Western theatre

Introduction
The origins of Western theatre
- Pre-Classical antiquity
  - Nature worship
  - Shamanism
- Ancient Egypt
- Ancient Greece
  - Dramatic genres
  - The theatre
- Ancient Rome
  - Native traditions
  - Imitation of Greek models
  - Seeds of decay
  - Mime and pantomime
Medieval theatre
- Popular traditions and secular theatre
- Liturgical drama
- Mystery cycles
- Morality plays
- Interludes
Renaissance theatre
- Classical revival
- The Renaissance stage
- Major theatrical styles, tendencies, and forms
  - Italian Neoclassicism
  - Courtly entertainments
  - Opera
  - Commedia dell’arte
  - Jesuit theatre and school drama
  - Spain’s Golden Age
  - English theatre
    - Elizabethan theatre
    - Jacobean theatre
  - German theatre
  - French Neoclassicism
  - Spread of national theatres
  - Ballet and opera-ballet
  - Restoration theatre
The 18th century theatre
- Middle-class drama
- The beginnings of American theatre
The 19th-century theatre
- The Romantic theatre
  - Melodrama
  - The early 19th century
  - Rise in the number of theatres
  - Romantic realism
  - The actor-manager
- Movement toward realism
  - Naturalism
  - Théâtre-Libre
  - Freie Bühne
  - The independent theatre
  - Moscow Art Theatre
- The American theatre
- Popular entertainment
Theatre of the 20th century and beyond
- After realism
  - The new stagecraft
  - Russia
  - Italy
  - Expressionism in Germany
  - Avant-garde in France
  - Ireland
  - Great Britain
  - United States
- Post-World War II theatre
  - Avant-garde experiments
    - The epic theatre of Brecht
    - Theatre of Fact
    - Theatre of the Absurd
    - Theatre of Cruelty
    - Poor theatre
  - United States
    - Broadway
    - Off-Broadway
    - Off-Off Broadway and regional theatre
    - African American, Asian, and Hispanic companies
    - Women’s companies and gay and lesbian theatre
  - Great Britain
    - Alternative theatre
    - National theatres
    - Government subsidies
    - Regional theatre
  - Australia, New Zealand, and Canada
  - France
  - Germany
  - Theatre under the Soviet Union
  - Other European countries

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Ancient Egyptian illustration from the Book of the Dead showing Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, with gods seated above and hieroglyphic text throughout.

Stone amphitheatre at Epidaurus, Greece, with rows of tiered seating curving around a circular stage, surrounded by trees and distant mountains under a cloudy sky.

Leptis Magna, Libya: Roman amphitheatre

Drawing of an ancient Roman pantomimus

Witness Western theatre in the Middle Ages by following a troupe performing The Play of Abraham and Isaac

setting for the Valenciennes mystery play

Ornate stage of Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy, featuring classical architectural details, statues in niches, and a central archway opening onto a perspective street set.

commedia dell'arte troupe

Go inside a Globe Theatre model with Maynard Mack to examine features of the Elizabethan playhouse

Italian-manner stage

Related Questions

Ancient Egyptian illustration from the Book of the Dead showing Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, with gods seated above and hieroglyphic text throughout. — Egyptian Book of the Dead: Anubis Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, c. 1275 bce.

Western theatre

art

Written by

Kenneth Grahame Rea

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Western theatre, history of the Western theatre from its origins in pre-Classical antiquity to the present. For a discussion of drama as a literary form, see dramatic literature and the articles on individual national literatures. For detailed information on the arts of theatrical performance and stagecraft, see theatre, directing, acting, and theatrical production. Notwithstanding its great diversity of styles, forms, themes, and functions, the theatre of today has its roots in a basic impulse to...

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