# Drama

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Artwork intended for performance; formal type of literature

For the film and television genre, see [Drama (film and television)](/source/Drama_(film_and_television)). For other uses, see [Drama (disambiguation)](/source/Drama_(disambiguation)).

Depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's play *[Richard III](/source/Richard_III_(play))*

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**Drama** is the specific [mode](/source/Mode_(literature)) of [fiction](/source/Fiction) [represented](/source/Mimesis) in [performance](/source/Performance): a [play](/source/Play_(theatre)), [opera](/source/Opera), [mime](/source/Mime), [ballet](/source/Ballet), etc., performed in a [theatre](/source/Theatre), or on [radio](/source/Radio_drama) or [television](/source/Television).[1] Considered as a genre of [poetry](/source/Poetry) in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the [epic](/source/Epic_poetry) and the [lyrical](/source/Lyric_poetry) modes ever since [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle)'s *[Poetics](/source/Poetics_(Aristotle))* (c. 335 BC)—the earliest work of [dramatic theory](/source/Dramatic_theory).[2]

The term "drama" comes from a [Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) word meaning "deed" or "[act](/source/Action_(philosophy))" (δρᾶμα, *drâma*), which is derived from "I do" (δράω, *dráō*). The two [masks](/source/Mask) associated with drama represent the traditional [generic](/source/Genre) division between [comedy](/source/Comedy_(drama)) and [tragedy](/source/Tragedy).

In English (as was the analogous case in many other European languages), the word *[play](/source/Play_(theatre))* or *game* (translating the [Anglo-Saxon](/source/Old_English) *pleġan* or [Latin](/source/Latin) *ludus*) was the standard term for dramas until [William Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare)'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](/source/Theater_(building))*.[3]

The use of "drama" in a more narrow sense to designate a specific *type* of [play](/source/Play_(theatre)) 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](/source/%C3%89mile_Zola) *[Thérèse Raquin](/source/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_Raquin)* (1873) or [Chekhov's](/source/Anton_Chekhov) *[Ivanov](/source/Ivanov_(play))* (1887). It is this narrower sense that the [film](/source/Film) and [television](/source/Television) industries, along with [film studies](/source/Film_studies), adopted to describe "[drama](/source/Drama_(film_and_television))" as a [genre](/source/Film_genre) within their respective media. The term "[radio drama](/source/Radio_drama)" has been used in both senses—originally transmitted in a live performance. It may also be used to refer to the more high-brow and serious end of the dramatic output of [radio](/source/Radio).[4]

The enactment of drama in [theatre](/source/Theatre), performed by [actors](/source/Actor) on a [stage](/source/Stage_(theatre)) before an [audience](/source/Audience), presupposes [collaborative](/source/Collaboration) modes of production and a [collective](/source/Collective) form of reception. The [structure of dramatic texts](/source/Dramatic_structure), unlike other forms of [literature](/source/Literature), is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception.[5]

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](/source/Music): the dramatic text in [opera](/source/Opera) is generally sung throughout; in some ballets dance "expresses or imitates emotion, character, and narrative action."[6] [Musicals](/source/Musical_theatre) include both spoken [dialogue](/source/Dialogue) and [songs](/source/Song); and some forms of drama have [incidental music](/source/Incidental_music) or musical accompaniment underscoring the dialogue ([melodrama](/source/Melodrama) and Japanese [Nō](/source/Noh), for example).[7] [Closet drama](/source/Closet_drama) is a form that is intended to be read, rather than performed.[8] In [improvisation](/source/Improvisational_theatre), the drama does not pre-exist the moment of performance; performers devise a dramatic script spontaneously before an audience.[9]

## History of Western drama

### Classical Greek drama

Main article: [Theatre of ancient Greece](/source/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece)

*Relief of a seated poet ([Menander](/source/Menander)) with masks of New Comedy*, 1st century BC – early 1st century AD, [Princeton University Art Museum](/source/Princeton_University_Art_Museum)

[Western](/source/Western_culture) drama originates in [classical Greece](/source/Classical_Greece).[10] The [theatrical culture](/source/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece) of the [city-state](/source/Polis) of [Athens](/source/Classical_Athens) produced three [genres](/source/Genre) of drama: [tragedy](/source/Tragedy), [comedy](/source/Comedy_(drama)), and the [satyr play](/source/Satyr_play). Their origins remain obscure, though by the 5th century BC, they were [institutionalised](/source/Institution) in [competitions](/source/Agon) held as part of [festivities](/source/Athenian_festivals) celebrating the god [Dionysus](/source/Dionysus).[11] Historians know the names of many ancient Greek dramatists, not least [Thespis](/source/Thespis), who is credited with the innovation of an actor ("*hypokrites*") who speaks (rather than sings) and impersonates a [character](/source/Character_(arts)) (rather than speaking in his own person), while interacting with the [chorus](/source/Greek_chorus) and its leader ("*[coryphaeus](/source/Coryphaeus)*"), who were a traditional part of the performance of non-dramatic poetry ([dithyrambic](/source/Dithyramb), [lyric](/source/Lyric_poetry) and [epic](/source/Epic_poetry)).[12]

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](/source/Aeschylus), [Sophocles](/source/Sophocles) and [Euripides](/source/Euripides), and the comic writers [Aristophanes](/source/Aristophanes) and, from the late 4th century, [Menander](/source/Menander).[13] Aeschylus' historical tragedy *[The Persians](/source/The_Persians)* is the oldest surviving drama, although when it won first prize at the [City Dionysia](/source/Dionysia) competition in 472 BC, he had been writing plays for more than 25 years.[14] The competition ("*[agon](/source/Agon)*") for tragedies may have begun as early as 534 BC; official records ("*didaskaliai*") begin from 501 BC when the [satyr play](/source/Satyr_play) was introduced.[15] Tragic dramatists were required to present a [tetralogy](/source/Tetralogy) 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](/source/Alcestis_(play))* in 438 BC). [Comedy](/source/Comedy) was officially recognized with a prize in the competition from 487 to 486 BC.

