122-604: Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London . Theatre first came to Greenwich at the beginning of the 19th century during the famous Eastertide Greenwich Fair at which the Richardson travelling theatre annually performed. The current Greenwich Theatre is the heir to two former traditions. It stands on the site of the Rose and Crown Music Hall built in 1855 on Crooms Hill at
244-410: A collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts , unlike other forms of literature , is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception. The early modern tragedy Hamlet (1601) by Shakespeare and the classical Athenian tragedy Oedipus Rex ( c. 429 BCE ) by Sophocles are among the masterpieces of the art of drama. A modern example
366-691: A Mr Hancock, and became the Parthenon Theatre of Varieties . The plaster façade can still be seen on Nevada Street today. It later became the Greenwich Palace of Varieties , The theatre's entrance on Crooms Hill dates from about 1902 when Samuel and Daniel Barnard took over and it became Barnard's Palace . It finally became the Greenwich Hippodrome . Playbills of the time mention star names such as Harry Champion and Lily Langtree, with more dramatic performances with spectacular effects projected by
488-467: A cost of £7,000and opened it on 5 April 1858 as the Royal Strand Theatre . His daughter, Louisa, was acting manager for a couple of years until her marriage to Major Lyon. Henry's eldest son William was also an active manager. Following Henry's depression and suicide in 1863, ownership passed to Henry's widow Mary Ann. Between 1868 and 1871, Eleanor Bufton (married to Arthur Swanborough) managed
610-406: A dancing floor (orchestra), dressing room and scene-building area (skene). Since the words were the most important part, good acoustics and clear delivery were paramount. The actors (always men) wore masks appropriate to the characters they represented, and each might play several parts. Athenian tragedy—the oldest surviving form of tragedy—is a type of dance -drama that formed an important part of
732-412: A link was built to the tube station at Holborn , and in 1905 the theatre was acquired by Act of Parliament and demolished to enable Aldwych underground station to be constructed on the site. The many actors who were attached to the theatre protested against its deconstruction. The station is now closed but is said to be haunted by an angry actress who still scares people today. Apart from this theatre,
854-429: A melodrama (with three murders and a ghost), a pantomime, a comic song, an overture, and some incidental music, all done in five-and-twenty minutes." In 1842, The Era reported that performances at Richardson's theatre attracted upwards of 15,000 people. The Fair was closed down in 1853 "in consequence of the drunkenness and debauchery (it) occasioned, and the numerous convictions of pickpockets that took place before
976-458: A new company, Stage on Screen, to stage and film plays, making them available on DVD for theatre lovers and students. The first two productions were Dr Faustus and The School for Scandal , followed in 2010 by Volpone and The Duchess of Malfi . ( The School for Scandal had first been presented in Greenwich by William Morton in 1884.) In 2013, Sell a Door Theatre Company partnered with
1098-455: A new piece of musical theatre written by Ewan Hooper , Artistic Director. Alan Vaughan Williams directed. From 1969, the theatre became a showcase for many new dramatic works. Early plays included Chekhov 's Three Sisters and Jean Genet 's The Maids , featuring Glenda Jackson , Susannah York and Vivien Merchant - many of the Greenwich cast featured in the subsequent film version. In 1975, Vivien Merchant and Timothy Dalton headed
1220-527: A particular type. Kālidāsa in the 1st century BCE, is arguably considered to be ancient India 's greatest Sanskrit dramatist. Three famous romantic plays written by Kālidāsa are the Mālavikāgnimitram ( Mālavikā and Agnimitra ), Vikramuurvashiiya ( Pertaining to Vikrama and Urvashi ), and Abhijñānaśākuntala ( The Recognition of Shakuntala ). The last was inspired by a story in the Mahabharata and
1342-500: A play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedy—for example, Zola's Thérèse Raquin (1873) or Chekhov's Ivanov (1887). In Ancient Greece however, the word drama encompassed all theatrical plays, tragic, comic, or anything in between. Drama is often combined with music and dance : the drama in opera is generally sung throughout; musicals generally include both spoken dialogue and songs ; and some forms of drama have incidental music or musical accompaniment underscoring
