realism in Russia culminated with the establishment of the Moscow Art Theatre by Konstantin
Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.[73]
The most important theatrical force in later 19th-century Germany was that of Georg II, Duke of
Saxe-Meiningen and his Meiningen Ensemble, under the direction of Ludwig Chronegk. The
Ensemble's productions are often considered the most historically accurate of the 19th century,
although his primary goal was to serve the interests of the playwright. The Meiningen Ensemble
stands at the beginning of the new movement toward unified production (or whatRichard
Wagner would call the Gesamtkunstwerk) and the rise of the director (at the expense of the actor) as
the dominant artist in theatre-making.[74]
Richard Wagner's Bayreuth Festival Theatre.
Naturalism, a theatrical movement born out of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species (1859) and
contemporary political and economic conditions, found its main proponent in mile Zola. The
realisation of Zola's ideas was hindered by a lack of capable dramatists writing naturalist
drama. Andr Antoine emerged in the 1880s with his Thtre Libre that was only open to members
and therefore was exempt from censorship. He quickly won the approval of Zola and began to stage
Naturalistic works and other foreign realistic pieces. [75]
Henrik Ibsen, the "father" of realist and modern[citation needed] drama.
In Britain, melodramas, light comedies, operas, Shakespeare and classic English drama, Victorian
burlesque, pantomimes, translations of French farces and, from the 1860s, French operettas,
continued to be popular. So successful were the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, such
as H.M.S. Pinafore (1878) and The Mikado (1885), that they greatly expanded the audience for
musical theatre.[76] This, together with much improved street lighting and transportation in London
and New York led to a late Victorian and Edwardian theatre building boom in the West End and on
Broadway. Later, the work of Henry Arthur Jones and Arthur Wing Pinero initiated a new direction on
the English stage. While their work paved the way, the development of more significant drama owes
itself most to the playwright Henrik Ibsen.
Ibsen was born in Norway in 1828. He wrote twenty-five plays, the most famous of which are A
Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881), The Wild Duck (1884), and Hedda Gabler (1890). In addition,
his works Rosmersholm (1886) and When We Dead Awaken (1899) evoke a sense of mysterious
forces at work in human destiny, which was to be a major theme of symbolism and the so-called
"Theatre of the Absurd".[citation needed]
After Ibsen, British theatre experienced revitalization with the work of George Bernard Shaw, Oscar
Wilde, John Galsworthy, William Butler Yeats, and Harley Granville Barker. Unlike most of the
gloomy and intensely serious work of their contemporaries, Shaw and Wilde wrote primarily in
the comic form. Edwardian musical comedies were extremely popular, appealing to the tastes of the
middle class in the Gay Nineties[77] and catering to the public's preference for escapist entertainment
during World War I.
Twentieth-century theatre[edit]
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See also: Twentieth-century theatre, Timeline of twentieth-century theatre and Musical theatre
While much 20th-century theatre continued and extended the projects of realism and Naturalism,
there was also a great deal of experimental theatre that rejected those conventions. These
experiments form part of the modernist and postmodernist movements and included forms
of political theatre as well as more aesthetically orientated work. Examples include: Epic theatre,
the Theatre of Cruelty, and the so-called "Theatre of the Absurd".
The term theatre practitioner came to be used to describe someone who both
creates theatrical performances and who produces a theoretical discourse that informs their practical
work.[78] A theatre practitioner may be a director, a dramatist, an actor, orcharacteristicallyoften a
combination of these traditionally separate roles. "Theatre practice" describes the collective work
that various theatre practitioners do.[79] It is used to describe theatre praxis from Konstantin
Stanislavski's development of his 'system', through Vsevolod Meyerhold's biomechanics, Bertolt
Brecht's epic and Jerzy Grotowski's poor theatre, down to the present day, with contemporary
theatre practitioners including Augusto Boal with his Theatre of the Oppressed, Dario Fo's popular
theatre, Eugenio Barba's theatre anthropology and Anne Bogart's viewpoints.[80]
Other key figures of 20th-century theatre include: Antonin Artaud, August Strindberg, Anton
Chekhov, Frank Wedekind, Maurice Maeterlinck, Federico Garca Lorca, Eugene O'Neill, Luigi
Pirandello, George Bernard Shaw, Gertrude Stein, Ernst Toller, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Arthur
Miller, Tennessee Williams, Jean Genet, Eugne Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Friedrich
Drrenmatt, Heiner Mller, and Caryl Churchill.
A number of aesthetic movements continued or emerged in the 20th century, including:
Naturalism
Realism
Dadaism
Expressionism
Surrealism and the Theatre of Cruelty
Theatre of the Absurd
Postmodernism
After the great popularity of the British Edwardian musical comedies, the American musical
theatre came to dominate the musical stage, beginning with the Princess Theatre musicals, followed
by the works of the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern,Rodgers and Hart, and
later Rodgers and Hammerstein.
African theatre[edit]
Ancient Egyptian quasi-theatrical events[edit]
The earliest recorded quasi-theatrical event dates back to 2000 BC with the "passion plays"
of Ancient Egypt. This story of the god Osiris was performed annually at festivals throughout the
civilization.[81]
Yoruba theatre[edit]
See also: Yoruba literature
In his pioneering study of Yoruba theatre, Joel Adedeji traced its origins to the masquerade of
the Egungun (the "cult of the ancestor").[82] The traditional ceremony culminates in the essence of the
masquerade where it is deemed that ancestors return to the world of the living to visit their
descendants.[83] In addition to its origin in ritual, Yoruba theatre can be "traced to the 'theatrogenic'
nature of a number of the deities in the Yoruba pantheon, such as Obatala the arch
divinity, Ogun the divinity of creativeness and Sango the divinity of the storm", whose reverence is
imbued "with drama and theatre and the symbolic overall relevance in terms of its relative
interpretation."[84]
The Alrnj theatrical tradition sprang from the Egungun masquerade, from oyo Igboho around the
16th century. The Alrnj was a troupe of traveling performers whose masked forms carried an air
of mystique. They created short, satirical scenes that drew on a number of established stereotypical
characters. Their performances utilised mime, music and acrobatics. The Alrnj tradition
influenced the popular traveling theatre, which was the most prevalent and highly developed form of
theatre in Nigeria from the 1950s to the 1980s. In the 1990s, the popular traveling theatre moved
into television and film and now gives live performances only rarely.[85]
"Total theatre" also developed in Nigeria in the 1950s. It utilised non-Naturalistic
techniques, surrealistic physical imagery, and exercised a flexibile use of language. Playwrights
writing in the mid-1970s made use of some of these techniques, but articulated them with "a radical
appreciation of the problems of society."[86]
Traditional performance modes have strongly influenced the major figures in contemporary Nigerian
theatre. The work of Hubert Ogunde (sometimes referred to as the "father of contemporary Yoruban
theatre") was informed by the Alrnj tradition and Egungun masquerades. [87] Wole Soyinka, who is
"generally recognized as Africa's greatest living playwright", gives the divinity Ogun a
complex metaphysical significance in his work.[88] In his essay "The Fourth Stage" (1973),[89] Soyinka
contrasts Yoruba drama with classical Athenian drama, relating both to the 19th-century German
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's analysis of the latter in The Birth of Tragedy (1872). Ogun, he
argues, is "a totality of the Dionysian, Apollonian and Promethean virtues."[90] Hubert Ogunde must
also be commended for his true passion for the African kind of theatre that maintains accurate
Africanness, traditional forms of the Africans, the belief system, common values, folklores of the
people.
Among the few proponents of popular travelling theatre in Nigeria include: Duro Ladipo, Moses
Olaiya ( a popular comic act). These practitioners contributed a lot to kick off the African theatre.
During the period of mixture and experimentation of the indigenous as well as the Western theatre.
Asian theatre[edit]
Mani Damodara Chakyar as King Udayana in Bhasa'sSwapnavasavadattam Koodiyattam-the only surviving