Five comic dramatists competed at the City [Dionysia](/source/Dionysia) (though during the [Peloponnesian War](/source/Peloponnesian_War) this may have been reduced to three), each offering a single comedy.[16] [Ancient Greek comedy](/source/Ancient_Greek_comedy) is traditionally divided between "old comedy" (5th century BC), "middle comedy" (4th century BC) and "new comedy" (late 4th century to 2nd BC).[17]

### Classical Roman drama

Main article: [Theatre of ancient Rome](/source/Theatre_of_ancient_Rome)

An ivory statuette of a Roman actor of [tragedy](/source/Tragedy), 1st century AD

Following the expansion of the [Roman Republic](/source/Roman_Republic) (527–509 BC) into several Greek territories between 270 and 240 BC, Rome encountered [Greek drama](/source/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece).[18] From the later years of the republic and by means of the [Roman Empire](/source/Roman_Empire) (27 BC–476 AD), theatre spread west across Europe, around the Mediterranean and reached England; [Roman theatre](/source/Theater_of_ancient_Rome) was more varied, extensive and sophisticated than that of any culture before it.[19]

While Greek drama continued to be performed throughout the Roman period, the year 240 BC marks the beginning of regular [Roman drama](/source/Theatre_of_ancient_Rome).[20] From the beginning of the empire, however, interest in full-length drama declined in favour of a broader variety of theatrical entertainments.[21] The first important works of [Roman literature](/source/Latin_literature) were the [tragedies](/source/Tragedy) and [comedies](/source/Comedy_(drama)) that [Livius Andronicus](/source/Livius_Andronicus) wrote from 240 BC.[22] Five years later, [Gnaeus Naevius](/source/Gnaeus_Naevius) also began to write drama.[22] No plays from either writer have survived. While both dramatists composed in both [genres](/source/Genres), 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.[22]

By the beginning of the 2nd century BC, drama was firmly established in Rome and a [guild](/source/Guild) of writers (*collegium poetarum*) had been formed.[23] The Roman comedies that have survived are all *[fabula palliata](/source/Fabula_palliata)* (comedies based on Greek subjects) and come from two dramatists: [Titus Maccius Plautus](/source/Plautus) (Plautus) and [Publius Terentius Afer](/source/Terence) (Terence).[24] In re-working the Greek originals, the Roman comic dramatists abolished the role of the [chorus](/source/Greek_chorus) in dividing the drama into [episodes](/source/Episode) and introduced musical accompaniment to its [dialogue](/source/Dialogue) (between one-third of the dialogue in the comedies of Plautus and two-thirds in those of Terence).[25] The action of all scenes is set in the exterior location of a street and its complications often follow from [eavesdropping](/source/Eavesdropping).[25]

Plautus, the more popular of the two, wrote between 205 and 184 BC and twenty of his comedies survive, of which his [farces](/source/Farce) are best known; he was admired for the [wit](/source/Wit) of his dialogue and his use of a variety of [poetic meters](/source/Meter_(poetry)).[26] 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.[26] No early Roman tragedy survives, though it was highly regarded in its day; historians know of three early tragedians—[Quintus Ennius](/source/Quintus_Ennius), [Marcus Pacuvius](/source/Marcus_Pacuvius), and [Lucius Accius](/source/Lucius_Accius).[25]

From the time of the empire, the work of two tragedians survives—one is an unknown author, while the other is the Stoic philosopher [Seneca](/source/Seneca_the_Younger).[27] Nine of Seneca's tragedies survive, all of which are *fabula crepidata* (tragedies adapted from Greek originals); his *[Phaedra](/source/Phaedra_(Seneca))*, for example, was based on [Euripides](/source/Euripides)' *[Hippolytus](/source/Hippolytus_(play))*.[28] Historians do not know who wrote the only [extant](/source/Extant_literature) example of the *fabula praetexta* (tragedies based on Roman subjects), *[Octavia](/source/Octavia_(play))*, but in former times it was mistakenly attributed to Seneca due to his appearance as a [character](/source/Character_(arts)) in the tragedy.[27]

### Medieval

Main article: [Medieval theatre](/source/Medieval_theatre)

Stage drawing from a 15th-century vernacular [morality play](/source/Morality_play) *[The Castle of Perseverance](/source/The_Castle_of_Perseverance)* (as found in the [Macro Manuscript](/source/Macro_Manuscript))

Beginning in the [early Middle Ages](/source/Early_Middle_Ages), churches staged dramatised versions of biblical events, known as [liturgical dramas](/source/Liturgical_drama), to enliven annual celebrations.[29] The earliest example is the [Easter](/source/Easter) trope *Whom do you Seek? (Quem-Quaeritis)* (c. 925).[30] Two groups would sing responsively in [Latin](/source/Latin), though no impersonation of [characters](/source/Character_(arts)) was involved. By the 11th century, it had spread through Europe to [Russia](/source/Russia), [Scandinavia](/source/Scandinavia), and [Italy](/source/Italy); excluding [Islamic-era Spain](/source/Al-Andalus).

In the 10th century, [Hrosvitha](/source/Hrosvitha) wrote six plays in Latin modeled on [Terence](/source/Terence)'s comedies, but which treated religious subjects.[31] Her plays are the first known to be composed by a female dramatist and the first identifiable Western drama of the post-Classical era.[31] Later, [Hildegard of Bingen](/source/Hildegard_of_Bingen) wrote a [musical](/source/Music) drama, *Ordo Virtutum* (c. 1155).[31]

One of the most famous of the early [secular](/source/Secularity) plays is the courtly [pastoral](/source/Pastoral) *[Robin and Marion](/source/Jeu_de_Robin_et_Marion)*, written in the 13th century in French by [Adam de la Halle](/source/Adam_de_la_Halle).[32] *[The Interlude of the Student and the Girl](/source/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](/source/Farce), such as *[The Boy and the Blind Man](/source/The_Boy_and_the_Blind_Man).*[33]

Many plays survive from [France](/source/France) and [Germany](/source/Germany) in the [late Middle Ages](/source/Late_Middle_Ages), when some type of religious drama was performed in nearly every European country. Many of these plays contained [comedy](/source/Comedy_(drama)), [devils](/source/Devil), [villains](/source/Villain), and [clowns](/source/Clown).[34] In England, trade guilds began to perform [vernacular](/source/Vernacular) "[mystery plays](/source/Mystery_plays)", which were composed of long cycles of many playlets or "pageants", of which four are [extant](/source/Extant_literature): [York](/source/York_Mystery_Plays) (48 plays), [Chester](/source/Chester_Mystery_Plays) (24), [Wakefield](/source/Wakefield_Mystery_Plays) (32) and the so-called "[N-Town](/source/N-Town_Plays)" (42). *[The Second Shepherds' Play](/source/The_Second_Shepherds'_Play)* from the Wakefield cycle is a farcical story of a stolen sheep that its [protagonist](/source/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](/source/Nativity_of_Jesus).[35]