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#17328521170501464-519: A tool for developing dramatic work or skills or as a form for situational comedy. Spolin also became interested in how the process of learning improvisation was applicable to the development of human potential. Spolin's son, Paul Sills popularized improvisational theatre as a theatrical art form when he founded, as its first director, The Second City in Chicago. Having been an important part of human culture for more than 2,500 years, theatre has evolved
1586-421: A vehicle to tell a story qualify as comedies. This may include a modern farce such as Boeing Boeing or a classical play such as As You Like It . Theatre expressing bleak, controversial or taboo subject matter in a deliberately humorous way is referred to as black comedy . Black Comedy can have several genres like slapstick humour, dark and sarcastic comedy. Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that
1708-435: A very colourful shadow. The thin rods which controlled their movements were attached to a leather collar at the neck of the puppet. The rods ran parallel to the bodies of the puppet and then turned at a ninety degree angle to connect to the neck. While these rods were visible when the shadow was cast, they laid outside the shadow of the puppet; thus they did not interfere with the appearance of the figure. The rods are attached at
1830-693: A wide range of different theories and practices. Some are related to political or spiritual ideologies, while others are based purely on "artistic" concerns. Some processes focus on a story, some on theatre as event, and some on theatre as catalyst for social change. The classical Greek philosopher Aristotle , in his seminal treatise, Poetics ( c. 335 BCE ) is the earliest-surviving example and its arguments have influenced theories of theatre ever since. In it, he offers an account of what he calls "poetry" (a term which in Greek literally means "making" and in this context includes drama — comedy , tragedy , and
1952-436: Is Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill (1956). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle 's Poetics ( c. 335 BCE ); the earliest work of dramatic theory . The use of "drama" in the narrow sense to designate a specific type of play dates from the 19th century . Drama in this sense refers to
2074-545: Is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses , to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage . The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture , speech, song, music , and dance . It is the oldest form of drama , though live theatre has now been joined by modern recorded forms. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance
2196-657: Is an ancient form of storytelling that renowned for its elaborate puppet/human and complex musical styles. The earliest evidence is from the late 1st millennium CE, in medieval-era texts and archeological sites. The oldest known record that concerns wayang is from the 9th century. Around 840 AD an Old Javanese (Kawi) inscriptions called Jaha Inscriptions issued by Maharaja Sri Lokapala from Mataram Kingdom in Central Java mentions three sorts of performers: atapukan, aringgit, and abanol. Aringgit means Wayang puppet show, Atapukan means Mask dance show, and abanwal means joke art. Ringgit
2318-644: Is described in an 11th-century Javanese poem as a leather shadow figure. Theatre in the medieval Islamic world included puppet theatre (which included hand puppets, shadow plays and marionette productions) and live passion plays known as ta'ziyeh , where actors re-enact episodes from Muslim history . In particular, Shia Islamic plays revolved around the istishhād (martyrdom) of Ali 's sons Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali . Secular plays were known as akhraja , recorded in medieval adab literature, though they were less common than puppetry and ta'ziya theatre. Theatre took on many alternative forms in
2440-526: Is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of Menander . Aristotle defined comedy as a representation of laughable people that involves some kind of blunder or ugliness that does not cause pain or disaster. In addition to the categories of comedy and tragedy at the City Dionysia, the festival also included the Satyr Play . Finding its origins in rural, agricultural rituals dedicated to Dionysus,
2562-419: Is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude: in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions. Aristotle's phrase "several kinds being found in separate parts of the play" is a reference to the structural origins of drama. In it
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#17328521170502684-467: Is the most famous. It was the first to be translated into English and German . Śakuntalā (in English translation) influenced Goethe 's Faust (1808–1832). The next great Indian dramatist was Bhavabhuti ( c. 7th century CE ). He is said to have written the following three plays: Malati-Madhava , Mahaviracharita and Uttar Ramacharita . Among these three, the last two cover between them
