History of theatre

thumb|The classical Punjabi tragedy of Heer Ranjha, one of the four classic tragedies of [[Punjabi folklore; the tragedy's epic form by Waris Shah is regarded as one of the greatest pieces of Punjabi literature]]

stage work that combines songs, music, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance

thumb|The July 1858 production of at the Ichimura-za theater theatre in Edo. [[Triptych woodblock print by Utagawa Toyokuni III.|383x383px]] alt=|thumb|Onoe Kikugorō VI as Umeō-maru in |279x279px is a classical form of Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.

is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuring a supernatural being transformed into a human hero who narrates the story. Noh integrates masks, costumes and various props in a dance-based performance, requiring highly trained actors and musicians. Emotions are primarily conveyed by stylized conventional gestures while the iconic masks represent specific roles such as ghosts, women, deities, and demon

thumb|Tragic Comic masks of Ancient Greek theatre represented in the [[Hadrian's Villa mosaic.]]

form of theatre originating in Italy

thumb|300px|Burlesque on Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ|Ben-Hur, A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. The word is loaned from French and derives from the Italian ', which, in turn, is derived from the Italian ' – a joke, ridicule or mockery.

thumb|upright=1.5|Base for a statue of Thespis in the Theatre of Dionysus, 2nd century BC. thumb|200px|''Thespis' wagon'', relief of the Giotto's Belltower in [[Florence, Italy, Nino Pisano, 1334–1336]]

Japanese actor and dancer

thumb|upright=1.7|Interpretation of Robertson's Fantasmagorie from F. Marion's ''L'Optique'' (1867)

theatre of England between 1562 and 1642

theatre over the past 2,500 years

theatrical genre

plays and playmaking in the Middle Ages

narration theory

thumb|The auditorium of the Vienna State Opera thumb|A typical movie theater auditorium

Bohemian-French mime (1796-1846)

is one of the traditional styles of Japanese theater. It is composed of the lyric drama noh, and the comic theater kyōgen (狂言). Traditionally, both types of theatre are performed together, the kyōgen being interposed between the pieces of noh during a day of performances.

stage role representing a male character played by a female actor

Ground level of a theatre

1721 play

performance in clothes of the opposite sex

A sainete (farce or titbit) was a popular Spanish comic opera piece, a one-act dramatic vignette, with music. It was often placed at the end of entertainments, or between other types of performance. It was vernacular in style, and used scenes of low life. Active from the 18th to 20th centuries, it superseded the entremés. Among its most prolific composers were Ramón de la Cruz and Antonio Soler.

theatrical genre

thumb|Miniature from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.945, f. 107r A Hellmouth, or the jaws of Hell, is the entrance to Hell envisaged as the gaping mouth of a huge monster, an image that first appeared in Anglo-Saxon art, and then spread all over Europe. It remained very common in depictions of the Last Judgment and Harrowing of Hell until the end of the Middle Ages, and was still sometimes used during the Renaissance and after. It enjoyed something of a revival in polemical popular prints after the Protestant Reformation, when figures from the opposite side wou

The praetexta or fabula praetexta was a genre of Latin tragedy introduced at Rome by Gnaeus Naevius in the third century BC. It dealt with historical Roman figures, in place of the conventional Greek myths. Subsequent writers of praetextae included Ennius, Pacuvius and Lucius Accius. The name refers to the toga praetexta, purple striped, that was the official dress of Roman magistrates and priests. It was mainly a Roman garment. The toga praetexta was also worn by Roman freeborn girls before they came of age.

theatrical genre

In 16th- and 17th-century Spanish drama, an entremés (plural entremeses) was a short, comic theatrical performance of one act, usually played during the interlude of a performance of a long dramatic work. The entremés form later evolved into the sainete.

thumb|right|Karaghiozis (toy shadow puppet)

structure at the back of a theatre stage

right|framed|Use of periaktos in 17th century theater. In: Architectura recreationis, by J. Furttenbach A periaktos (plural form periaktoi, from a Greek word meaning revolving) is a device used for displaying and rapidly changing theatre scenes. It was first mentioned in Vitruvius's De architectura, but its most intense use began in Renaissance theatre, as a result of the work of important theatrical designers, such as Nicola Sabbatini. It consists of a revolving solid equilateral triangular prism made of wood. On each of its three faces, a different scene is painted, so that, by quickly revol

ceremonies accompanying a formal entry by a ruler into a city

Latin tragic performance based on Greek tragedy

French mime (1816–1898)

drama school

Italian architect

mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of scenes

thumb|Pedrolino scuffles with the Doctor, 1621 Pedrolino is a primo ('first') Zanni, or comic servant, of the commedia dell'arte; the name is a hypocorism of Pedro ('Peter'), via the suffix -lino. The character made its first appearance in the last quarter of the 16th century, apparently as the invention of the actor with whom the role was to be long identified, Giovanni Pellesini. Contemporary illustrations suggest that his white blouse and trousers constituted "a variant of the typical Zanni suit", and his Bergamasque dialect marked him as a member of the "low" rustic class. But if his costu

thumb|An 1890 bookcover showing the harlequinade characters Harlequinade is an English comic theatrical genre, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th centuries. It was originally a slapstick adaptation or variant of the ''commedia dell'arte'', which originated in Italy and reached its apogee there in the 16th and 17th centuries. The story of the Harlequinade revolves around a comic incident in the lives of its five main characters: Harlequin, who love

Theater modality in which audiences are immersed within the performance itself

French actor

local cultural tradition

theatrical genre

historic theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

editions of works, particularly play manuscripts, of particularly low fidelity to a presumptive original

Dutch actress

literary society

overview of theatrical culture in Italy