![The Battle of Bosworth Field - A Scene from the Great Drama of History](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/The_Battle_of_Bosworth_Field_-_A_Scene_from_the_Great_Drama_of_History.jpg)
Drama is the specific
mode
Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine
* ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...
of
fiction represented in
performance: a
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
,
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
,
mime
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
,
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
, etc., performed in a
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, or on
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
or
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
.
[Elam (1980, 98).] Considered as a genre of
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the
epic and the
lyrical modes ever since
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
's ''
Poetics'' (c. 335 BC)—the earliest work of
dramatic theory.
The term "drama" comes from a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
word meaning "deed" or "
act" (
Classical Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
: , ''drâma''), which is derived from "I do" (
Classical Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
: , ''dráō''). The two
mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...
s associated with drama represent the traditional
generic
Generic or generics may refer to:
In business
* Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark
* Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
division between
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
and
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
.
In English (as was the analogous case in many other European languages), the word ''
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
'' or ''game'' (translating the
Anglo-Saxon ''pleġan'' or
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''ludus'') was the standard term for dramas until
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's time—just as its creator was a ''play-maker'' rather than a ''dramatist'' and the building was a ''play-house'' rather than a ''
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
''.
The use of "drama" in a more narrow sense to designate a specific ''type'' of
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
dates from the modern era. "Drama" in this sense refers to a play that is ''neither'' a comedy nor a tragedy—for example,
Zola's ''
Thérèse Raquin
''Thérèse Raquin'' is an 1868 novel by French writer Émile Zola, first published in serial form in the literary magazine ''L'Artiste'' in 1867. It was Zola's third novel, though the first to earn wide fame. The novel's adultery and murder ...
'' (
1873) or
Chekhov's ''
Ivanov'' (
1887). It is this narrower sense that the
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
industries, along with
film studies
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies.
...
, adopted to describe "
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
" as a
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
within their respective media. The term ”
radio drama
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
“ has been used in both senses—originally transmitted in a live performance. May also refer to the more high-brow and serious end of the dramatic output of
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
.
The enactment of drama in
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, performed by
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
s on a
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
before an
audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...
, presupposes
collaborative modes of production and a
collective form of reception. The
structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception.
Mime is a form of drama where the action of a story is told only through the movement of the body. Drama can be combined with
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
: the dramatic text in
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
is generally sung throughout; as for in some ballets dance "expresses or imitates emotion, character, and narrative action".
[''Encyclopaedia Britannica''](_blank)
/ref> Musicals include both spoken dialogue and song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
s; and some forms of drama have incidental music or musical accompaniment underscoring the dialogue ( melodrama and Japanese Nō
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
, for example).[See the entries for "opera", "musical theatre, American", "melodrama" and "Nō" in Banham (1998).] Closet drama
A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a large group. The contrast between closet drama and classic "stage" dramas dates back to the late eighteenth century. Al ...
is a form that is intended to be read, rather than performed.['']Manfred
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction.
Byr ...
'' by Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
, for example, is a good example of a " dramatic poem." See the entry on "Byron (George George)" in Banham (1998). In improvisation, the drama does not pre-exist the moment of performance; performers devise a dramatic script spontaneously before an audience.[Some forms of improvisation, notably the Commedia dell'arte, improvise on the basis of 'lazzi' or rough outlines of scenic action (see Gordon (1983) and Duchartre (1929)). All forms of improvisation take their cue from their immediate response to one another, their characters' situations (which are sometimes established in advance), and, often, their interaction with the audience. The classic formulations of improvisation in the theatre originated with ]Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...
and Keith Johnstone
Keith Johnstone (born February 21, 1933) is a British and Canadian pioneer of improvisational theatre, best known for inventing the ''Impro System'', part of which are the Theatresports. He is also an educator, playwright, actor and theatre dir ...
in the UK and Viola Spolin
Viola Spolin (November 7, 1906 — November 22, 1994) was an American theatre academic, educator and acting coach. She is considered an important innovator in 20th century American theater for creating directorial techniques to help actors to be ...
in the US; see Johnstone (1981) and Spolin (1963).
History of Western drama
Classical Greek drama
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
drama originates in classical Greece. The theatrical culture of the city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
of Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
produced three genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
s of drama: tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
, comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
, and the satyr play
The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is stro ...
. Their origins remain obscure, though by the 5th century BC, they were institutionalised in competitions
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...
held as part of festivities celebrating the god Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...