[Morality plays](/source/Morality_plays) (a modern term) emerged as a distinct dramatic form around 1400 and flourished in the early [Elizabethan era](/source/Elizabethan_era) in England. Characters were often used to represent different ethical ideals. *[Everyman](/source/Everyman_(15th-century_play))*, 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](/source/The_Castle_of_Perseverance)* (c. 1400–1425) depicts an archetypal figure's progress from birth through to death. *[Horestes](/source/Horestes)* (c. 1567), a late "hybrid morality" and one of the earliest examples of an English [revenge play](/source/Revenge_play), brings together the classical story of [Orestes](/source/Orestes) with a [Vice](/source/Vice_(character)) from the medieval [allegorical](/source/Allegory) tradition, alternating comic, [slapstick](/source/Slapstick) scenes with serious, [tragic](/source/Tragedy) ones.[36] Also important in this period were the folk dramas of the [Mummers Play](/source/Mummers_Play), performed during the [Christmas](/source/Christmas) season. Court [masques](/source/Masque) were particularly popular during the reign of [Henry VIII](/source/Henry_VIII).[37]

### Elizabethan and Jacobean

Main article: [English Renaissance theatre](/source/English_Renaissance_theatre)

One of the great flowerings of drama in [England](/source/England) occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries. Many of these plays were written in verse, particularly [iambic pentameter](/source/Iambic_pentameter). In addition to Shakespeare, such authors as [Christopher Marlowe](/source/Christopher_Marlowe), [Thomas Middleton](/source/Thomas_Middleton), and [Ben Jonson](/source/Ben_Jonson) were prominent playwrights during this period. As in the [medieval period](/source/Middle_Ages), historical plays celebrated the lives of past kings, enhancing the image of the [Tudor](/source/Tudor_dynasty) monarchy. Authors of this period drew some of their storylines from [Greek mythology](/source/Greek_mythology) and [Roman mythology](/source/Roman_mythology) or from the plays of eminent Roman playwrights such as [Plautus](/source/Plautus) and [Terence](/source/Terence).

### English Restoration comedy

Main article: [Restoration comedy](/source/Restoration_comedy)

[Colley Cibber](/source/Colley_Cibber) as the extravagant and affected Lord Foppington, "brutal, evil, and smart", in [Vanbrugh's](/source/John_Vanbrugh) *[The Relapse](/source/The_Relapse)* (1696)

[Restoration comedy](/source/Restoration_comedy) refers to English comedies written and performed in England during the [Restoration](/source/Restoration_(England)) period from 1660 to 1710. [Comedy of manners](/source/Comedy_of_manners) is used as a synonym of Restoration comedy.[38] After [public theatre had been banned](/source/London_theatre_closure_1642) by the [Puritan](/source/Puritan) regime, the re-opening of the theatres in 1660 with the Restoration of [Charles II](/source/Charles_II_of_England) signalled a renaissance of [English drama](/source/English_drama).[39] Restoration comedy is known for its [sexual](/source/Human_sexual_behavior) explicitness, urbane, cosmopolitan [wit](/source/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 [Jacobean](/source/James_I_of_England) and [Caroline](/source/Charles_I_of_England) plays, and even from [Greek](/source/Greek_theatre) and [Roman](/source/Theatre_of_ancient_Rome) 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 [aristocratic](/source/Aristocracy) comedies. Twenty lean years followed this short golden age, although the achievement of the first professional female playwright, [Aphra Behn](/source/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](/source/John_Dryden), [William Wycherley](/source/William_Wycherley), and [George Etherege](/source/George_Etherege) reflected the atmosphere at Court and celebrated with frankness an aristocratic [macho](/source/Machismo) lifestyle of unremitting sexual intrigue and conquest. The [Earl of Rochester](/source/John_Wilmot%2C_2nd_Earl_of_Rochester), real-life Restoration rake, courtier and poet, is flatteringly portrayed in Etherege's *[The Man of Mode](/source/The_Man_of_Mode)* (1676) as a riotous, witty, intellectual, and sexually irresistible aristocrat, a template for posterity's idea of the glamorous [Restoration rake](/source/Rake_(character)) (actually never a very common character in Restoration comedy). The single play that does most to support the charge of [obscenity](/source/Obscenity) levelled then and now at Restoration comedy is probably Wycherley's masterpiece *[The Country Wife](/source/The_Country_Wife)* (1675), whose title contains a lewd [pun](/source/Pun) and whose notorious "china scene" is a series of sustained [double entendres](/source/Double_entendre).[40]

During the second wave of Restoration comedy in the 1690s, the "softer" comedies of [William Congreve](/source/William_Congreve_(playwright)) and [John Vanbrugh](/source/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](/source/Love_for_Love)* (1695) and *[The Way of the World](/source/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](/source/The_Provoked_Wife)* (1697) has a light touch and more humanly recognisable characters, while *[The Relapse](/source/The_Relapse)* (1696) has been admired for its throwaway wit and the characterisation of Lord Foppington, an extravagant and affected burlesque [fop](/source/Fop) with a dark side.[41] 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.[42] 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](/source/Sentimental_comedy) and the drama of exemplary morality.

### Modern and postmodern

The pivotal and innovative contributions of the [19th-century](/source/Nineteenth-century_theatre) Norwegian dramatist [Henrik Ibsen](/source/Henrik_Ibsen) and the [20th-century](/source/Twentieth-century_theatre) German theatre practitioner [Bertolt Brecht](/source/Bertolt_Brecht) dominate modern drama; each inspired a tradition of imitators, which include many of the greatest playwrights of the modern era.[43] The works of both playwrights are, in their different ways, both [modernist](/source/Modernism) and [realist](/source/Realism_(theatre)), incorporating formal [experimentation](/source/Experimental_theatre), [meta-theatricality](/source/Meta-theatre), and [social critique](/source/Social_criticism).[44] In terms of the traditional theoretical discourse of genre, Ibsen's work has been described as the culmination of "[liberal tragedy](/source/Tragedy#Modern_development)", while Brecht's has been aligned with an [historicised](/source/Historicization) comedy.[45]

Other important playwrights of the modern era include [Antonin Artaud](/source/Antonin_Artaud), [August Strindberg](/source/August_Strindberg), [Anton Chekhov](/source/Anton_Chekhov), [Frank Wedekind](/source/Frank_Wedekind), [Maurice Maeterlinck](/source/Maurice_Maeterlinck), [Federico García Lorca](/source/Federico_Garc%C3%ADa_Lorca), [Eugene O'Neill](/source/Eugene_O'Neill), [Luigi Pirandello](/source/Luigi_Pirandello), [George Bernard Shaw](/source/George_Bernard_Shaw), [Ernst Toller](/source/Ernst_Toller), [Vladimir Mayakovsky](/source/Vladimir_Mayakovsky), [Arthur Miller](/source/Arthur_Miller), [Tennessee Williams](/source/Tennessee_Williams), [Jean Genet](/source/Jean_Genet), [Eugène Ionesco](/source/Eug%C3%A8ne_Ionesco), [Samuel Beckett](/source/Samuel_Beckett), [Harold Pinter](/source/Harold_Pinter), [Friedrich Dürrenmatt](/source/Friedrich_D%C3%BCrrenmatt), [Dario Fo](/source/Dario_Fo), [Heiner Müller](/source/Heiner_M%C3%BCller), and [Caryl Churchill](/source/Caryl_Churchill).