ancient Sanskrit theatre.
Indian theatre[edit]
Overview of Indian theatre[edit]
Main article: Theatre in India
The earliest form of Indian theatre was the Sanskrit theatre.[91] It emerged sometime between the 2nd
century BC and the 1st century and flourished between the 1st century and the 10th, which was a
period of relative peace in the history of India during which hundreds of plays were written.[92] With
the Islamic conquests that began in the 10th and 11th centuries, theatre was discouraged or
forbidden entirely.[93] Later, in an attempt to re-assert indigenous values and ideas, village theatre was
encouraged across the subcontinent, developing in a large number of regional languages from the
15th to the 19th centuries.[94] Modern Indian theatre developed during the period of colonial
rule under the British Empire, from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th.[95]
Sanskrit theatre[edit]
Main article: Sanskrit drama
See also: Koodiyattam
The earliest-surviving fragments of Sanskrit drama date from the 1st century.[96] The wealth of
archaeological evidence from earlier periods offers no indication of the existence of a tradition of
theatre.[97] The ancient Vedas(hymns from between 1500 to 1000 BC that are among the earliest
examples of literature in the world) contain no hint of it (although a small number are composed in a
form of dialogue) and the rituals of the Vedic period do not appear to have developed into theatre.
[97]
The Mahbhs ya by Patajali contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of
Sanskrit drama.[98] This treatise on grammar from 140 BC provides a feasible date for the beginnings
of theatre in India.[98]
The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is A Treatise on Theatre (Ntyastra), a
compendium whose date of composition is uncertain (estimates range from 200 BC to 200 AD) and
whose authorship is attributed toBharata Muni. The Treatise is the most complete work of
dramaturgy in the ancient world. It addresses acting, dance, music, dramatic
construction, architecture, costuming, make-up, props, the organisation of companies, the audience,
competitions, and offers a mythological account of the origin of theatre.[98] In doing so, it provides
indications about the nature of actual theatrical practices. Sanskrit theatre was performed on sacred
ground by priests who had been trained in the necessary skills (dance, music, and recitation) in a
[hereditary process]. Its aim was both to educate and to entertain.
Under the patronage of royal courts, performers belonged to professional companies that were
directed by a stage manager (sutradhara), who may also have acted.[99] This task was thought of as
being analogous to that of a puppeteerthe literal meaning of "sutradhara" is "holder of the strings
or threads".[98] The performers were trained rigorously in vocal and physical technique. [100] There were
no prohibitions against female performers; companies were all-male, all-female, and of mixed
gender. Certain sentiments were considered inappropriate for men to enact, however, and were
thought better suited to women. Some performers played character their own age, while others
played those different from their own (whether younger or older). Of all the elements of theatre,
theTreatise gives most attention to acting (abhinaya), which consists of two styles: realistic
(lokadharmi) and conventional (natyadharmi), though the major focus is on the latter.[101]
Its drama is regarded as the highest achievement of Sanskrit literature.[102] It utilised stock characters,
such as the hero (nayaka), heroine (nayika), or clown (vidusaka). Actors may have specialised in a
particular type. Klidsa in the 1st century BC, is arguably considered to be ancient India's greatest
Sanskrit dramatist. Three famous romantic plays written by Klidsa are
the Mlavikgnimitram (Mlavik and Agnimitra), Vikramuurvashiiya (Pertaining to Vikrama and
Urvashi), and Abhijnakuntala (The Recognition of Shakuntala). The last was inspired by a story
in the Mahabharata and is the most famous. It was the first to be translated
into English and German. akuntal (in English translation) influenced Goethe's Faust (18081832).
[102]
The next great Indian dramatist was Bhavabhuti (c. 7th century). He is said to have written the
following three plays: Malati-Madhava, Mahaviracharita and Uttar Ramacharita. Among these three,
the last two cover between them the entire epic of Ramayana. The powerful Indian
emperor Harsha (606648) is credited with having written three plays: the
comedy Ratnavali, Priyadarsika, and the Buddhist drama Nagananda.
Rural Indian theatre[edit]
This section requires expansion.
(May 2011)
Kathakali[edit]
Main article: Kathakali
Kathakali is a highly stylised classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of
characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures, and well-defined body movements presented in
tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion. It originated in the country's
present-day state of Kerala during the 17th century[103] and has developed over the years with
improved looks, refined gestures and added themes besides more ornate singing and precise
drumming.
Modern Indian theatre[edit]
Rabindranath Tagore was a pioneering modern playwright who wrote plays noted for their
exploration and questioning of nationalism, identity, spiritualism and material greed. [104] His plays are
written in Bengali and include Chitra (Chitrangada, 1892), The King of the Dark Chamber (Raja,
1910), The Post Office (Dakghar, 1913), and Red Oleander (Raktakarabi, 1924).[104]
21st Century Indian theatre[edit]
Mrityunjay Prabhakar is one of the major young Hindi theatre director and playwright who emerged
on Indian Theatre Scene in the last decade of the 20th century and established himself as a
significant theatre activist in first decade of the 21st century. He started his theatre career from Patna
during his graduation days. He has worked with several theatre groups like Abhiyan, Prerna, Mach
Art group and Prangan in Patna. Later, he co-founded the group Abhiyan along with his friends.
When he arrived Delhi for his further studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Here he
