A Concise History of Theatre

This streamlined, engaging text helps students understand the events, places and people that have influenced the history of theatre. 

Learning Goals

Upon completing this book, readers will be able to:

• Identify the major time periods and geographic areas associated with the history of theatre
• Distinguish relevant characteristics of theatre in diverse times and places.
• Describe the underlying cultural, economic, and political environments as they affected theatre in different times and places.
• Associate major participants who made theatre within their historical and regional context.

Jim Patterson is a co-author of Stage Money: The Business of Professional Theater, Theater Careers: A Realistic Guide, Theatre in the Secondary School Classroom, and the seventh, eighth, and ninth editions of The Enjoyment of Theatre. He also wrote Stage Directing: The First Experiences. Jim Patterson spent three decades teaching at the University of South Carolina, where he headed the MFA directing program, served as Director of Undergraduate Studies, and directed the department’s summer theatre program. Now a Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Jim has been recognized for his work by the South Carolina Theatre Association and the South Carolina Speech Communication Association. He has directed over 140 stage productions plus numerous training films. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Tim Donahue is co-author of Stage Money: The Business of the Professional Theater, Theater Careers: A Realistic Guide,  and the ninth edition of The Enjoyment of Theatre.  He holds an M.B.A. from the University of South Carolina, where he retired from the Department of Theatre and Dance as the director of marketing and development after nearly ten years.

Introduction: the Theatre of Many Times and Places
The Past in the Present 
Theatre: A Definition 
Language And Its Problems 
Theatre-Like Activities 
Rituals
Paratheatrical, or Theatre-like Forms 
Historical Evidence, Emphasis, and Omissions 
Organization 

Chapter 1: Greek Theatre 
Objectives 
Context 
Theories of the Origins of Theatre 
Aristotle’s Theory
The Ritual Theory 
The Great Man Theory 
The Storytelling Theory 
The Dance Theory 
Uncertainty About Origins 
Traits of Greek Theatre 
Closely Associated with Greek Religion 
Performed Only on Special Occasions—the Festivals 
Choral 
All Male 
Competitive
Not a Commercial Activity 
Plays and Playwrights 
Thespis 
Aeschylus 
Sophocles
Euripides 
Aristophanes and Old Comedy 
Theatre Buildings and Practices 
Audience 
Acting 
Settings and Machinery 
Costumes and Masks 
The Hellenistic Period 
An Altered Greek Drama and Theatres 
Aristotle’s Poetics 
Mime 
The Shift to Rome 
Chapter 1 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing:  Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, 427 BCE 
The Story of the Play 
How We Know: Paintings on Greek Vases 
How We Know: Menander and The Grouch
 
Chapter 2: Roman Theatre  240 BCE - 550 CE 
Objectives 
Context 
Roman Festivals and Theatre of the Republic 
Tragedy and Comedy, Mostly Comedy 
Plautus 
Terence 
Three Important Texts 
Vitruvius 
Horace 
Seneca 
Theatre Buildings, Scenery, Costumes, and Masks 
Paratheatrical Entertainments 
Christian Opposition to Theatre
The Breakup of the Empire 
The Eastern (Byzantine) Empire and Theatre 
Chapter 2 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing: Plautus’s The Menaechmi
The Story of the Play 
How We Know: Theatre in an Ordinary Roman Town

Chapter 3: Early Theatre of Asia 200 BCE - 1800 CE 
Objectives 
Context 
India 
The Natyasastra 
Indian Folk Theatre Traditions 
China 
Paratheatrical Beginnings 
Kunqu Opera 
Japan 
Paratheatrical Beginnings 
Noh Drama 
Noh Staging Practices 
Kabuki 
Summary 
Chapter 3 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions
The Play's the Thing: Shakuntala 
The Story of the Play 
The Play's the Thing: Li Xingdao's Chalk Circle 
The Story of the Play 
How We Know: Shakuntala’s First Translation
The Play's the Thing: The Peony Pavilion 
The Story of the Play 

Chapter 4:  The European Middle Ages 
Objectives 
Context 
Early Medieval Drama and Theatre: 476 to 1200 
Hroswitha in Germany and Bishop Ethelwold in England
Production inside the Church 
Later Medieval Culture and Theatre, c. 1200–1550 
Religious Drama outside the Church 
Staging Religious Plays outside the Church 
Fixed and Movable Staging 
Scaffolds 
Pageants 
Costumes 
Audiences 
Secular Drama 
Production of Secular Plays 
The End of Medieval Religious Theatre: The Transformation of Medieval Secular Theatre 
Summary 
Chapter 4 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
How We Know: Bishop Ethelwold’s Stage Directions for the Quem Quaeritis Trope 
The Play’s the Thing: The Second Shepherds' Play, Anonymous 
The Story of the Play 
How We Know: Pageant Wagons 
The Play’s the Thing: Everyman, Anonymous, c. 1490 
The Story of the Play 
How We Know: Oberammergau Passion Play