## Opera

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[Western opera](/source/Opera) is a dramatic art form that arose during the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance)[46] in an attempt to revive the [classical Greek drama](/source/Theatre_of_Ancient_Greece) in which dialogue, dance, and song were combined. Being strongly intertwined with [western classical music](/source/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 [Richard Wagner](/source/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](/source/Music_drama)".

[Chinese opera](/source/Chinese_opera) has seen a more conservative development over a somewhat longer period of time.

## Pantomime

Main article: [Pantomime](/source/Pantomime)

[Pantomime](/source/Pantomime) (informally "panto"),[47] is a type of [musical comedy](/source/Musical_theatre) 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](/source/Topical_humour) with a story loosely based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or [folk tale](/source/Folklore).[48][49] 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. Part of the appeal of [amateur dramatics](/source/Amateur_dramatics) pantomime productions is seeing well-known local figures on stage.[50]

These stories follow in the tradition of [fables](/source/Fable) and [folk tales](/source/Folklore). 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](/source/Stock_character) seen in masque and again [commedia dell'arte](/source/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](/source/Moral_dilemma), 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](/source/Commedia_dell'arte) tradition of Italy, as well as other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century [masques](/source/Masque) and [music hall](/source/Music_hall).[48] An important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the [harlequinade](/source/Harlequinade).[51] Outside Britain the word "pantomime" is usually used to mean **[miming](/source/Mime_artist)**, rather than the theatrical form discussed here.[52]

## Mime

[Mime](/source/Mime_artist) 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](/source/Ancient_Greece), and the word is taken from a single masked dancer called *Pantomimus*, although their performances were not necessarily silent.[53] In [Medieval](/source/Medieval) Europe, early forms of mime, such as [mummer plays](/source/Mummers_Play) and later [dumbshows](/source/Dumbshow), evolved. In the early nineteenth century [Paris](/source/Paris), [Jean-Gaspard Deburau](/source/Jean-Gaspard_Deburau) solidified the many attributes that we have come to know in modern times, including the silent figure in whiteface.[54]

[Jacques Copeau](/source/Jacques_Copeau), strongly influenced by [Commedia dell'arte](/source/Commedia_dell'arte) and Japanese [Noh](/source/Noh) theatre, used masks in the training of his actors. [Étienne Decroux](/source/%C3%89tienne_Decroux), a pupil of his, was highly influenced by this and started exploring and developing the possibilities of mime and refined [corporeal mime](/source/Corporeal_mime) into a highly sculptural form, taking it outside of the realms of [naturalism](/source/Naturalism_(theatre)). [Jacques Lecoq](/source/Jacques_Lecoq) contributed significantly to the development of mime and [physical theatre](/source/Physical_theatre) with his training methods.[55]

## Ballet

Main article: [Ballet](/source/Ballet)

While some ballet emphasises "the lines and patterns of movement itself" dramatic dance "expresses or imitates emotion, character, and narrative action".[6] Such ballets are theatrical works that have characters and "tell a story",[56] 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.[56] Examples include [Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky](/source/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky)'s *[Swan Lake](/source/Swan_Lake)*, which tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse, [Sergei Prokofiev](/source/Sergei_Prokofiev)'s ballet *[Romeo and Juliet](/source/Romeo_and_Juliet_(Prokofiev))*, based on Shakespeare's famous play, and [Igor Stravinsky](/source/Igor_Stravinsky)'s *[Petrushka](/source/Petrushka_(ballet))*, 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](/source/Winifred_Ward) is considered to be the founder of creative drama in education, establishing the first academic use of drama in Evanston, Illinois.[57]

## Asian drama

### India

Main article: [Theatre in India](/source/Theatre_in_India)

A scene from the drama *Macbeth* by [Kalidasa Kalakendram](/source/Kalidasa_Kalakendram) in [Kollam](/source/Kollam) city, [India](/source/India)

The earliest form of [Indian](/source/India) drama was the [Sanskrit drama](/source/Sanskrit_drama).[58] Between the 1st century AD and the 10th was a period of relative peace in the [history of India](/source/History_of_India) during which hundreds of plays were written.[59] With the [Islamic conquests](/source/Muslim_conquest_in_the_Indian_subcontinent) that began in the 10th and 11th centuries, theatre was discouraged or forbidden entirely.[60] 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.[61] The [Bhakti movement](/source/Bhakti_movement) was influential in performances in several regions. Apart from regional languages, [Assam](/source/Assam) saw the rise of [Vaishnavite](/source/Ekasarana_Dharma) drama in an artificially mixed literary language called [Brajavali](/source/Brajavali_dialect).[62] A distinct form of one-act plays called [Ankia Naat](/source/Ankia_Naat) developed in the works of [Sankardev](/source/Sankardev),[63] a particular presentation of which is called [Bhaona](/source/Bhaona).[64] Modern Indian theatre developed during the [period of colonial rule](/source/British_Raj) under the [British Empire](/source/British_Empire), from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th.[65]

#### Sanskrit theatre

Main article: [Sanskrit drama](/source/Sanskrit_drama)

Performer playing [Sugriva](/source/Sugriva) in the [Koodiyattam](/source/Koodiyattam) form of [Sanskrit theatre](/source/Sanskrit_drama)

The earliest-surviving fragments of [Sanskrit drama](/source/Sanskrit_drama) date from the 1st century AD.[66] The wealth of archeological evidence from earlier periods offers no indication of the existence of a tradition of theatre.[67] The ancient *[Vedas](/source/Vedas)* ([hymns](/source/Hymn) from between 1500 and 1000 BC that are among the earliest examples of [literature](/source/History_of_literature#India) in the world) contain no hint of it (although a small number are composed in a form of [dialogue](/source/Dialogue)) and the [rituals](/source/Ritual) of the [Vedic period](/source/Vedic_period) do not appear to have developed into theatre.[67] The *[Mahābhāṣya](/source/Mah%C4%81bh%C4%81%E1%B9%A3ya)* by [Patañjali](/source/Pata%C3%B1jali) contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of Sanskrit drama.[68] This treatise on [grammar](/source/Grammar) from 140 BC provides a feasible date for the beginnings of [theatre in India](/source/Theatre_in_India).[68]