. Historians know the names of many ancient Greek dramatists, not least Thespis, who is credited with the innovation of an actor ("''hypokrites''") who speaks (rather than sings) and impersonates a character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
(rather than speaking in his own person), while interacting with the chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
and its leader ("''coryphaeus
In Attic drama, the coryphaeus, corypheus, or koryphaios (Greek κορυφαῖος ''koryphaîos'', from κορυφή ''koryphḗ́'', the top of the head) was the leader of the chorus. Hence the term (sometimes in an Anglicized form "coryphe") ...
''"), who were a traditional part of the performance of non-dramatic poetry ( dithyrambic, lyric and epic).
Only a small fraction of the work of five dramatists, however, has survived to this day: we have a small number of complete texts by the tragedians Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
, Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
and Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...
, and the comic writers Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...
and, from the late 4th century, Menander. Aeschylus' historical tragedy ''The Persians
''The Persians'' ( grc, Πέρσαι, ''Persai'', Latinised as ''Persae'') is an Greek tragedy, ancient Greek tragedy written during the Classical Greece, Classical period of Ancient Greece by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus. It is the second and on ...
'' is the oldest surviving drama, although when it won first prize at the City Dionysia
The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the s ...
competition in 472 BC, he had been writing plays for more than 25 years. The competition ("'' agon''") for tragedies may have begun as early as 534 BC; official records ("''didaskaliai''") begin from 501 BC when the satyr play
The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is stro ...
was introduced. Tragic dramatists were required to present a tetralogy
A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- '' tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedie ...
of plays (though the individual works were not necessarily connected by story or theme), which usually consisted of three tragedies and one satyr play (though exceptions were made, as with Euripides' ''Alcestis
Alcestis (; Ancient Greek: Ἄλκηστις, ') or Alceste, was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his '' Bibliotheca'', and a version of her death and return from t ...
'' in 438 BC). Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
was officially recognized with a prize in the competition from 487 to 486 BC.
Five comic dramatists competed at the City Dionysia
The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the s ...
(though during the Peloponnesian War this may have been reduced to three), each offering a single comedy. Ancient Greek comedy
Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, an ...
is traditionally divided between "old comedy" (5th century BC), "middle comedy" (4th century BC) and "new comedy" (late 4th century to 2nd BC).
Classical Roman drama
Following the expansion of the Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
(509–27 BC) into several Greek territories between 270 and 240 BC, Rome encountered Greek drama
Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...
.[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 43).] From the later years of the republic and by means of the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
(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.
While Greek drama continued to be performed throughout the Roman period, the year 240 BC marks the beginning of regular Roman drama. From the beginning of the empire, however, interest in full-length drama declined in favour of a broader variety of theatrical entertainments. The first important works of Roman literature
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...
were the tragedies
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
and comedies
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...
that Livius Andronicus wrote from 240 BC.[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 47).] Five years later, Gnaeus Naevius also began to write drama. No plays from either writer have survived. While both dramatists composed in both genres
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
, 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.
By the beginning of the 2nd century BC, drama was firmly established in Rome and a guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
of writers (''collegium poetarum'') had been formed. The Roman comedies that have survived are all ''fabula palliata
''Fabula palliata'' is a genre of Roman drama that consists largely of Romanized versions of Greek plays.''OCD'', sv. palliata The name ''palliata'' comes from ''pallium'', the Latin word for a Greek-style cloak. It is possible that the term ''fa ...
'' (comedies based on Greek subjects) and come from two dramatists: Titus Maccius Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...
(Plautus) and Publius Terentius Afer
Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...
(Terence). In re-working the Greek originals, the Roman comic dramatists abolished the role of the chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
in dividing the drama into episode
An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption.
The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning th ...
s 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).[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 49).] The action of all scenes is set in the exterior location of a street and its complications often follow from eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information.
Etymology
The verb ''eavesdrop'' is a back-formation from the noun ''eaves ...
.
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.[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 48).] 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. No early Roman tragedy survives, though it was highly regarded in its day; historians know of three early tragedians— Quintus Ennius, Marcus Pacuvius, and Lucius Accius.
From the time of the empire, the work of two tragedians survives—one is an unknown author, while the other is the Stoic philosopher
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
.[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 50).] Nine of Seneca's tragedies survive, all of which are ''fabula crepidata'' (tragedies adapted from Greek originals); his ''Phaedra
Phaedra may refer to:
Mythology
* Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus
Arts and entertainment
* ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting
Film
* ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...