worked with famous groups like Rang Saptak, Bahroop and Dastak. Later he founded his own group
named SEHAR in 2005 and started working rigorously. He has got trained under leading figures of
Indian Drama and Theatre world through different workshops he attended like Habib Tanvir, B.V.
Karanth, Prasanna, Ratan Thiyam, D. R. Ankur and many more. He has worked with directors like
D.R. Ankur, Lokendra Arambam, H.S. Shiva Prakash, Surendra Sharma, Parvez Akhtar, Vijay
Kumar, Javed Akhtar Khan, Suman Kumar and others. He has worked as an actor, director, set
designer, light designer and organizer in theatre.
Presently, Mrityunjay Prabhakar works primarily as a Theatre Director and Playwright with his group
SEHAR. He is the founder-director of theatre troupe, SEHAR (Society of Education, Harmony, Art,
Culture and Media Reproduction) (Registered under Society Act) in 2007. He has directed more than
two dozens plays among them 'Sabse Udas Kavita'[2], 'Khwahishen' [3],'Jee Humen To Natak Karna
Hai', [4],'Dhruvswamini'[5], 'Vithalala' and 'Suicide'[6] have got special attention from the larger
section of the society. His plays has been performed in different cities and theatre centres of the
country apart from Delhi. His plays were part of some of the important theatre festivals of the
country.
Mrityunjay Prabhakar's originally written Play 'Sadho Dekho Jag Baudana' was published by InkLit
Publication. He has also written famous plays like 'Aao Natak Natak Khelen', 'Khwahishen', 'Jee
Humen To Natak Karna Hai', 'Suicide', 'Hey Ram', 'Teri Meri Kahani Hai', 'Karnav' and others, which
has been performed by different groups and directors in various theatre centres of the country. He
has adopted famous Keniyan playwright Ngugi Wa Thiong's play 'The Black Hermit' as 'Jayen To
Jayen Kahan'. The adoptation was first performed by NSD Graduate Randhir Kumar in 2005 in
Patna. Later he reproduced the play in 2010 with SEHAR in Delhi. He has adopted H.S.
Shivaprakash famous Kannad play 'Mochi Madaiah' in Hindi which was directed by Lokendra
Arambam and published by Yash Publication, Delhi. An anthology on Contemporary Indian Theatre
titled 'Samkaleen Rangkarm' is also credited on his name published by InkLit Publication. His Hindi
Poetry Collection 'Jo Mere Bheetar Hain' was published by Akademi of Letters (Sahitya Akademi),
India.
Chinese theatre[edit]
Main article: Chinese opera
Shang theatre[edit]
There are references to theatrical entertainments in China as early as 1500 BC during the Shang
Dynasty; they often involved music, clowning and acrobatic displays.
Han and Tang theatre[edit]
During the Han Dynasty, shadow puppetry first emerged as a recognized form of theatre in China.
There were two distinct forms of shadow puppetry, Cantonese southern and Pekingese northern.
The two styles were differentiated by the method of making the puppets and the positioning of the
rods on the puppets, as opposed to the type of play performed by the puppets. Both styles generally
performed plays depicting great adventure and fantasy, rarely was this very stylized form of theatre
used for political propaganda. Cantonese shadow puppets were the larger of the two. They were
built using thick leather which created more substantial shadows. Symbolic color was also very
prevalent; a black face represented honesty, a red one bravery. The rods used to control Cantonese
puppets were attached perpendicular to the puppets' heads. Thus, they were not seen by the
audience when the shadow was created. Pekingese puppets were more delicate and smaller. They
were created out of thin, translucent leather usually taken from the belly of a donkey. They were
painted with vibrant paints, thus they cast a very colorful shadow. The thin rods which controlled their
movements were attached to a leather collar at the neck of the puppet. The rods ran parallel to the
bodies of the puppet then turned at a ninety degree angle to connect to the neck. While these rods
were visible when the shadow was cast, they laid outside the shadow of the puppet; thus they did
not interfere with the appearance of the figure. The rods attached at the necks to facilitate the use of
multiple heads with one body. When the heads were not being used, they were stored in a muslin
book or fabric lined box. The heads were always removed at night. This was in keeping with the old
superstition that if left intact, the puppets would come to life at night. Some puppeteers went so far
as to store the heads in one book and the bodies in another, to further reduce the possibility of
reanimating puppets. Shadow puppetry is said to have reached its highest point of artistic
development in the 11th century before becoming a tool of the government.
The Tang Dynasty is sometimes known as 'The Age of 1000 Entertainments'. During this
era, Emperor Xuanzong formed an acting school known as the Children of the Pear Garden to
produce a form of drama that was primarily musical.
Song and Yuan theatre[edit]
Further information: Zaju
In the Song dynasty, there were many popular plays involving acrobatics and music. These
developed in the Yuan dynasty into a more sophisticated form with a four or five act structure.
Yuan drama spread across China and diversified into numerous regional forms, the best known of
which is Beijing Opera, which is still popular today.
Philippine theatre[edit]
During the 333-year reign of the Spanish government, the introduced into the islands the Catholic
religion and the Spanish way of life, which gradually merged with the indigenous culture to form the
lowland folk culture now shared by the major ethnolinguistic groups. Today, the dramatic forms
introduced or influenced by Spain continue to live in rural areas all over the archipelago. These
forms include the komedya, the playlets, the sinakulo, the sarswela, and the drama. In recent years,
some of these forms have been revitalized to make them more responsive to the conditions and
needs of a developing nation.
Thai theatre[edit]
Further information: Ramakien
In Thailand, it has been a tradition from the Middle Ages to stage plays based on plots drawn from
Indian epics. In particular, the theatrical version of Thailand's national epic Ramakien, a version of
the Indian Ramayana, remains popular in Thailand even today.
Khmer and Malay theatre[edit]