The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is *[A Treatise on Theatre](/source/Natyashastra)* (*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](/source/Bharata_Muni). The *Treatise* is the most complete work of dramaturgy in the ancient world. It addresses [acting](/source/Acting), [dance](/source/Dance), [music](/source/Music), [dramatic construction](/source/Dramaturgy), architecture, [costuming](/source/Costume_design), [make-up](/source/Theatrical_makeup), [props](/source/Theatrical_properties), the organisation of companies, the audience, competitions, and offers a [mythological](/source/Hindu_mythology) account of the origin of theatre.[68]

Its drama is regarded as the highest achievement of [Sanskrit literature](/source/Sanskrit_literature).[69] It utilised [stock characters](/source/Stock_character), 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](/source/Bhasa), [Kalidasa](/source/Kalidasa) (famous for *[Urvashi, Won by Valour](/source/Vikram%C5%8Drva%C5%9B%C4%AByam)*, *[Malavika and Agnimitra](/source/M%C4%81lavik%C4%81gnimitram)*, and *[The Recognition of Shakuntala](/source/Abhij%C3%B1%C4%81na%C5%9B%C4%81kuntalam)*), [Śudraka](/source/%C5%9Audraka) (famous for *[The Little Clay Cart](/source/M%E1%B9%9Bcchakatika)*), [Asvaghosa](/source/Asvaghosa), [Daṇḍin](/source/Da%E1%B9%87%E1%B8%8Din), and [Emperor Harsha](/source/Harsha) (famous for *[Nagananda](/source/Nagananda)*, *[Ratnavali](/source/Ratnavali),* and *[Priyadarsika](/source/Priyadarsika)*). *[Śakuntalā](/source/Abhij%C3%B1%C4%81na%C5%9B%C4%81kuntalam)* (in English translation) influenced [Goethe's](/source/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe) *[Faust](/source/Goethe's_Faust)* (1808–1832).[69]

#### Mobile theatre

A distinct form of theatre has developed in India where the entire crew travels performing plays from place to place, with makeshift stages and equipment, particularly in the eastern parts of the country. [Jatra](/source/Jatra_(theatre)) ([Bengali](/source/Bengali_language) for "travel"), originating in the [Vaishnavite movement](/source/Gaudiya_Vaishnavism) of [Chaitanya Mahaprabhu](/source/Chaitanya_Mahaprabhu) in [Bengal](/source/Bengal), is a tradition that follows this format.[70] [Vaishnavite](/source/Ekasarana_Dharma) plays in the neighbouring state of Assam, pioneered by [Srimanta Sankardeva](/source/Sankardev), takes the forms of [Ankia Naat](/source/Ankia_Naat) and [Bhaona](/source/Bhaona). These, along with Western influences, have inspired the development of modern mobile theatre, known in [Assamese](/source/Assamese_language) as [Bhramyoman](/source/Mobile_theatre_in_Assam), in Assam.[71] Modern Bhramyoman stages everything from [Hindu mythology](/source/Hindu_mythology) to adaptations of [Western classics](/source/Western_drama) and [Hollywood movies](/source/Hollywood_movies),[72] and make use of modern techniques, such as live visual effects.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Assamese mobile theatre is estimated to be an industry worth a hundred million.[73] The self-contained nature of Bhramyoman, with all equipment and even the stage being carried by the troop itself, allows staging shows even in remote villages, giving wider reach.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Pioneers of this industry include [Achyut Lahkar](/source/Achyut_Lahkar) and [Brajanath Sarma](/source/Brajanath_Sarma).

#### Modern Indian drama

See also: [Malayalam drama](/source/Malayalam_drama)

This section needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

[Rabindranath Tagore](/source/Rabindranath_Tagore) was a pioneering modern playwright who wrote plays noted for their exploration and questioning of nationalism, identity, spiritualism and material greed.[74] His plays are written in [Bengali](/source/Bengali_language) and include *Chitra* (*Chitrangada*, 1892), *The King of the Dark Chamber* (*Raja*, 1910), *[The Post Office](/source/The_Post_Office_(play))* (*Dakghar*, 1913), and *Red Oleander* (*Raktakarabi*, 1924).[74] [Girish Karnad](/source/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](/source/Taledanda)*, and *Naga-Mandala* are significant contributions to Indian drama. [Vijay Tendulkar](/source/Vijay_Tendulkar) and [Mahesh Dattani](/source/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.

### China

Main article: [Theatre of China](/source/Theatre_of_China)

A 1958 U.S.S.R. [postage stamp](/source/Postage_stamp) commemorating [Guan Hanqing](/source/Guan_Hanqing), one of the great Chinese dramatists, who is renowned for his "[zaju](/source/Zaju)" plays

Chinese theatre has a long and complex history. Today it is often called [Chinese opera](/source/Chinese_opera) although this normally refers specifically to the popular form known as [Beijing opera](/source/Beijing_opera) and [Kunqu](/source/Kunqu); there have been many other forms of theatre in China, such as [zaju](/source/Zaju).

### Japan

Main article: [Theatre of Japan](/source/Theatre_of_Japan)

Japanese [Nō drama](/source/Noh) 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.[75]

[Kyōgen](/source/Ky%C5%8Dgen) 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](/source/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](/source/Shingeki)* and the [Takarazuka Revue](/source/Takarazuka_Revue).