'', for example, was based on Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...
' '' Hippolytus''. 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
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
in the tragedy.
Medieval
Beginning in the early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
, churches staged dramatised versions of biblical events, known as liturgical dramas, to enliven annual celebrations. The earliest example is the Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
trope ''Whom do you Seek? (Quem-Quaeritis)'' (c. 925).[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 76).] Two groups would sing responsively in Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, though no impersonation of characters
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
was involved. By the 11th century, it had spread through Europe to Russia, Scandinavia, and Italy; excluding Al-Andalus, Islamic-era Spain.
In the 10th century, Hrosvitha wrote six plays in Latin modeled on Terence's comedies, but which treated religious subjects.[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 77).] Her plays are the first known to be composed by a female dramatist and the first identifiable Western drama of the post-Classical era. Later, Hildegard of Bingen wrote a music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
al drama, ''Ordo Virtutum'' (c. 1155).
One of the most famous of the early Secularity, secular plays is the courtly pastoral ''Jeu de Robin et Marion, Robin and Marion'', written in the 13th century in French by Adam de la Halle. ''The Interlude of the Student and the Girl'' (c. 1300), one of the earliest known in English, seems to be the closest in tone and form to the contemporaneous French farces, such as ''The Boy and the Blind Man.''
Many plays survive from France and Germany in the late Middle Ages, when some type of religious drama was performed in nearly every European country. Many of these plays contained comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
, devils, villains, and clowns. In England, trade guilds began to perform vernacular "mystery plays," which were composed of long cycles of many playlets or "pageants," of which four are extant: York Mystery Plays, York (48 plays), Chester Mystery Plays, Chester (24), Wakefield Mystery Plays, Wakefield (32) and the so-called "N-Town Plays, N-Town" (42). ''The Second Shepherds' Play'' from the Wakefield cycle is a farcical story of a stolen sheep that its protagonist, Mak, tries to pass off as his new-born child asleep in a crib; it ends when the shepherds from whom he has stolen are summoned to the Nativity of Jesus.
Morality plays (a modern term) emerged as a distinct dramatic form around 1400 and flourished in the early Elizabethan era in England. Characters were often used to represent different ethical ideals. ''Everyman (15th-century play), Everyman'', for example, includes such figures as Good Deeds, Knowledge and Strength, and this characterisation reinforces the conflict between good and evil for the audience. ''The Castle of Perseverance'' (c. 1400–1425) depicts an archetypal figure's progress from birth through to death. ''Horestes'' (c. 1567), a late "hybrid morality" and one of the earliest examples of an English revenge play, brings together the classical story of Orestes with a Vice (character), Vice from the medieval Allegory, allegorical tradition, alternating comic, slapstick scenes with serious, Tragedy, tragic ones. Also important in this period were the folk dramas of the Mummers Play, performed during the Christmas season. Court masques were particularly popular during the reign of Henry VIII.
Elizabethan and Jacobean
One of the great flowerings of drama in England occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries. Many of these plays were written in verse, particularly iambic pentameter. In addition to Shakespeare, such authors as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton, and Ben Jonson were prominent playwrights during this period. As in the Middle Ages, medieval period, historical plays celebrated the lives of past kings, enhancing the image of the Tudor dynasty, Tudor monarchy. Authors of this period drew some of their storylines from Greek mythology and Roman mythology or from the plays of eminent Roman playwrights such as Plautus and Terence.
English Restoration comedy
Restoration comedy refers to English comedies written and performed in England during the Restoration (England), Restoration period from 1660 to 1710. Comedy of manners is used as a synonym of Restoration comedy. After London theatre closure 1642, public theatre had been banned by the Puritan regime, the re-opening of the theatres in 1660 with the Restoration of Charles II of England, Charles II signalled a renaissance of English drama. Restoration comedy is known for its human sexual behavior, sexual explicitness, urbane, cosmopolitan wit, up-to-the-minute topical writing, and crowded and bustling plots. Its dramatists stole freely from the contemporary French and Spanish stage, from English James I of England, Jacobean and Charles I of England, Caroline plays, and even from Greek theatre, Greek and Theatre of ancient Rome, Roman Classics, classical comedies, combining the various plotlines in adventurous ways. Resulting differences of tone in a single play were appreciated rather than frowned on, as the audience prized "variety" within as well as between plays. Restoration comedy peaked twice. The genre came to spectacular maturity in the mid-1670s with an extravaganza of aristocracy, aristocratic comedies. Twenty lean years followed this short golden age, although the achievement of the first professional female playwright, Aphra Behn, in the 1680s is an important exception. In the mid-1690s, a brief second Restoration comedy renaissance arose, aimed at a wider audience. The comedies of the golden 1670s and 1690s peak times are significantly different from each other.