In Cambodia, at the ancient capital Angkor Wat, stories from the Indian
epics Ramayana and Mahabharata have been carved on the walls of temples and palaces. Similar
reliefs are found at Borobudur in Indonesia.
Japanese theatre[edit]
Further information: Theatre of Japan
Noh[edit]
Main article: Noh
During the 14th century, there were small companies of actors in Japan who performed short,
sometimes vulgar comedies. A director of one of these companies, Kan'ami (13331384), had a
son, Zeami Motokiyo (13631443) who was considered one of the finest child actors in Japan. When
Kan'ami's company performed for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (13581408), the Shogun of Japan, he
implored Zeami to have a court education for his arts. After Zeami succeeded his father, he
continued to perform and adapt his style into what is today Noh. A mixture of pantomime and vocal
acrobatics, this style has fascinated the Japanese for hundreds of years.
Bunraku[edit]
Main article: Bunraku
Japan, after a long period of civil wars and political disarray, was unified and at peace primarily due
to shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (15431616). However, alarmed at increasing Christian growth, he cut
off contact from Japan to Europe and China and outlawed Christianity. When peace did come, a
flourish of cultural influence and growing merchant class demanded its own entertainment. The first
form of theatre to flourish was Ningy jruri (commonly referred to as Bunraku). The founder of and
main contributor to Ningy jruri, Chikamatsu Monzaemon (16531725), turned his form of theatre
into a true art form. Ningy jruri is a highly stylized form of theatre using puppets, today about 1/3d
the size of a human. The men who control the puppets train their entire lives to become master
puppeteers, when they can then operate the puppet's head and right arm and choose to show their
faces during the performance. The other puppeteers, controlling the less important limbs of the
puppet, cover themselves and their faces in a black suit, to imply their invisibility. The dialogue is
handled by a single person, who uses varied tones of voice and speaking manners to simulate
different characters. Chikamatsu wrote thousands of plays during his lifetime, most of which are still
used today. They wore masks instead of elaborate makeup. Masks define their gender, personality,
and moods the actor is in.
Kabuki[edit]
Main article: Kabuki
Kabuki began shortly after Bunraku, legend has it by an actress named Okuni, who lived around the
end of the 16th century. Most of Kabuki's material came from N and Bunraku, and its erratic dancetype movements are also an effect of Bunraku. However, Kabuki is less formal and more distant than
N, yet very popular among the Japanese public. Actors are trained in many varied things including
dancing, singing, pantomime, and even acrobatics. Kabuki was first performed by young girls, then
by young boys, and by the end of the 16th century, Kabuki companies consisted of all men. The men
who portrayed women on stage were specifically trained to elicit the essence of a woman in their
subtle movements and gestures.
Butoh[edit]
Gyohei Zaitsu performing Butoh
Main article: Butoh