## See also

- [Theatre portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Theatre)

- [Antitheatricality](/source/Antitheatricality)

- [Applied Drama](/source/Applied_Drama)

- [Augustan drama](/source/Augustan_drama)

- [Christian drama](/source/Christian_drama)

- [Closet drama](/source/Closet_drama)

- [Comedy drama](/source/Comedy_drama)

- [Costume drama](/source/Costume_drama)

- [Crime drama](/source/Crime_drama)

- [Domestic drama](/source/Domestic_drama)

- [Drama school](/source/Drama_school)

- [Dramatic structure](/source/Dramatic_structure)

- [Dramatic theory](/source/Dramatic_theory)

- [Drama annotation](/source/Drama_annotation)

- [Dramaturgy](/source/Dramaturgy)

- [Entertainment](/source/Entertainment)

- [Flash drama](/source/Flash_drama)

- [Folk play](/source/Folk_play)

- [Heroic drama](/source/Heroic_drama)

- [History of theatre](/source/History_of_theatre)

- [Hyperdrama](/source/Hyperdrama)

- [Legal drama](/source/Legal_drama)

- [Medical drama](/source/Medical_drama)

- [Melodrama](/source/Melodrama)

- [Monodrama](/source/Monodrama)

- [Mystery play](/source/Mystery_play)

- [One act play](/source/One_act_play)

- [Political drama](/source/Political_drama)

- [Soap opera](/source/Soap_opera)

- [Theatre awards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Theatre_awards)

- [Two-hander](/source/Two-hander)

- [Verse drama and dramatic verse](/source/Verse_drama_and_dramatic_verse)

- [Well-made play](/source/Well-made_play)

- [Yakshagana](/source/Yakshagana)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-elam98_1-0)** Elam (1980, 98).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Francis Fergusson](/source/Francis_Fergusson) writes that "a drama, as distinguished from a [lyric](/source/Lyric_poetry), is not primarily a composition in the verbal medium; the [words](/source/Dialogue_(fiction)) result, as one might put it, from the underlying [structure of incident](/source/Dramatic_structure) and [character](/source/Character_(arts)). As [Aristotle](/source/Poetics_(Aristotle)) remarks, 'the poet, or "maker" should be the maker of [plots](/source/Plot_(narrative)) rather than of verses; since he is a poet because he [imitates](/source/Mimesis), and what he imitates are [actions](/source/Action_(philosophy))'" (1949, 8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Wickham (1959, 32–41; 1969, 133; 1981, 68–69). The sense of the creator of plays as a "maker" rather than a "writer" is preserved in the word *[playwright](/source/Playwright)*. [The Theatre](/source/The_Theatre), one of the first purpose-built playhouses in London, was an intentional reference to the Latin term for that particular playhouse, rather than a term for the buildings in general (1967, 133). The word 'dramatist' "was at that time still unknown in the English language" (1981, 68).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Banham (1998, 894–900).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Pfister (1977, 11).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Encyclopaedia_Britannica_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Encyclopaedia_Britannica_6-1) [*Encyclopaedia Britannica*](https://www.britannica.com/art/dance/Drama).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-cgt_7-0)** See the entries for "opera", "musical theatre, American", "melodrama" and "Nō" in Banham (1998).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-closet_8-0)** *[Manfred](/source/Manfred_(drama))* by [Byron](/source/George_Gordon_Byron%2C_6th_Baron_Byron), for example, is a good example of a "[dramatic poem](/source/Verse_drama_and_dramatic_verse)." See the entry on "Byron (George George)" in Banham (1998).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-impro_9-0)** Some forms of improvisation, notably the [commedia dell'arte](/source/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](/source/Joan_Littlewood) and [Keith Johnstone](/source/Keith_Johnstone) in the UK and [Viola Spolin](/source/Viola_Spolin) in the US; see Johnstone (1981) and Spolin (1963).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Brown (1998, 441), Cartledge (1997, 3–5), Goldhill (1997, 54), and Ley (2007, 206). Taxidou notes that "most scholars now call 'Greek' tragedy 'Athenian' tragedy, which is historically correct" (2004, 104). Brown writes that [ancient Greek drama](/source/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece) "was essentially the creation of [classical Athens](/source/Classical_Athens): all the dramatists who were later regarded as classics were active at Athens in the 5th and 4th centuries BC (the time of the [Athenian democracy](/source/Athenian_democracy)), and all the surviving plays date from this period" (1998, 441). "The dominant culture of [Athens in the fifth century](/source/Classical_Athens)", Goldhill writes, "can be said to have invented [theatre](/source/Theatre)" (1997, 54).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 13–15) and Banham (1998, 441–447).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Banham (1998, 441–444). For more information on these ancient Greek dramatists, see [the articles categorised under "Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights" in Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ancient_Greek_dramatists_and_playwrights).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** The theory that *[Prometheus Bound](/source/Prometheus_Bound)* was not written by [Aeschylus](/source/Aeschylus) would bring this number to six dramatists whose work survives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Banham (1998, 8) and Brockett and Hildy (2003, 15–16).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 13, 15) and Banham (1998, 442).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 18) and Banham (1998, 444–445).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Banham (1998, 444–445).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-h43_18-0)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 43).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 36, 47).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 43). For more information on the ancient Roman dramatists, see [the articles categorised under "Ancient Roman dramatists and playwrights" in Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ancient_Roman_dramatists_and_playwrights).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 46–47).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-h47_22-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-h47_22-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-h47_22-2) Brockett and Hildy (2003, 47).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 47–48).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 48–49).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-h49_25-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-h49_25-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-h49_25-2) Brockett and Hildy (2003, 49).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-h48_26-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-h48_26-1) Brockett and Hildy (2003, 48).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-h50_27-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-h50_27-1) Brockett and Hildy (2003, 50).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 49–50).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 76, 78). Many churches would have only performed one or two [liturgical dramas](/source/Liturgical_drama) per year and a larger number never performed any at all.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Brockett_76_30-0)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 76).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Brockett_Hildy,77_31-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Brockett_Hildy,77_31-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Brockett_Hildy,77_31-2) Brockett and Hildy (2003, 77).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** Wickham (1981, 191; 1987, 141).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** Bevington (1962, 9, 11, 38, 45), Dillon (2006, 213), and Wickham (1976, 195; 1981, 189–190). In *Early English Stages* (1981), Wickham points to the existence of *[The Interlude of the Student and the Girl](/source/The_Interlude_of_the_Student_and_the_Girl)* as evidence that the old-fashioned view that [comedy](/source/Comedy_(drama)) began in England in the 1550s with *[Gammer Gurton's Needle](/source/Gammer_Gurton's_Needle)* and *[Ralph Roister Doister](/source/Ralph_Roister_Doister)* is mistaken, ignoring as it does a rich tradition of [medieval comic drama](/source/Medieval_theatre); see Wickham (1981, 178).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 86)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 97).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** Spivack (1958, 251–303), Bevington (1962, 58–61, 81–82, 87, 183), and Weimann (1978, 155).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** Brockett and Hildy (2003, 101–103).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** George Henry Nettleton, Arthur [*British dramatists from Dryden to Sheridan*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TD8xG2Jnc10C&pg=PA149) p. 149