The unsentimental or "hard" comedies of John Dryden, William Wycherley, and George Etherege reflected the atmosphere at Court and celebrated with frankness an aristocratic machismo, macho lifestyle of unremitting sexual intrigue and conquest. The John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Earl of Rochester, real-life Restoration rake, courtier and poet, is flatteringly portrayed in Etherege's ''The Man of Mode'' (1676) as a riotous, witty, intellectual, and sexually irresistible aristocrat, a template for posterity's idea of the glamorous Rake (character), Restoration rake (actually never a very common character in Restoration comedy). The single play that does most to support the charge of obscenity levelled then and now at Restoration comedy is probably Wycherley's masterpiece ''The Country Wife'' (1675), whose title contains a Lascivious behavior, lewd pun and whose notorious "china scene" is a series of sustained double entendres.
During the second wave of Restoration comedy in the 1690s, the "softer" comedies of William Congreve (playwright), William Congreve and John Vanbrugh set out to appeal to more socially diverse audience with a strong middle-class element, as well as to female spectators. The comic focus shifts from young lovers outwitting the older generation to the vicissitudes of marital relations. In Congreve's ''Love for Love'' (1695) and ''The Way of the World'' (1700), the give-and-take set pieces of couples testing their attraction for one another have mutated into witty prenuptial debates on the eve of marriage, as in the latter's famous "Proviso" scene. Vanbrugh's ''The Provoked Wife'' (1697) has a light touch and more humanly recognisable characters, while ''The Relapse'' (1696) has been admired for its throwaway wit and the characterisation of Lord Foppington, an extravagant and affected burlesque fop with a dark side. The tolerance for Restoration comedy even in its modified form was running out by the end of the 17th century, as public opinion turned to respectability and seriousness even faster than the playwrights did. At the much-anticipated all-star première in 1700 of ''The Way of the World'', Congreve's first comedy for five years, the audience showed only moderate enthusiasm for that subtle and almost melancholy work. The comedy of sex and wit was about to be replaced by sentimental comedy and the drama of exemplary morality.
Modern and postmodern
The pivotal and innovative contributions of the Nineteenth-century theatre, 19th-century Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen and the Twentieth-century theatre, 20th-century German theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht dominate modern drama; each inspired a tradition of imitators, which include many of the greatest playwrights of the modern era. The works of both playwrights are, in their different ways, both Modernism, modernist and Realism (theatre), realist, incorporating formal Experimental theatre, experimentation, meta-theatre, meta-theatricality, and Social criticism, social critique. In terms of the traditional theoretical discourse of genre, Ibsen's work has been described as the culmination of "Tragedy#Modern development, liberal tragedy", while Brecht's has been aligned with an Historicization, historicised comedy.
Other important playwrights of the modern era include Antonin Artaud, August Strindberg, Anton Chekhov, Frank Wedekind, Maurice Maeterlinck, Federico García Lorca, Eugene O'Neill, Luigi Pirandello, George Bernard Shaw, Ernst Toller, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Jean Genet, Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Dario Fo, Heiner Müller, and Caryl Churchill.
Opera
Opera, Western opera is a dramatic art form that arose during the Renaissance in an attempt to revive the Theatre of Ancient Greece, classical Greek drama in which dialogue, dance, and song were combined. Being strongly intertwined with Classical music, western classical music, the opera has undergone enormous changes in the past four centuries and it is an important form of theatre until this day. Noteworthy is the major influence of the German 19th-century composer Wagner, Richard Wagner on the opera tradition. In his view, there was no proper balance between music and theatre in the operas of his time, because the music seemed to be more important than the dramatic aspects in these works. To restore the connection with the classical drama, he entirely renewed the operatic form to emphasize the equal importance of music and drama in works that he called "music dramas".
Chinese opera has seen a more conservative development over a somewhat longer period of time.