2806-785: Is universally acknowledged in the Western critical tradition", Marvin Carlson explains, "almost every detail about his seminal work has aroused divergent opinions." Important theatre practitioners of the 20th century include Konstantin Stanislavski , Vsevolod Meyerhold , Jacques Copeau , Edward Gordon Craig , Bertolt Brecht , Antonin Artaud , Joan Littlewood , Peter Brook , Jerzy Grotowski , Augusto Boal , Eugenio Barba , Dario Fo , Viola Spolin , Keith Johnstone and Robert Wilson (director) . Royal Strand Theatre The Royal Strand Theatre
2928-508: Is why actors are commonly called "Children of the Pear Garden". During the dynasty of Empress Ling, shadow puppetry first emerged as a recognized form of theatre in China. There were two distinct forms of shadow puppetry, Pekingese (northern) and Cantonese (southern). The two styles were differentiated by the method of making the puppets and the positioning of the rods on the puppets , as opposed to
3050-537: The 20th century in the realism of Stanislavski and Lee Strasberg , the political theatre of Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht , the so-called Theatre of the Absurd of Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco , American and British musicals, the collective creations of companies of actors and directors such as Joan Littlewood 's Theatre Workshop , experimental and postmodern theatre of Robert Wilson and Robert Lepage ,
3172-501: The City Dionysia as an audience member (or even as a participant in the theatrical productions) in particular—was an important part of citizenship . Civic participation also involved the evaluation of the rhetoric of orators evidenced in performances in the law-court or political assembly , both of which were understood as analogous to the theatre and increasingly came to absorb its dramatic vocabulary. The Greeks also developed
3294-575: The Greenwich Theatre , and resources were shared between the two theatres. According to Erroll Sherson, writing in 1923, the Strand was burlesque's first real nursery and its permanent home. Here graduated Marie Wilton (later Lady Bancroft), Patty Oliver and Edward Terry; each would later maintain the burlesque tradition at the Prince of Wales's , The Royalty , and The Gaiety , respectively. For some years,
3416-554: The Persian response to news of their military defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE—is the notable exception in the surviving drama. When Aeschylus won first prize for it at the City Dionysia in 472 BCE, he had been writing tragedies for more than 25 years, yet its tragic treatment of recent history is the earliest example of drama to survive. More than 130 years later, the philosopher Aristotle analysed 5th-century Athenian tragedy in
3538-537: The Royal Strand Theatre from 1858 to 1883, popular for its burlesque, were the next lessees of the Greenwich Theatre. On 11 April 1868, the theatre opened for the season under the new management of the Welsh actress, Miss Eleanor Bufton (Mrs Arthur Swanborough) . The house had been entirely renovated and redecorated. Eleanor Bufton recited a poem in typical burlesque style, written for her opening night, that recalled
3660-554: The Sundanese and wayang kulit (leather shadow-puppet play) of the Javanese and Balinese —draw much of their repertoire from indigenized versions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata . These tales also provide source material for the wayang wong (human theatre) of Java and Bali , which uses actors. Some wayang golek performances, however, also present Muslim stories, called menak . Wayang
3782-546: The high-style , verbally elaborate tragedies of Seneca . Although Rome had a native tradition of performance, the Hellenization of Roman culture in the 3rd century BCE had a profound and energizing effect on Roman theatre and encouraged the development of Latin literature of the highest quality for the stage. The only surviving plays from the Roman Empire are ten dramas attributed to Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BCE–65 CE),
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3904-511: The postcolonial theatre of August Wilson or Tomson Highway , and Augusto Boal 's Theatre of the Oppressed . Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance . The term comes from a Greek word meaning " action ", which is derived from the verb δράω, dráō , "to do" or "to act". The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience , presupposes collaborative modes of production and
4026-514: The satyr play —as well as lyric poetry , epic poetry , and the dithyramb ). He examines its "first principles" and identifies its genres and basic elements; his analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the discussion. Aristotle argues that tragedy consists of six qualitative parts, which are (in order of importance) mythos or "plot", ethos or "character", dianoia or "thought", lexis or "diction", melos or "song", and opsis or "spectacle". "Although Aristotle's Poetics