Chapter 5:  The Italian Renaissance 
Objectives 
Context 
Humanism 
Secularism 
Reformation 
A Widening World 
The Fall of Constantinople 
The Printing Press 
The Arts 
Mainstream Theatre
Theory: Neoclassicism 
Practice: Italian Renaissance Drama 
Illusionism 
Vitruvius in the Renaissance 
Perspective 
Renaissance Theatres 
Teatro Olimpico 
Sabbioneta Theatre 
Teatro Farnese 
Stage Settings for Illusionistic Theatre 
Movable Scenery 
Contradiction in Mainstream Theatre 
An Alternative Theatre: Commedia dell’Arte 
Commedia Characters 
Commedia’s Influence 
Commedia’s Roots 
Italy: Eclipse 
Chapter 5 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
How We Know: Commedia Scenarios 
Act One, Flavio's Good Fortune 

Chapter 6:   The Golden Ages of England and Spain 
Objectives 
Context 
The Age of Shakespeare 
Theatre Architecture 
Audiences 
Production Practices 
Actors and Acting 
Acting Companies 
Plays and Playwrights 
Stuart Dramatists 
Shakespeare’s Legacy 
Court Masques and New Conventions: Inigo Jones 
Production Practices 
Significance 
The Closing of English Theatres 
Spain in the Golden Age 
Women as Audience and as Actors 
Spanish Public Theatres 
The Corral del Principe 
Plays and Playwrights 
Summary 
Chapter 6 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s The Thing: Calderon de la Barca’s Life is a Dream, 1635 
The Story of the Play 
How We Know: The Swan Drawing 
How We Know: Philip Henslowe’s Inventory 
How We Know: Three Public Theatres
 
Chapter 7:   Neoclassicism: Triumph and Decline in France and England 
Objectives 
Context 
French Theatre through Its Golden Age 
Neoclassicism: Corneille and Le Cid 
Italianate Staging: Public Versus Court Theatres 
The Sun King and the Golden Age
Playwrights 
Theatre Companies 
Sentimentalism 
Changes in Production Practices 
Changes in Performance Practices 
English Restoration Theatre (1660–c. 1750) 
English Public Theatre 
Theatre Architecture 
Restoration Drama 
Comedy of Manners 
Comedy of Intrigue 
Tragedy 
Audiences 
Acting Companies and Actors 
The Rise of Sentimentalism: 1700—1750 
Serious Plays: Domestic Tragedy 
Minor Forms 
Changes in Production and Performance Practices 
Chapter 7 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
How We Know: A Forgotten Theatre Recovered 
The Play’s the Thing: Jean Racine’s Phèdre (Phaedra), 1677 
The Story of the Play 
The Play’s the Thing: Molière’s Tartuffe, 1669 
The Story of the Play
 
Chapter 8: Melodrama and The Rise of Commercialism  1750 - 1900 
Objectives 
Context 
Theatre in Four Countries, circa 1700 to c 1850 
Germany 
England and France 
America 
Commercial Theatre Develops 
Actors, Managers 
David Garrick 
Edmund Kean 
Charles Macready 
Ellen Terry 
From Actor-Managers to Producers 
The Star System 
Theatrical Syndicate in the US 
Drama in the Commercial Theatre 
Shifts in Western Drama after c. 1750 
Melodrama in the Commercial Theatre 
Music 
A Simplified Moral Universe 
Spectacle 
Realistic Melodrama after c. 1850 
The Most Important Melodrama in English: Uncle Tom’s Cabin 
Playwrights of Melodrama 
Melodrama After 1900 
Comedy in the Commercial Theatre 
Sheridan and Goldsmith: English Comic Playwrights 1700 through 1800 
France and the Well-Made Play Beginning in 1815 
Oscar Wilde 
Reactions to the Commercial Theatre 
Chapter 8 at a Glance
Key Terms 
How We Know: Early Theatre Photography 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing: Augustin Daly’s Under the Gaslight, 1867 
The Story of the Play
 
Chapter 9:   Romanticism and Realism   1750 – 1900 
Objectives 
Context 
A Cluster of Ideas and Impulses 
Romanticism in the Theatre 
Two Examples of Romanticism in the Novel and on the Stage 
Romantics Revive Shakespeare 
Romanticism in Germany, England, and France 
Germany 
England 
France 
Romanticism Dwindles 
An Aftershock: Richard Wagner, a Romantic Artist, Flourishing 1842 to 1882 
Unity through the Master Artwork 
The Separated Audience 
Reform After Romanticism: Realism and Naturalism, from circa 1850 
Important Leaders of Realism and Naturalism 
Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen 
André Antoine and the Théâtre-Libre 
The Free Stage in Germany; The Independent Stage in Britain 
Konstantin Stanislavski and the Moscow Art Theatre 
Plays and Playwrights of Realism 
Ibsen 
Chekhov 
Naturalistic Playwrights: Hauptmann and Gorky 
Summary 
Chapter 9 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing: Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, 1879 
The Story of the Play
 