Pantomime
Pantomime (informally panto), is a type of musical theatre, musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is still performed throughout the United Kingdom, generally during the Christmas and New Year season and, to a lesser extent, in other English-speaking countries. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing, employs gender-crossing actors, and combines topical humour with a story loosely based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or Folklore, folk tale.[Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline. "Pantomime", ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature'', Jack Zipes (ed.), Oxford University Press (2006), ] It is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.
These stories follow in the tradition of fables and Folklore, folk tales. Usually, there is a lesson learned, and with some help from the audience, the hero/heroine saves the day. This kind of play uses stock characters seen in masque and again commedia dell'arte, these characters include the villain (doctore), the clown/servant (Arlechino/Harlequin/buttons), the lovers etc. These plays usually have an emphasis on moral dilemmas, and good always triumphs over evil, this kind of play is also very entertaining making it a very effective way of reaching many people.
Pantomime has a long theatrical history in Western culture dating back to classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th century commedia dell'arte tradition of Italy, as well as other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques and music hall.[ An important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the harlequinade.]["The History of Pantomime"]
It's-Behind-You.com, 2002, accessed 10 February 2013 Outside Britain the word "pantomime" is usually used to mean Mime artist, miming, rather than the theatrical form discussed here.
Mime
Mime artist, Mime is a theatrical medium where the action of a story is told through the movement of the body, without the use of speech. Performance of mime occurred in Ancient Greece, and the word is taken from a single masked dancer called ''Pantomimus'', although their performances were not necessarily silent. In Medieval Europe, early forms of mime, such as Mummers Play, mummer plays and later dumbshows, evolved. In the early nineteenth century Paris, Jean-Gaspard Deburau solidified the many attributes that we have come to know in modern times, including the silent figure in whiteface.
Jacques Copeau, strongly influenced by Commedia dell'arte and Japanese Noh theatre, used masks in the training of his actors. Étienne Decroux, a pupil of his, was highly influenced by this and started exploring and developing the possibilities of mime and refined corporeal mime into a highly sculptural form, taking it outside of the realms of Naturalism (theatre), naturalism. Jacques Lecoq contributed significantly to the development of mime and physical theatre with his training methods.[Callery (2001).]
Ballet
While some ballet emphasises "the lines and patterns of movement itself" dramatic dance "expresses or imitates emotion, character, and narrative action". Such ballets are theatrical works that have characters and "tell a story",[''Encyclopaedia Britannica''] Dance movements in ballet "are often closely related to everyday forms of physical expression, [so that] there is an expressive quality inherent in nearly all dancing", and this is used to convey both action and emotions; mime is also used. Examples include Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ''Swan Lake'', which tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse, Sergei Prokofiev's ballet ''Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev), Romeo and Juliet'', based on Shakespeare's famous play, and Igor Stravinsky's ''Petrushka (ballet), Petrushka'', which tells the story of the loves and jealousies of three puppets.
Creative drama
Creative drama includes dramatic activities and games used primarily in educational settings with children. Its roots in the United States began in the early 1900s. Winifred Ward is considered to be the founder of creative drama in education, establishing the first academic use of drama in Evanston, Illinois.
Asian drama
India
The earliest form of Indian drama was the Sanskrit drama.[Richmond, Swann, and Zarrilli (1993, 12).] Between the 1st century AD and the 10th was a period of relative peace in the history of India during which hundreds of plays were written. With the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent, Islamic conquests that began in the 10th and 11th centuries, theatre was discouraged or forbidden entirely. Later, in an attempt to re-assert indigenous values and ideas, village theatre was encouraged across the subcontinent, developing in various regional languages from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The Bhakti movement was influential in performances in several regions. Apart from regional languages, Assam saw the rise of Ekasarana Dharma, Vaishnavite drama in an artificially mixed literary language called Brajavali dialect, Brajavali. A distinct form of one-act plays called Ankia Naat developed in the works of Sankardev, a particular presentation of which is called Bhaona. Modern Indian theatre developed during the British Raj, period of colonial rule under the British Empire, from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th.
Sanskrit theatre
The earliest-surviving fragments of Sanskrit drama date from the 1st century AD. The wealth of archeological evidence from earlier periods offers no indication of the existence of a tradition of theatre.[Richmond (1998, 516).] The ancient ''Vedas'' (hymns from between 1500 and 1000 BC that are among the earliest examples of History of literature#India, 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. The ''Mahābhāṣya'' by Patañjali contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of Sanskrit drama.[Richmond (1998, 517).] This treatise on grammar from 140 BC provides a feasible date for the beginnings of theatre in India.