Butoh is the collective name for a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance,
performance, or movement inspired by the Ankoku-Butoh ( ankoku but ) movement. It
typically involves playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and
is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion, with or without an
audience. There is no set style, and it may be purely conceptual with no movement at all. Its origins
?
have been attributed to Japanese dance legends Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno. Butoh appeared
first in Japan following World War II and specifically after student riots. The roles of authority were
now subject to challenge and subversion. It also appeared as a reaction against the contemporary
dance scene in Japan, which Hijikata felt was based on the one hand on imitating the West and on
the other on imitating the Noh. He critiqued the current state of dance as overly superficial.
Medieval Islamic theatre[edit]

The most popular forms of theatre in the medieval Islamic world were puppet theatre (which
included hand puppets, shadow plays and marionette productions) and live passion plays known
as ta'ziya, in which actors re-enact episodes from Muslim history. In particular, Shia Islamic plays
revolved around the shaheed (martyrdom) of Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali. Secular
plays known as akhraja were recorded in medieval adab literature, though they were less common
than puppetry and ta'ziya theatre.[105]
See also[edit]
Theatre portal
History of literature
Play (theatre)
Notes[edit]
1. Jump up^ Banham (1995), Brockett and Hildy (2003), and Goldhill
(1997, 54).
2. Jump up^ Aristotle, Poetics VI, 2.
3. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (1968; 10th ed. 2010), History of the
Theater.
4. Jump up^ Davidson (2005, 197) and Taplin (2003, 10).
5. Jump up^ Cartledge (1997, 3, 6), Goldhill (1997, 54) and (1999,
20-xx), and Rehm (1992. 3). Goldhill argues that although activities
that form "an integral part of the exercise of citizenship" (such as
when "the Athenian citizen speaks in the Assembly, exercises in
the gymnasium, sings at the symposium, or courts a boy") each
have their "own regime of display and regulation," nevertheless the
term "performance" provides "a useful heuristic category to explore
the connections and overlaps between these different areas of
activity" (1999, 1).
6. Jump up^ Pelling (2005, 83).
7. Jump up^ Goldhill (1999, 25) and Pelling (2005, 8384).
8. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 1519).
9. Jump up^ Brown (1995, 441), Cartledge (1997, 35), Goldhill