4148-573: The specificity of theatre as synonymous expressions that differentiate theatre from the other performing arts , literature and the arts in general. A theatre company is an organisation that produces theatrical performances, as distinct from a theatre troupe (or acting company), which is a group of theatrical performers working together. Modern theatre includes performances of plays and musical theatre . The art forms of ballet and opera are also theatre and use many conventions such as acting , costumes and staging. They were influential in
4270-484: The well-made plays of Scribe and Sardou gave way to the problem plays of Naturalism and Realism ; the farces of Feydeau ; Wagner's operatic Gesamtkunstwerk ; musical theatre (including Gilbert and Sullivan 's operas); F. C. Burnand 's, W. S. Gilbert 's and Oscar Wilde 's drawing-room comedies; Symbolism ; proto- Expressionism in the late works of August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen ; and Edwardian musical comedy . These trends continued through
4392-558: The 1820s Fair. There are also two later newspaper references to a theatre in Greenwich that was burnt down around 1835, but no other details are given. After extensive experience as actor/comedian travelling the world and manager/theatre builder in South Africa, Sefton Parry built his first English theatre on a vacant site on London Street (now Greenwich High Road) at Greenwich. It opened in May 1864 with seating for 1000 people. He promised that
4514-505: The 1870s, included the hit operettas Madame Favart and Olivette . It also hosted W. S. Gilbert and Frederic Clay 's comic opera Princess Toto in 1876. The theatre was rebuilt in 1865, re-opening 18 November 1865, destroyed by fire on 21 October 1866 and again rebuilt. In 1882, the theatre was condemned as having inadequate fire precautions and closed on 29 July. It was rebuilt by Charles J. Phipps , re-opening on 18 November 1882 with improved access. The cost to Mrs. Swanborough
4636-465: The 1st century CE. It began after the development of Greek and Roman theatre and before the development of theatre in other parts of Asia. It emerged sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 1st century CE and flourished between the 1st century CE and the 10th, which was a period of relative peace in the history of India during which hundreds of plays were written. The wealth of archeological evidence from earlier periods offers no indication of
4758-407: The 5th century BCE have survived. We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus , Sophocles , and Euripides . The origins of tragedy remain obscure, though by the 5th century BCE it was institutionalized in competitions ( agon ) held as part of festivities celebrating Dionysus (the god of wine and fertility ). As contestants in the City Dionysia's competition (the most prestigious of
4880-557: The Acts, but tickets could not be sold at the theatre. This was circumvented by selling them at neighbouring shops; and at one point the public were admitted free on purchase of an ounce of rose lozenges for four shillings (stalls), or half an ounce of peppermint drops for two shillings (the pit) from the neighbouring confectioners. The theatre was again closed under the Patent Acts in March 1835, and
5002-588: The Carlton Theatre. It remained so until about 1909. During the final twelve months, the entertainment had become mainly of the music hall type. The building was auctioned in 1909. By now the cinema revolution had taken full hold, and by 1914 it had become the Cinema de Luxe, managed by H Morris of Cinema Palaces Ltd. The building was demolished in 1937 to make way for a new Town Hall , now a listed building and under new ownership and renamed Meridian House. The site of
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5124-540: The Corduba-born Stoic philosopher and tutor of Nero. These tragedies are known for their philosophical themes, complex characters, and rhetorical style. While Seneca's plays provide valuable insights into Roman theater, they represent only a small fraction of the dramatic repertoire that existed in ancient Rome. The first form of Indian theatre was the Sanskrit theatre , earliest-surviving fragments of which date from
5246-589: The French had a larger distinction between comedy and tragedy, whereas the English fudged the lines occasionally and put some comedic parts in their tragedies. Common forms of non-comedic plays were sentimental comedies as well as something that would later be called tragédie bourgeoise , or domestic tragedy —that is, the tragedy of common life—were more popular in England because they appealed more to English sensibilities. While theatre troupes were formerly often travelling,