The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is ''Natyashastra, A Treatise on Theatre'' (''Nātyaśāstra''), a compendium whose date of composition is uncertain (estimates range from 200 BC to 200 AD) and whose authorship is attributed to Bharata Muni. The ''Treatise'' is the most complete work of dramaturgy in the ancient world. It addresses acting, dance, music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
, Dramaturgy, dramatic construction, architecture, Costume design, costuming, Theatrical makeup, make-up, Theatrical properties, props, the organisation of companies, the audience, competitions, and offers a Hindu mythology, mythological account of the origin of theatre.
Its drama is regarded as the highest achievement of Sanskrit literature.[Brandon (1981, xvii).] It utilised stock characters, such as the hero (''nayaka''), heroine (''nayika''), or clown (''vidusaka''). Actors may have specialised in a particular type. It was patronized by the kings as well as village assemblies. Famous early playwrights include Bhasa, Kalidasa (famous for ''Vikramōrvaśīyam, Vikrama and Urvashi'', ''Mālavikāgnimitram, Malavika and Agnimitra'', and ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam, The Recognition of Shakuntala''), Śudraka (famous for ''Mṛcchakatika, The Little Clay Cart''), Asvaghosa, Daṇḍin, and Harsha, Emperor Harsha (famous for ''Nagananda'', ''Ratnavali,'' and ''Priyadarsika''). ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam, Śakuntalā'' (in English translation) influenced Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Goethe's ''Goethe's Faust, Faust'' (1808–1832).
Modern Indian drama
Rabindranath Tagore was a pioneering modern playwright who wrote plays noted for their exploration and questioning of nationalism, identity, spiritualism and material greed.[Banham (1998, 1051).] His plays are written in Bengali language, Bengali and include ''Chitra'' (''Chitrangada'', 1892), ''The King of the Dark Chamber'' (''Raja'', 1910), ''The Post Office (play), The Post Office'' (''Dakghar'', 1913), and ''Red Oleander'' (''Raktakarabi'', 1924).
Girish Karnad is a noted playwright, who has written a number of plays that use history and mythology, to critique and problematize ideas and ideals that are of contemporary relevance. Karnad's numerous plays such as ''Tughlaq'', ''Hayavadana'', ''Taledanda'', and ''Naga-Mandala'' are significant contributions to Indian drama. Vijay Tendulkar and Mahesh Dattani are amongst the major Indian playwrights of the 20th century. Mohan Rakesh in Hindi and Danish Iqbal in Urdu are considered architects of new age Drama. Mohan Rakesh's Aadhe Adhoore and Danish Iqbal's ''Dara Shikoh'' are considered modern classics.
Modern Urdu drama of India and Pakistan
Urdu Drama evolved from the prevailing dramatic traditions of North India shaping Rahas or Raas as practiced by exponents like Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (1822 – 1887) of Awadh. His dramatic experiments led to the famous Inder Sabha of Amanat and later this tradition took the shape of Parsi Theatre. Agha Hashr Kashmiri is the culmination of this tradition.
Urdu theatre tradition has greatly influenced modern Indian theatre. Theatre has flourished in Urdu (which was called Hindi by early writers), along with Gujarati language, Gujrati, Marathi language, Marathi, and Bengali language, Bengali. Urdu drama has had an important influence on Hindi film industry, Bombay Film industry and all the early works of Urdu theatre (performed by Parsi Companies) were made into films. Urdu dramatic tradition has existed for more than a 100 years.
Prof Hasan, Ghulam Jeelani, J.N,Kaushal, Shameem Hanfi, Jameel Shaidayi, etc. belong to the old generation, contemporary writers like Danish Iqbal, Sayeed Alam, Shahid Anwar, Iqbal Niyazi, and Anwar are a few postmodern playwrights actively contributing in the field of Urdu Drama.
Sayeed Alam is known for his wit and humour and more particularly for plays like 'Ghalib in New Delhi', 'Big B' and many other works, which are regularly staged for large audiences. ''Maulana Azad'' is his most important play both for its content and style.
