What Is Theater

What is Theatre?
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually
actors or actresses. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through
combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance.
History of Theatre/Theater
•Originally spelled theatre and teatre. From around 1550 to 1700 or later, the most
common spelling was theater. Between 1720 and 1750, theater was dropped in British
English, but was either retained or revived in American English.
•The city-state of Athens is where Western theatre originated.It was part of a broader
culture of theatricality and performance in classical Greece that included festivals,
religious rituals, politics, law, athletics and gymnastics, music, poetry, weddings,
funerals, and symposia.
•While performative elements are present in every society, it is customary to

acknowledge a distinction between theatre as an art form and entertainment and
theatrical or performative elements in other activities.
The history of theatre is primarily concerned with the origin and subsequent
development of the theatre as an autonomous activity. Since classical Athens in the 6th
century BC, vibrant traditions of theatre have flourished in cultures across the world.
•History of theater charts the development of theatre over the past 2,500 years. While
per formative elements are present in every society, it is customary to acknowledge a
distinction between theatre as an art form, entertainment and theatrical or per formative
elements in other activities.
>Ancient greek theatre (700 B.C.E - 410 B.C.E.)

>Medieval theatre (500 B.C.e - 1400)
>Renaissance theater (1400-16000
>Baroque theater (1600-1750)
>Neoclassical theater (1800-1900)
>Romantic theater (1800-2000)
Ancient Greek Theatre

-most developed in Athens, is the root of the Western tradition; theatre is in origin Greek
word. It was part of a broader culture of theatricality and performance in classical
Greece that included festivals, religious rituals, politics, law, athletics and gymnastics,
music, poetry, weddings, funerals, and symposia.
Mediaval Theater
>The most popular forms of the theatre in the medieval Islamic world were puppet
theatre (which included hand puppets, shadow plays, and marionette productions) and
live passion plays known as ta'ziya.
Renaissance Theater
>Emergenceof the Commedia dell'arte - from Italy. Theater troupe that performed lively
improvisational playlets across Europe for centuries. Actor centered, requires little
scenery and props.
Baroque Theatre
>Tragedy was the overall preferred genre, but the aristrocats preferred the lighter tragicomedy.
A type of comedy that ends in tears rather than laughter as the main character triumphs over
trials.
Neoclassical Theatre
>Theatre was dominated by Neoclassicism (art forms inspired by the classics). Emphasis was
on the exact adherence to the classical unities that has largely contributed to proper decorum
(audience etiquette) when watching a play.
Romantic Theater
>Melodrama and Operas were the most popular theatrical forms. The predominant theatrical
artistic movement from the late eighteenth century onwards, was Romanticism. This style of
theatre focused on the individual actor's imagination, emotion and appreciation of nature.
Types
>Drama - is the specific mode of fiction represented in perfomance. The term comes
from a Greek word meaning "action', which is derived from the verb "to do" or "to act".
>Tragedy - Murders, deaths, insanity, and pain are among the most common ideas
in tragedies. Main characters usually have some kind of weakness or defect that
causes their downfall.
>Comedy - is a type of drama that aims to make the audience laugh. Its tone is light
and it mostly has a happy ending. Such tradition came from the Ancient Greek
theatre, where comedy first emerged as a form of drama. Comedy could be further
divided into subcategories, for example, dramatic irony, farce, sarcasm, black
comedy, etc. Each type of comedy has its own audience. Interestingly, such
preferences may also depend on the cultural background of people.
>Tragicomedy - is a special kind of drama that combines the features of tragedy and
comedy. It means that such play may be sad but will have a happy ending, or it may
be serious with some elements of humor emerging throughout the whole play.

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What is Theatre?

•While performative elements are present in every society, it is customary to

>Ancient greek theatre (700 B.C.E - 410 B.C.E.)

Ancient Greek Theatre

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