1. **[^](#cite_ref-39)** Hatch, Mary Jo (2009). *The Three Faces of Leadership: Manager, Artist, Priest*. John Wiley & Sons. p. 47.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** [The "China scene" from Wycherley's play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROI9FhR6URI) on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_video_(identifier))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-41)** *The Provoked Wife* is something of a Restoration [problem play](/source/Problem_play) in its attention to the subordinate legal position of married women and the complexities of "divorce" and separation, issues that had been highlighted in the mid-1690s by some notorious cases before the [House of Lords](/source/House_of_Lords).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-42)** Interconnected causes for this shift in taste were [demographic](/source/Demographic) change, the [Glorious Revolution](/source/Glorious_Revolution) of 1688, [William](/source/William_III_of_England)'s and [Mary](/source/Mary_II_of_England)'s dislike of the theatre, and the lawsuits brought against playwrights by the [Society for the Reformation of Manners](/source/Society_for_the_Reformation_of_Manners) (founded in 1692). When [Jeremy Collier](/source/Jeremy_Collier) attacked Congreve and Vanbrugh in his *[Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage](/source/Short_View_of_the_Immorality_and_Profaneness_of_the_English_Stage)* in 1698, he was confirming a shift in audience taste that had already taken place.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-43)** Williams (1993, 25–26) and Moi (2006, 17). Moi writes that "Ibsen is the most important playwright writing after Shakespeare. He is the founder of modern theater. His plays are world classics, staged on every continent, and studied in classrooms everywhere. In any given year, there are hundreds of Ibsen productions in the world." Ibsenites include [George Bernard Shaw](/source/George_Bernard_Shaw) and [Arthur Miller](/source/Arthur_Miller); Brechtians include [Dario Fo](/source/Dario_Fo), [Joan Littlewood](/source/Joan_Littlewood), [W. H. Auden](/source/W._H._Auden), [Peter Weiss](/source/Peter_Weiss), [Heiner Müller](/source/Heiner_M%C3%BCller), [Peter Hacks](/source/Peter_Hacks), [Tony Kushner](/source/Tony_Kushner), [Caryl Churchill](/source/Caryl_Churchill), [John Arden](/source/John_Arden), [Howard Brenton](/source/Howard_Brenton), [Edward Bond](/source/Edward_Bond), and [David Hare](/source/David_Hare_(playwright)).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-44)** Moi (2006, 1, 23–26). Taxidou writes: "It is probably historically more accurate, although methodologically less satisfactory, to read the [Naturalist movement in the theatre](/source/Naturalism_(theatre)) in conjunction with the more anti-illusionist aesthetics of the theatres of the same period. These interlock and overlap in all sorts of complicated ways, even when they are vehemently denouncing each other (perhaps particularly when) in the favoured mode of the time, the manifesto" (2007, 58).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** Williams (1966) and Wright (1989).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-46)** ["opera | History & Facts"](https://www.britannica.com/art/opera-music). *Encyclopedia Britannica*. Retrieved 21 May 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** Lawner, p. 16

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Reid_48-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Reid_48-1) Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline. "Pantomime", *The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature*, Jack Zipes (ed.), Oxford University Press (2006), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780195146561](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195146561)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-49)** Mayer (1969), p. 6

1. **[^](#cite_ref-50)** Nicholson, Helen; Holdsworth, Nadine; Milling, Jane (26 October 2018). [*The Ecologies of Amateur Theatre*](https://books.google.com/books?id=ISt1DwAAQBAJ). Springer. p. 131. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-137-50810-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-137-50810-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-HistoryIBY_51-0)** ["The History of Pantomime"](http://www.its-behind-you.com/Factsheets/The%20History%20of%20Pantomime.pdf), It's-Behind-You.com, 2002, accessed 10 February 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-52)** *[Webster's New World Dictionary](/source/Webster's_New_World_Dictionary)*, World Publishing Company, 2nd College Edition, 1980, p. 1027

1. **[^](#cite_ref-53)** Gutzwiller (2007).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-54)** Rémy (1954).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Callery_55-0)** Callery (2001).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ReferenceA_56-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ReferenceA_56-1) *Encyclopaedia Britannica*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-57)** Ehrlich (1974, 75–80).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-RSZ12_58-0)** Richmond, Swann, and Zarrilli (1993, 12).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-59)** Brandon (1997, 70) and Richmond (1998, 516).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-60)** Brandon (1997, 72) and Richmond (1998, 516).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-61)** Brandon (1997, 72), Richmond (1998, 516), and Richmond, Swann, and Zarrilli (1993, 12).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-62)** ([Neog 1980](#CITEREFNeog1980), p. 246)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-63)** Neog, Maheswar (1975). *Assamese Drama and Theatre: A Series of Two Lectures Delivered at the Indian School of Drama and Asian Theatre Centre, New Delhi, April 1962*. Neog.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-64)** Neog, Maheswar (1984). *Bhaona: The Ritual Play of Assam*. Sangeet Natak Academy.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-65)** Richmond (1998, 516) and Richmond, Swann, and Zarrilli (1993, 13).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-66)** Brandon (1981, xvii) and Richmond (1998, 516–517).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Richmond516_67-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Richmond516_67-1) Richmond (1998, 516).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Richmond517_68-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Richmond517_68-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Richmond517_68-2) Richmond (1998, 517).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Brandonxvii_69-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Brandonxvii_69-1) Brandon (1981, xvii).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-jat_70-0)** [Jatra](https://books.google.com/books?id=au_Vk2VYyrkC&dq=Jatra&pg=PA307) *South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka*, by Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills. Published by Taylor & Francis, 2003. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-415-93919-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-93919-4). *Page 307*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_71-0)** RAMESH MENON (15 February 1988). ["Mobile theatre strikes deep roots in Assam"](https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/19880215-mobile-theatre-strikes-deep-roots-in-assam-796893-1988-02-15). *India Today*. Retrieved 26 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-72)** ["Mobile theatre is successful because we stage plays in villages"](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/edit-page/Mobile-theatre-is-successful-because-we-stage-plays-in-villages/articleshow/5883862.cms?from=mdr).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-73)** ["Screen salute to mobile theatre pioneer – Veteran Ratna Ojha?s documenta Achyut Lahkar"](https://www.telegraphindia.com/north-east/screen-salute-to-mobile-theatre-pioneer-veteran-ratna-ojha-s-documentary-chronicles-life-and-times-of-achyut-lahkar/cid/828463).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Banham1051_74-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Banham1051_74-1) Banham (1998, 1051).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-75)** ["Background to Noh-Kyogen"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050715090014/http://www.iijnet.or.jp/NOH-KYOGEN/english/english.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.iijnet.or.jp/NOH-KYOGEN/english/english.html) on 15 July 2005. Retrieved 27 February 2013.

## Sources

- Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. *The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.* Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-43437-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-43437-8).