Danish Iqbal's play ''Dara Shikoh'' directed by M. S. Sathyu is a modern classic that uses newer theatre techniques and a contemporary perspective. His other plays are ''Sahir''. on the famous lyricist and revolutionary poet. ''Kuchh Ishq kiya Kuchh Kaam'' is another play written by Danish which is basically a Celebration of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Faiz's poetry, featuring events from the early part of his life, particularly the events and incidents of pre-partition days which shaped his life and ideals. ''Chand Roz Aur Meri Jaan'' – another play inspired from Faiz's letters written from various jails during the Rawalpindi Conspiracy days. He has written 14 other plays including ''Dilli Jo Ek Shehr Thaa'' and ''Main Gaya Waqt Nahin hoon''. Shahid's ''Three B'' is also a significant play. He has been associated with many groups like 'Natwa' and others. Zaheer Anwar has kept the flag of Urdu theatre flying in Kolkata. Unlike the writers of previous generation Sayeed, Shahid, Danish Iqbal and Zaheer do not write bookish plays but their work is a product of performing tradition. Iqbal Niyazi of Mumbai has written several plays in Urdu, his play ''AUR KITNE JALYANWALA BAUGH?'' won a National award other awards. Hence this is the only generation after Amanat and Agha Hashr who actually write for stage and not for libraries.
China
Chinese theatre has a long and complex history. Today it is often called Chinese opera although this normally refers specifically to the popular form known as Beijing opera and Kunqu; there have been many other forms of theatre in China, such as zaju.
Japan
Japanese Noh, Nō drama is a serious dramatic form that combines drama, music, and dance into a complete aesthetic performance experience. It developed in the 14th and 15th centuries and has its own musical instruments and performance techniques, which were often handed down from father to son. The performers were generally male (for both male and female roles), although female amateurs also perform Nō dramas. Nō drama was supported by the government, and particularly the military, with many military commanders having their own troupes and sometimes performing themselves. It is still performed in Japan today.
Kyōgen is the comic counterpart to Nō drama. It concentrates more on dialogue and less on music, although Nō instrumentalists sometimes appear also in Kyōgen. Kabuki drama, developed from the 17th century, is another comic form, which includes dance.
Modern theatrical and musical drama has also developed in Japan in forms such as ''shingeki'' and the Takarazuka Revue.
See also
* Antitheatricality
* Applied Drama
* Augustan drama
* Christian drama
* Closet drama
A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a large group. The contrast between closet drama and classic "stage" dramas dates back to the late eighteenth century. Al ...
* Comedy drama
* Costume drama
* Crime drama
* Domestic drama
* Drama school
* Dramatic structure
* Dramatic theory
* Drama annotation
* Dramaturgy
* Entertainment
* Flash drama
* Folk play
* Heroic drama
* History of theatre
* Hyperdrama
* Legal drama
* Medical drama
* Melodrama
* Monodrama
* Mystery play
* One act play
* Political drama
* Soap opera
* :Theatre awards, Theatre awards
* Two-hander
* Verse drama and dramatic verse
* Well-made play
* Yakshagana
Notes
Sources
* Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Baumer, Rachel Van M., and James R. Brandon, eds. 1981. ''Sanskrit Theatre in Performance.'' Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993. .
* David Bevington, Bevington, David M. 1962. ''From ''Mankind'' to Marlowe: Growth of Structure in the Popular Drama of Tudor England.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
* Bhatta, S. Krishna. 1987. ''Indian English Drama: A Critical Study.'' New Delhi: Sterling.
* Brandon, James R. 1981. Introduction. In Baumer and Brandon (1981, xvii–xx).
* Brandon, James R., ed. 1997. ''The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre. 2nd, rev. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. .
* Brockett, Oscar G. and Franklin J. Hildy. 2003. ''History of the Theatre''. Ninth edition, International edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. .
* Brown, Andrew. 1998. "Ancient Greece." In ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 441–447. .
* Burt, Daniel S. 2008.''The Drama 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time.'' Facts on File ser. New York: Facts on File/Infobase. .
* Callery, Dympha. 2001. ''Through the Body: A Practical Guide to Physical Theatre.'' London: Nick Hern. .
* Carlson, Marvin. 1993. ''Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present.'' Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
* Cartledge, Paul. 1997. "'Deep Plays': Theatre as Process in Greek Civic Life." In Easterling (1997c, 3–35).
* Chakraborty, Kaustav, ed. 2011. ''Indian English Drama.'' New Delhi: PHI Learning.
* Deshpande, G. P., ed. 2000. ''Modern Indian Drama: An Anthology.'' New Delhi: Sahitya Akedemi.
* Dillon, Janette. 2006. ''The Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre.'' Cambridge Introductions to Literature ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Duchartre, Pierre Louis. 1929. ''The Italian Comedy''. Unabridged republication. New York: Dover, 1966. .