Chapter 10:  Theatre in Africa 
Objectives 
Context 
Northern Africa 
Sub-Saharan Africa 
Colonialism in the Country of South Africa 
Theatre in Northern Africa 
Theatre in Sub-Saharan Africa 
Yoruba Performance and its Modern Heirs 
Nigerian Playwright, Wole Soyinka 
South African Playwright, Athol Fugard 
Theatre for Development 
Summary 
Key Terms 
Captions 
Play’s the Thing: Wole Soyinka, Death and the Kings Horseman, 1976 
Story of the Play 
How We Know: Theatre in Ancient Egypt 

Chapter 11:  Reactions to Commercialism and Realism  1900-1950 
Objectives
Context 
Revolts Against Realism and Commercialism 
Two Influential Theorists Against Commercialism and Realism 
Bertolt Brecht and Epic Theatre 
Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty 
Important US Theatre Groups 
The Theatre Guild 
The Group Theatre 
The Federal Theatre Project 
The Art Theatre Movement 
Art Theatre Pioneers in Europe 
Influential Non-Realistic Stage Designers 
The Art Theatre in the US 
Playwrights, Sometimes Commercial, Sometimes Realistic 
Eugene O'Neill 
Elmer Rice: Expressionism on Broadway 
Thornton Wilder 
Luigi Pirandello 
Frederico Garcia Lorca 
Comedy in the Commercial Theatre 
George S. Kaufman 
George Bernard Shaw 
Noel Coward 
Theatre under Occupation and Totalitarianism 
Commercial Theatre Declines 
Summary 
Chapter 11 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing: Antonin Artaud’s Jet of Blood, 1924 
Story of the Play: Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, produced 1956 
The Story of the Play 

Chapter 12: Musical Theatre 
Objectives 
Context 
The American Musical Emerges 
Composers 
Lyricists 
The Integrated Musical 
Gender and Race and the American Musical 
Song Forms 
Musicals Since 1950 
Hair 
A Chorus Line 
Stephen Sondheim: Lyricist and Composer 
Musicals and Popular Songs 
The Sung-Through Musical 
Jukebox Musicals 
Disney Recycles and Musical Revivals 
Summary 
Chapter 12 at a Glance 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing: Girl Crazy, 1930 
The Story of the Musical 
How We Know:  Preserving Musicals
 
Chapter 13:  Eclecticism: U.S. Theatre from 1950 
Objectives
Context 
The Age of Anxiety 
Societal Changes 
Technology 
The Rise of Terrorism 
Theatre Becomes Eclectic: an Overview 
Professional Theatre 
Commercial Theatre 
Not-for-Profit Theatre 
Plays Since 1950 
Tennessee Williams 
Arthur Miller 
Edward Albee 
Other Plays and Playwrights 
Imported Plays 
Comedy, Mostly Neil Simon 
The Decline of the Non-Musical Play on Broadway 
The Political Avant-Garde in Theatre 
The Political Avant-Garde in Miniature: The Living Theatre
The Artistic Avant-Garde in Theatre 
The Artistic Avant-Garde in Miniature: Joseph Chaikin and the Open Theatre
The Avant-garde Fades 
Identity Theatre Emerges 
African-American Theatre 
Women’s Theatre 
Gay and Lesbian Theatre 
Latinos/Latinas 
Identity Theatre Into the Mainstream: Two Examples 
Absurdism, Performance Art, and Postmodernism 
Absurdism 
Performance Art 
Postmodernism 
Theatrical Responses to 9/11 and New Wars 
Metamorphoses: New York 
Guantánamo: British 
The Lysistrata Project: International 
Black Watch: Scotland 
All My Sons: New York 
The Cultural Displacement of Theatre 
The Play’s the Thing: Tyler Perry and the Chitlin’ Circuit 
How We Know: Theatre on Film and Tape Archive 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing: August Wilson’s Century of African American Life 
The Play’s the Thing: Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, 1947 
The Story of the Play 
The Play's the Thing: Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz, 1992 
The Story of the Play 

Chapter 14: European Theatre after 1950 
Objectives 
Context 
Germany 
Important German Playwrights 
Great Britian 
The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre 
British Playwrights 
France 
French Playwrights 
Italy 
Poland 
Australia 
Summary 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing: Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, 1982 
The Story of the Play 

Chapter 15:  Theatre in Asia from 1800 
Objectives 
Context 
India 
Western-Style Theatre Emerges 
Chinese Theater after 1790 
Beijing Opera 
Spoken Drama 
Theatre in Communist China 
Later Japanese Theatre 
Butoh: Dance, Theatre, or What?
Kabuki Continues 
Summary 
Key Terms 
Captions 
The Play’s the Thing: Tragore’s The Post Office, 1924 

Chapter 16:  Globalization of Theatre 
Objectives 
Context 
Musicals in Asia 
Other International Musical Successes 
Techniques and Styles 
Asian and African Theatre in Western Countries 
Global Shakespeare 
A Safe Way to Dissent 
Theme-park Shakespeare 
Belarus Free Theatre 
Summary 
Key Terms 
Captions 
 

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