5368-454: The Greenwich Theatre following nine productions at the South London venue. James Haddrell and David Hutchinson officially announced the partnership on 19 November 2013. In April 2015, it was announced that a revival of The Who 's musical Tommy was to be performed at the venue, from 29 July to 23 August 2015, its first London run for over 20 years. Theatre Theatre or theater
5490-527: The Leicester Square rotunda. In 1816, Henry bought the panorama in the Strand, which was then known as Reinagle and Barker's Panorama, and the two panoramas were then run jointly until 1831. Their building was then used as a dissenting chapel and was purchased by Benjamin Lionel Rayner , a noted actor, in 1832. Rayner engaged Charles Broad to convert and extend the original building as a theatre. This
5612-942: The Pirate and the Pearl; The Maid and the Magpie, or The Fatal Spoon (an early play to include a dance at the end of a song); and The Babes in the Wood and the Good Little Fairy Birds . The celebrated burlesque on Kenilworth , first performed in 1859 and played over many years, brought the Strand great prosperity. It had a strong cast including Louisa Swanborough as the Earl of Leicester, H. J. Turner as Mike Lambourne, Mrs. Charles Selby as Queen Elizabeth, Marie Wilton as Sir Walter Raleigh, Patty Oliver as Amy Robsart, Charlotte Saunders as Tressillian, John Clarke as Varney and James Bland as Wayland Smith; Bland
5734-503: The Romans first experienced theatre in the 4th century BCE, with a performance by Etruscan actors . Beacham argues that they had been familiar with "pre-theatrical practices" for some time before that recorded contact. The theatre of ancient Rome was a thriving and diverse art form, ranging from festival performances of street theatre , nude dancing, and acrobatics , to the staging of Plautus 's broadly appealing situation comedies , to
5856-641: The Strand's programme began with a short drama, many written by H. T. Craven , including, The Postboy , Milky White , and Meg's Diversion . Then followed a burlesque by H. J. Byron , W. Brough , or F. C. Burnand . Under the Swanboroughs, the theatre enjoyed success, with Ada Swanborough performing in H. J. Byron's burlettas and featuring a cast that included James Thorne, Edward O'Connor Terry , Miss Raynham, Mrs. Raymond, H. J. Turner and Marie Wilton,. These began with The Lady of Lyons, or Twopenny Pride and Pennytence; Fra Diavolo Travestie, or The Prince,
5978-568: The Theatre Royal, Sadler's Wells , Sallie Turner eldest daughter of Henry Jameson Turner of the Royal Strand, Josephine Ruth from the Theatre Royal, Portsmouth, and Marion Foote; also Messrs. Frank Barsby from the Theatre Royal, Brighton , W. Foote from the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh ), E. Danvers from the Royal Strand Theatre , and Mr Westland. On opening night The Era described it as "perhaps
6100-788: The West between the 15th and 19th centuries, including commedia dell'arte from Italian theatre , and melodrama . The general trend was away from the poetic drama of the Greeks and the Renaissance and toward a more naturalistic prose style of dialogue, especially following the Industrial Revolution . Theatre took a big pause during 1642 and 1660 in England because of the Puritan Interregnum. The rising anti-theatrical sentiment among Puritans saw William Prynne write Histriomastix (1633),
6222-622: The Woods (1986), and The Phantom of the Opera (1986), as well as more contemporary hits including Rent (1994), The Lion King (1997), Wicked (2003), Hamilton (2015) and Frozen (2018). Musical theatre may be produced on an intimate scale Off-Broadway , in regional theatres , and elsewhere, but it often includes spectacle. For instance, Broadway and West End musicals often include lavish costumes and sets supported by multimillion-dollar budgets. Theatre productions that use humour as
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#17328521170506344-582: The best known of which is Peking Opera which is still popular today. Xiangsheng is a certain traditional Chinese comedic performance in the forms of monologue or dialogue. In Indonesia , theatre performances have become an important part of local culture, theatre performances in Indonesia have been developed for thousands of years. Most of Indonesia's oldest theatre forms are linked directly to local literary traditions (oral and written). The prominent puppet theatres — wayang golek (wooden rod-puppet play) of
6466-523: The careers of the renowned magicians Maskelyne and Cooke at the Egyptian Hall and was also currently managing the thousand-seater New Cross Public Hall. In May that year, Morton took on the lease of the Greenwich Theatre with an option to buy at a specified date and price. Once reconstructed and redecorated, Morton proposed to rename it as the New Prince of Wales's Theatre. He intended, if possible, to meet