(1997, 54), Ley (2007, 206), and Styan (2000, 140). Taxidou notes
that "most scholars now call 'Greek' tragedy 'Athenian' tragedy,
which is historically correct" (2004, 104).
10. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 3233), Brown (1995, 444),
and Cartledge (1997, 35). Cartledge writes that
although Atheniansof the 4th century
judged Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides"as the nonpareils of
the genre, and regularly honoured their plays with revivals, tragedy
itself was not merely a 5th-century phenomenon, the product of a
short-lived golden age. If not attaining the quality and stature of the
fifth-century 'classics', original tragedies nonetheless continued to
be written and produced and competed with in large numbers
throughout the remaining life of the democracyand beyond it"
(1997, 33).
11. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 15) and Kovacs (2005, 379).
We have seven by Aeschylus, seven by Sophocles, and eighteen
byEuripides. In addition, we also have the Cyclops, a satyr play by
Euripides. Some critics since the 17th century have argued that
one of the tragedies that the classical tradition gives as
Euripides'Rhesusis a 4th-century play by an unknown author;
modern scholarship agrees with the classical authorities and
ascribes the play to Euripides; see Walton (1997, viii, xix). (This
uncertainty accounts for Brockett and Hildy's figure of 31 tragedies
rather than 32.)
12. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 15). The theory
that Prometheus Bound was not written by Aeschylus adds a
fourth, anonymous playwright to those whose work survives.
13. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 1315) and Brown (1995,
441447).
14. Jump up^ Brown (1995, 442) and Brockett and Hildy (2003, 15
17). Exceptions to this pattern were made, as
with Euripides' Alcestisin 438 BC. There were also separate
competitions at the City Dionysia for the performance
of dithyrambs and, after 4887 BC,comedies.
15. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 13, 15) and Brown (1995,
442). Rehm offers the following argument as evidence that tragedy
was not institutionalized until 501 BC: "The specific cult honoured
at the City Dionysia was that of Dionysus Eleuthereus, the god
'having to do with Eleutherae', a town on the border
between Boeotia and Attica that had a sanctuary to Dionysus. At
some point Athens annexed Eleutheraemost likely after the
overthrow of the Peisistratid tyranny in 510 and the democratic
reforms of Cleisthenes in 508-07and the cult-image of Dionysus
Eleuthereus was moved to its new home. Athenians re-enacted the
incorporation of the god's cult every year in a preliminary rite to the
City Dionysia. On the day before the festival proper, the cult-statue
was removed from the temple near the theatre of Dionysus and
taken to a temple on the road to Eleutherae. That evening,
after sacrifice and hymns, a torchlight procession carried the statue

