Non-fiction books about theatre

book by Aristotle

Sanskrit text on the performing arts

1872 essay by Friedrich Nietzsche

essay by Antonin Artaud

collection of three essays by Henri Bergson

Dasharupakam (Daśarūpakam) is a treatise on the structure and rules (Lakshana or Prakarana grantha) for popular theatre and drama presentations of the time, written by Dhananjaya in the 10th century. He was the court poet of Paramara king Munja. Several techniques and methods presented in the Natya Shastra and Dasharupakam are very much in use in today's theatre. The author starts with salutations, among others, to Bharata the author of Natya Shastra, whose detailed exposition he bases his work on. He however in his own words says that he has attempted to present the same in an ordered and con

The '''''''' (मानसोल्लास ) also known as Abhilashitartha Chintamani (अभिलाषितार्थ चिन्तामणि )'', is an early 12th-century Sanskrit text composed by the Kalyani Chalukya king Someshvara III, who ruled in present-day Karnataka. It is an encyclopedic work covering topics such as polity, governance, ethics, economics, astronomy, astrology, rhetoric, veterinary medicine, horticulture, perfumes, food, architecture, games, painting, poetry, dance and music. The text is a valuable source of socio-cultural information on 11th- and 12th-century India.