6588-461: The cast of a revival of Noël Coward 's The Vortex . Greenwich Theatre also saw the première of John Mortimer 's A Voyage Round My Father and, on 5 November 1981, Rupert Everett appeared in the 1981 première of Another Country - another play which successfully transferred to celluloid, having also won accolades in the West End . In 2009, the theatre returned to producing, collaborating with
6710-552: The concepts of dramatic criticism and theatre architecture. Actors were either amateur or at best semi-professional. The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three types of drama : tragedy , comedy , and the satyr play . The origins of theatre in ancient Greece, according to Aristotle (384–322 BCE), the first theoretician of theatre, are to be found in the festivals that honoured Dionysus. The performances were given in semi-circular auditoria cut into hillsides, capable of seating 10,000–20,000 people. The stage consisted of
6832-447: The current Greenwich Theatre was originally a music hall created in 1855 as modest appendages to, or rooms within, the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house . It was licensed to John Green and known as the Rose and Crown Music Hall . In 1871 it was reconstructed by Charles Spencer Crowder and renamed Crowder's Music Hall with a separate entrance on Nevada Street. According to reports of
6954-622: The days of Richardson's travelling theatre at the Greenwich Fair and included the lines: No matter what the rival shows might be, Richardson's held, o'er all, supremacy; Asserting o'er men's minds the Drama's pow'r With play and pantomime, four times an hour! The Drama, then, in tent of canvas pent, Though, in low booth, upheld its high in-tent! And, 'midst the outside Fair's discordant din, It cried "Walk up! - just going to begin. The poem also made topical allusions to John Stuart Mill and
7076-467: The dealings of the pantheon of Gods and their involvement in human affairs, backed by the chorus of Satyrs . However, according to Webster , satyr actors did not always perform typical satyr actions and would break from the acting traditions assigned to the character type of a mythical forest creature. Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans . The Roman historian Livy wrote that
7198-433: The development of musical theatre . 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 . Participation in the city-state's many festivals—and mandatory attendance at
7320-454: The dialogue ( melodrama and Japanese Nō , for example). In certain periods of history (the ancient Roman and modern Romantic ) some dramas have been written to be read rather than performed. In improvisation , the drama does not pre-exist the moment of performance; performers devise a dramatic script spontaneously before an audience. Music and theatre have had a close relationship since ancient times— Athenian tragedy , for example,
7442-562: The direction of a very clever American actor, John S. Clarke, it was no longer one of the attractions of the London theatrical world. The musical comedy A Chinese Honeymoon opened in October 1901 and ran at the theatre for a record-breaking 1,075 performances, until closing in 1904. In the 16th century, Strand had hosted many grand houses by the River Thames and the area began to be built up. By
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#17328521170507564-479: The elements of theatre, the Treatise gives most attention to acting ( abhinaya ), which consists of two styles: realistic ( lokadharmi ) and conventional ( natyadharmi ), though the major focus is on the latter. Its drama is regarded as the highest achievement of Sanskrit literature . It utilised stock characters , such as the hero ( nayaka ), heroine ( nayika ), or clown ( vidusaka ). Actors may have specialized in
7686-545: The end the 18th, it had become a notorious rookery - an overcrowded slum. The area had been unaffected by the Great Fire of London and survived with narrow streets, unsuited to the new traffic. A scheme was instituted to build a new road, Kingsway between Holborn and Strand, culminating in a grand crescent, Aldwych . After many false starts, the scheme was begun in 1901 by the London County Council . To go with this
7808-472: The entire epic of Ramayana . The powerful Indian emperor Harsha (606–648) is credited with having written three plays: the comedy Ratnavali , Priyadarsika , and the Buddhist drama Nagananda . The Tang dynasty is sometimes known as "The Age of 1000 Entertainments". During this era, Ming Huang formed an acting school known as The Pear Garden to produce a form of drama that was primarily musical. That