back to the temple, a symbolic re-creation of the god's arrival into
Athens, as well as a reminder of the inclusion of the Boeotian town
into Attica. As the name Eleutherae is extremely close to
eleutheria, 'freedom', Athenians probably felt that the new cult was
particularly appropriate for celebrating their own political liberation
and democratic reforms" (1992, 15).
16. Jump up^ Brown (1995, 442). Jean-Pierre Vernant argues that
in The Persians Aeschylus substitutes for the usual temporal
distance between the audience and the age of heroes a spatial
distance between the Western audience and the Eastern Persian
culture. This substitution, he suggests, produces a similar effect:
"The 'historic' events evoked by the chorus, recounted by the
messenger and interpreted by Darius' ghost are presented on
stage in a legendary atmosphere. The light that the tragedy sheds
upon them is not that in which the political happenings of the day
are normally seen; it reaches the Athenian theater refracted from a
distant world of elsewhere, making what is absent seem present
and visible on the stage"; Vernant and Vidal-Naquet (1988, 245).
17. Jump up^ Brown (1995, 442) and Brockett and Hildy (2003, 15
16).
18. Jump up^ Aristotle, Poetics: "Comedy is, as we said, a
representation of people who are rather inferiornot, however,
with respect to every [kind of] vice, but the laughable is [only] a part
of what is ugly. For the laughable is a sort of error and ugliness that
is not painful and destructive, just as, evidently, a laughable mask
is something ugly and distorted without pain" (1449a 3035); see
Janko (1987, 6).
19. Jump up^ Beacham (1996, 2).
20. Jump up^ Beacham (1996, 3).
22. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 36, 47).
23. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 43). For more information on
the ancient Roman dramatists, see the articles categorised under
"Ancient Roman dramatists and playwrights" in Wikipedia.
25. ^ Jump up to:a b c Brockett and Hildy (2003, 47).
28. ^ Jump up to:a b c Brockett and Hildy (2003, 49).
29. ^ Jump up to:a b Brockett and Hildy (2003, 48).

30. ^ Jump up to:a b Brockett and Hildy (2003, 50).
32. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 70)
34. ^ Jump up to:a b Brockett and Hildy (2003, 76)
43. ^ Jump up to:a b http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/30228091.pdf?
acceptTC=true
44. ^ Jump up to:a b c Jonathan Thacker (1 January 2007). A
Companion to Golden Age Theatre. Boydell & Brewer
Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85566-140-0. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
45. Jump up^ Compleat Catalogue of Plays that Were Ever Printed in
the English Language. W. Mears. 1719. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
46. ^ Jump up to:a b "Introduction to Theatre - Spanish Renaissance
Theatre". Novaonline.nvcc.edu. 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
47. ^ Jump up to:a b "Golden Age". Comedia.denison.edu.
Retrieved2012-05-24.
48. Jump up^ http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/470268.pdf
49. Jump up^ Ernst Honigmann. "Cambridge Collections Online :
Shakespeares life". Cco.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
50. Jump up^ Denise M. DiPuccio (1998). Communicating Myths of

the Golden Age Comedia. Bucknell University Press. ISBN 978-08387-5372-9. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
51. Jump up^ "Calderon and Lope de Vega". Theatredatabase.com.
Retrieved 2012-05-24.
53. Jump up^ http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3204377?
uid=3739656&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=47698972823517
54. Jump up^ Henry W. Sullivan (1976). Juan Del Encina.
Twayne.ISBN 978-0-8057-6166-5. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
56. Jump up^ http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/333062?
uid=3739656&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=47698973004667
57. Jump up^ Stanley Hochman (1984). McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of
World Drama: An International Reference Work in 5 Volumes. VNR
AG. ISBN 978-0-07-079169-5. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
59. Jump up^ "BACKGROUND TO SPANISH DRAMA - Medieval to
Renascence Drama > Spanish Golden Age Drama - Drama
Courses". Courses in Drama. 2007-12-23. Retrieved2012-05-24.
60. Jump up^ Bruce R. Burningham (2007). Radical Theatricality:
Jongleuresque Performance on the Early Spanish Stage. Purdue
University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-441-5. Retrieved24 July 2013.
62. Jump up^ "Share Documents and Files Online | Microsoft Office
Live". Westerntheatrehistory.com. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
63. Jump up^ "Bristol University | Hispanic, Portuguese & Latin
American Studies - HISP20048 The Theatre of the Spanish Golden
Age". Bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
64. Jump up^ Sebastian Doggart; Octavio Paz (1996). Latin American
Plays: New Drama from Argentina, Cuba, Mexico and Peru. Nick
Hern Books. ISBN 978-1-85459-249-1. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
66. Jump up^ Gurr (1992, 1218).
67. Jump up^ Hume (1976, 205).
68. Jump up^ Hume (1976, 206209).

69. Jump up^ Milhous (1979, 4748).
73. Jump up^ Brockett and Hildy (2003, 370, 372) and Benedetti
(2005, 100) and (1999, 1417).
77. Jump up^ The first "Edwardian musical comedy" is usually
considered to be In Town (1892). See, e.g., Charlton,
Fraser. "What are EdMusComs?" FrasrWeb 2007, accessed May
12, 2011
78. Jump up^ Milling and Ley (2001, vi, 173) and Pavis (1998,
280). German:Theaterpraktiker, French: praticien, Spanish: teatrist
a.
79. Jump up^ Pavis (1998, 392).
80. Jump up^ McCullough (1996, 1536) and Milling and Ley (2001,
vii, 175).
81. Jump up^ "Egyptian "Passion" Plays". Theatrehistory.com.
Retrieved2013-09-09.
82. Jump up^ Adedeji (1969, 60).
83. Jump up^ Noret (2008, 26).
84. Jump up^ Banham, Hill, and Woodyard (2005, 88).
89. Jump up^ Soyinka (1973, 120).
90. Jump up^ Soyinka (1973).