- Baumer, Rachel Van M., and James R. Brandon, eds. 1981. *Sanskrit Theatre in Performance.* Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-81-208-0772-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-81-208-0772-3).

- [Bevington, David M.](/source/David_Bevington) 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. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-58822-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-58822-5).

- Brockett, Oscar G. and Franklin J. Hildy. 2003. *History of the Theatre*. Ninth edition, International edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-205-41050-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-205-41050-2).

- Brown, Andrew. 1998. "Ancient Greece." In *The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.* Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 441–447. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-43437-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-43437-8).

- 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. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8160-6073-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8160-6073-3).

- Callery, Dympha. 2001. *Through the Body: A Practical Guide to Physical Theatre.* London: Nick Hern. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-854-59630-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-854-59630-6).

- 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. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8014-8154-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8014-8154-3).

- Cartledge, Paul. 1997. "'Deep Plays': Theatre as Process in Greek Civic Life." In Easterling (1997c, 3–35).

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- Dillon, Janette. 2006. *The Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre.* Cambridge Introductions to Literature ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-83474-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-83474-2).

- Duchartre, Pierre Louis. 1929. *The Italian Comedy*. Unabridged republication. New York: Dover, 1966. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-486-21679-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-486-21679-9).

- Dukore, Bernard F., ed. 1974. *Dramatic Theory and Criticism: Greeks to*. Florence, Kentucky: Heinle & Heinle. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-03-091152-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-03-091152-4).

- Durant, Will & Ariel Durant. 1963 *The Story of Civilization, Volume II: The Life of Greece*. 11 vols. New York: Simon & Schuster.

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- [Easterling, P. E.](/source/P._E._Easterling), ed. 1997c. *The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy*. Cambridge Companions to Literature ser. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-42351-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-42351-1).

- Ehrlich, Harriet W. 1974. "[Creative Dramatics as a Classroom Teaching Technique](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41388165?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents)." *Elementary English* 51:1 (January):75–80.

- Elam, Keir. 1980. *The [Semiotics](/source/Semiotics) of Theatre and Drama*. New Accents Ser. London and New York: Methuen. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-416-72060-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-416-72060-9).

- [Fergusson, Francis](/source/Francis_Fergusson). 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. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-691-01288-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-691-01288-1).

- Goldhill, Simon. 1997. "The Audience of Athenian Tragedy." In Easterling (1997c, 54–68).

- Gordon, Mel. 1983. *[Lazzi](/source/Lazzi): The Comic Routines of the Commedia dell'Arte*. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-933826-69-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-933826-69-9).

- Gutzwiller, Kathryn. 2007. *A Guide to Hellenistic Literature.* London: Blackwell. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-631-23322-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-631-23322-9).

- Harsh, Philip Whaley. 1944. *A Handbook of Classical Drama*. Stanford: Stanford UP; Oxford: Oxford UP.

- [Johnstone, Keith](/source/Keith_Johnstone). 1981. *Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre* Rev. ed. London: Methuen, 2007. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7136-8701-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7136-8701-0).

- Ley, Graham. 2006. *A Short Introduction to the Ancient Greek Theater.* Rev. ed. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-226-47761-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-226-47761-4).

- Neog, Maheswar (1980). [*Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Assam: Śaṅkaradeva and His Times*](https://books.google.com/books?id=DcReZM-rI0MC). Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-81-208-0007-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-81-208-0007-6).

- O'Brien, Nick. 2010. *Stanislavski In Practise*. London: Routledge. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0415568432](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0415568432).

- O'Brien, Nick. 2007. *The Theatricality of Greek Tragedy: Playing Space and Chorus.* Chicago and London: U of Chicago P. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-226-47757-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-226-47757-6).

- 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. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-42383-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-42383-X).

- Rémy, Tristan. 1954. *Jean-Gaspard Deburau.* Paris: L’Arche.

- [Rehm, Rush](/source/Rush_Rehm). 1992. *Greek Tragic Theatre.* Theatre Production Studies ser. London and New York: Routledge. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-415-11894-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-11894-8).

- 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. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8248-1322-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8248-1322-2).

- 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. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-231-01912-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-231-01912-2).

- [Spolin, Viola](/source/Viola_Spolin). 1967. *Improvisation for the Theater*. Third rev. ed Evanston, II Northwestern University Press, 1999. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8101-4008-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8101-4008-X).

- Taxidou, Olga. 2004. *Tragedy, Modernity and Mourning*. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7486-1987-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7486-1987-9).

- [Wickham, Glynne](/source/Glynne_Wickham). 1959. *Early English Stages: 1300–1660.* Vol. 1. London: Routledge.

- [Wickham, Glynne](/source/Glynne_Wickham). 1969. *Shakespeare's Dramatic Heritage: Collected Studies in Mediaeval, Tudor and Shakespearean Drama.* London: Routledge. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-710-06069-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-710-06069-6).

- [Wickham, Glynne](/source/Glynne_Wickham), ed. 1976. *English Moral Interludes.* London: Dent. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-874-71766-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-874-71766-3).

- [Wickham, Glynne](/source/Glynne_Wickham). 1981. *Early English Stages: 1300–1660.* Vol. 3. London: Routledge. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-710-00218-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-710-00218-1).

- [Wickham, Glynne](/source/Glynne_Wickham). 1987. *The Medieval Theatre.* 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-31248-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-31248-5).

- 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. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8018-3506-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8018-3506-2).

- Weimann, Robert. 2000. *Author's Pen and Actor's Voice: Playing and Writing in Shakespeare's Theatre*. Ed. Helen Higbee and William West. Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-78735-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-78735-1).

## External links

Look up ***[drama](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/drama)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiversity has learning resources about ***[Collaborative_play_writing](https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Collaborative_play_writing)***

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: ***[History of Western Theatre: Greeks to Elizabethans](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/History_of_Western_Theatre:_Greeks_to_Elizabethans)***

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: ***[History of Western Theatre: 17th Century to Now](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/History_of_Western_Theatre:_17th_Century_to_Now)***

- [Greek & Roman Mask Timeline](http://www.wendygough.com/masks-of-greece-and-rome/)

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v t e Roman and Byzantine theatre List of plays Genres Fabula atellana Fabula crepidata Fabula palliata Fabula praetexta Fabula togata Writers Plautus Terence Seneca Structure Architecture List of theatres

v t e Medieval theatre Liturgical drama Mystery play Morality play Elegiac comedy Farce Masque Pageant

v t e Modern drama Genres Huaju Naturalism Modernism Postmodernism Realism History History of theatre 19th century 20th century 20th-century theatre timeline

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