* Dukore, Bernard F., ed. 1974. ''Dramatic Theory and Criticism: Greeks to ''. Florence, Kentucky: Heinle & Heinle. .
* Durant, Will & Ariel Durant. 1963 ''The Story of Civilization, Volume II: The Life of Greece''. 11 vols. New York: Simon & Schuster.
* Easterling, P. E. 1997a. "A Show for Dionysus." In Easterling (1997c, 36–53).
* Easterling, P. E. 1997b. "Form and Performance." In Easterling (1997c, 151–177).
* Easterling, P. E., ed. 1997c. ''The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy''. Cambridge Companions to Literature ser. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. .
* Ehrlich, Harriet W. 1974.
Creative Dramatics as a Classroom Teaching Technique
" ''Elementary English'' 51:1 (January):75–80.
* Elam, Keir. 1980. ''The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama''. New Accents Ser. London and New York: Methuen. .
* Francis Fergusson, Fergusson, Francis. 1949. ''The Idea of a Theater: A Study of Ten Plays, The Art of Drama in a Changing Perspective.'' Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton UP, 1968. .
* Goldhill, Simon. 1997. "The Audience of Athenian Tragedy." In Easterling (1997c, 54–68).
* Gordon, Mel. 1983. ''Lazzi: The Comic Routines of the Commedia dell'Arte''. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications. .
* Gutzwiller, Kathryn. 2007. ''A Guide to Hellenistic Literature.'' London: Blackwell. .
* Harsh, Philip Whaley. 1944. ''A Handbook of Classical Drama''. Stanford: Stanford UP; Oxford: Oxford UP.
* Keith Johnstone, Johnstone, Keith. 1981. ''Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre'' Rev. ed. London: Methuen, 2007. .
* Ley, Graham. 2006. ''A Short Introduction to the Ancient Greek Theater.'' Rev. ed. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P. .
* O'Brien, Nick. 2010. ''Stanislavski In Practise''. London: Routledge. .
* O'Brien, Nick. 2007. ''The Theatricality of Greek Tragedy: Playing Space and Chorus.'' Chicago and London: U of Chicago P. .
* Pandey, Sudhakar, and Freya Taraporewala, eds. 1999. ''Studies in Contemporary India.'' New Delhi: Prestige.
* Pfister, Manfred. 1977. ''The Theory and Analysis of Drama''. Trans. John Halliday. European Studies in English Literature Ser. Cambridige: Cambridge University Press, 1988. .
* Rémy, Tristan. 1954. ''Jean-Gaspard Deburau.'' Paris: L’Arche.
* Rush Rehm, Rehm, Rush. 1992. ''Greek Tragic Theatre.'' Theatre Production Studies ser. London and New York: Routledge. .
* Richmond, Farley. 1998. "India." In Banham (1998, 516–525).
* Richmond, Farley P., Darius L. Swann, and Phillip B. Zarrilli, eds. 1993. ''Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance.'' U of Hawaii P. .
* Spivack, Bernard. 1958. ''Shakespeare and the Allegory of Evil: The History of a Metaphor in Relation to his Major Villains.'' NY and London: Columbia UP. .
* Viola Spolin, Spolin, Viola. 1967. ''Improvisation for the Theater''. Third rev. ed Evanston, II Northwestern University Press, 1999. .
* Taxidou, Olga. 2004. ''Tragedy, Modernity and Mourning''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP. .
* Glynne Wickham, Wickham, Glynne. 1959. ''Early English Stages: 1300–1660.'' Vol. 1. London: Routledge.
* Glynne Wickham, Wickham, Glynne. 1969. ''Shakespeare's Dramatic Heritage: Collected Studies in Mediaeval, Tudor and Shakespearean Drama.'' London: Routledge. .
* Glynne Wickham, Wickham, Glynne, ed. 1976. ''English Moral Interludes.'' London: Dent. .
* Glynne Wickham, Wickham, Glynne. 1981. ''Early English Stages: 1300–1660.'' Vol. 3. London: Routledge. .
* Glynne Wickham, Wickham, Glynne. 1987. ''The Medieval Theatre.'' 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Weimann, Robert. 1978. ''Shakespeare and the Popular Tradition in the Theater: Studies in the Social Dimension of Dramatic Form and Function.'' Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. .
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External links
Greek & Roman Mask Timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drama
Drama,