91. Jump up^ Richmond, Swann, and Zarrilli (1993, 12).
92. Jump up^ Brandon (1997, 70) and Richmond (1995, 516).
93. Jump up^ Brandon (1997, 72) and Richmond (1995, 516).
94. Jump up^ Brandon (1997, 72), Richmond (1995, 516), and
Richmond, Swann, and Zarrilli (1993, 12).
95. Jump up^ Richmond (1995, 516) and Richmond, Swann, and
Zarrilli (1993, 13).
96. Jump up^ Brandon (1981, xvii) and Richmond (1995, 516517).
97. ^ Jump up to:a b Richmond (1995, 516).
98. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Richmond (1995, 517).
99. Jump up^ Brandon (1981, xvii) and Richmond (1995, 517).
100. Jump up^ Richmond (1995, 518).
101. Jump up^ Richmond (1995, 518). The literal meaning
of abhinaya is "to carry forwards".
102. ^ Jump up to:a b Brandon (1981, xvii).
103. Jump up^ Zarrilli (1984).
104. ^ Jump up to:a b Banham (1995, 1051).
105. Jump up^ Moreh (1986, 565601).
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2.1 Greek theatre

2.2 Roman theatre

2.3 Transition and early Medieval theatre, 5001050

2.4 High and late Medieval theatre, 10501500

2.5 Commedia dell'arte

2.6 Golden age theatre

2.7 Renaissance theatre

2.8 Restoration comedy

2.9 Restoration spectacular

2.10 Neoclassical theatre

2.11 Nineteenth-century theatre

2.12 Twentieth-century theatre

3.1 Ancient Egyptian quasi-theatrical events

3.2 Yoruba theatre

4.1 Indian theatre

4.1.1 Overview of Indian theatre

4.1.2 Sanskrit theatre

4.1.3 Rural Indian theatre

4.1.5 Modern Indian theatre

4.1.6 21st Century Indian theatre

4.2 Chinese theatre

4.2.1 Shang theatre

4.2.2 Han and Tang theatre

4.2.3 Song and Yuan theatre

4.3 Philippine theatre

4.4 Thai theatre

4.5 Khmer and Malay theatre

4.6 Japanese theatre

5 Medieval Islamic theatre

Roman theatre at Orange, France

Main article: Theatre of ancient Rome

Transition and early Medieval theatre, 5001050[edit]

Hrosvitha of Gandersheim, the first dramatist of the post-classical era.

High and late Medieval theatre, 10501500[edit]

Stage drawing from 15th-century vernacularmorality play The Castle of Perseverance.

Main article: Medieval theatre

The greedy, high-status Pantalonecommedia dell'artemasked character.

Main article: Commedia dell'arte

Golden age theatre[edit]

Main article: English Renaissance theatre

An 18th-century Neoclassical theatre in Ostankino, Moscow

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton.

Richard Wagner's Bayreuth Festival Theatre.

Henrik Ibsen, the "father" of realist and modern[citation needed] drama.

Surrealism and the Theatre of Cruelty

Theatre of the Absurd

Mani Damodara Chakyar as King Udayana in Bhasa'sSwapnavasavadattam Koodiyattam-the only surviving

Khmer and Malay theatre[edit]

Gyohei Zaitsu performing Butoh

Main article: Butoh

Medieval Islamic theatre[edit]

9. Jump up^ Brown (1995, 441), Cartledge (1997, 35), Goldhill

after sacrifice and hymns, a torchlight procession carried the statue

29. ^ Jump up to:a b Brockett and Hildy (2003, 48).

50. Jump up^ Denise M. DiPuccio (1998). Communicating Myths of

68. Jump up^ Hume (1976, 206209).

90. Jump up^ Soyinka (1973).

Adejeji, Joel. 1969. "Traditional Yoruba Theatre." African Arts 3.1

Beacham, Richard C. 1996. The Roman Theatre and Its

Brandon, James R. 1981. Introduction. In Baumer and Brandon (1981,

Brinton, Crane, John B Christopher, and Robert Lee Wolff.

Brockett, Oscar G. and Franklin J. Hildy. 2003. History of the Theatre.