7930-477: The existence of a tradition of theatre. The ancient Vedas ( hymns from between 1500 and 1000 BCE that are among the earliest examples of literature in the world) contain no hint of it (although a small number are composed in a form of dialogue ) and the rituals of the Vedic period do not appear to have developed into theatre. The Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali contains the earliest reference to what may have been
8052-517: The festivals to stage drama) playwrights were required to present a 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. The performance of tragedies at the City Dionysia may have begun as early as 534 BCE; official records ( didaskaliai ) begin from 501 BCE, when the satyr play was introduced. Most Athenian tragedies dramatize events from Greek mythology , though The Persians —which stages
8174-612: The first improvisation form. Popularized by 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Dario Fo and troupes such as the Upright Citizens Brigade improvisational theatre continues to evolve with many different streams and philosophies. Keith Johnstone and Viola Spolin are recognized as the first teachers of improvisation in modern times, with Johnstone exploring improvisation as an alternative to scripted theatre and Spolin and her successors exploring improvisation principally as
8296-460: The growing demand for good dramatic performances in south-east London. Morton devoted sixteen years to running the Greenwich Theatre, investing his own money, and rightly claimed that by engaging some of the best of the touring companies such as D'Oyly Carte , he turned a derelict property into something that mattered. He was often called "the Greenwich Morton" to distinguish him from others of
8418-646: The idea of the national theatre gained support in the 18th century, inspired by Ludvig Holberg . The major promoter of the idea of the national theatre in Germany, and also of the Sturm und Drang poets, was Abel Seyler , the owner of the Hamburgische Entreprise and the Seyler Theatre Company . Through the 19th century , the popular theatrical forms of Romanticism , melodrama , Victorian burlesque and
8540-563: The junction with Nevada Street. However, it takes its name from the New Greenwich Theatre built in 1864 by Sefton Parry on London Street, opposite what was then the terminus of the London and Greenwich Railway . At the beginning of the 19th century, Richardson's travelling theatre made its annual tented appearance during the famous Eastertide Greenwich Fair . In Sketches by Boz , Charles Dickens reminisced enthusiastically, "you have
8662-659: The late 19th and early 20th century . After the Edwardian musical comedy that began in the 1890s, the Princess Theatre musicals of the early 20th century, and comedies in the 1920s and 1930s (such as the works of Rodgers and Hammerstein ), with Oklahoma! (1943), musicals moved in a more dramatic direction. Famous musicals over the subsequent decades included My Fair Lady (1956), West Side Story (1957), The Fantasticks (1960), Hair (1967), A Chorus Line (1975), Les Misérables (1980), Cats (1981), Into
8784-601: The latest attraction – the Edisonograph. It showed both live performances and films as the Greenwich Hippodrome Picture Palace from 1915 until 1924 when it lost its licence for live entertainment and was converted into a cinema . During the Second World War, the theatre was re-opened as a repertory theatre with films on Sundays, but when an incendiary bomb crashed through the roof into the auditorium
8906-483: The lessee and manager, and Herbert Masson his Musical Director. W. J. Hurlstone, who had been Acting Manager for Parry, was re-engaged in the same role. By 1867 the lessee was Mr Mowbray, and the manageress, Miss Fanny Hazlewood. Her agent was Henry Jameson Turner whose agency had at one time acted for Parry. At the end of Fanny Hazlewood's short tenure before she went to America there were serious issues of non-payment of rent and wages. The Swanborough family, who managed
9028-494: The manager was T. Payne. Frank Talford wrote the earliest burlesque for the Strand, full of excruciating puns and enlivened by bright songs. Mythological subjects were popular. In one such piece in 1850 the afterwards famous Mrs. Stirling played Minerva, Mrs Leigh Murray was Apollo, and Rebecca Isaacs was Venus. In 1858, the theatre was taken over by the Swanborough family (originally Smith). Henry V. Swanborough rebuilt it at
9150-464: The most complete work of dramaturgy in the ancient world. It addresses acting , dance , music , dramatic construction , architecture , costuming , make-up , props , the organisation of companies, the audience, competitions, and offers a mythological account of the origin of theatre. In doing so, it provides indications about the nature of actual theatrical practices. Sanskrit theatre was performed on sacred ground by priests who had been trained in
9272-514: The most elegant Theatre within twenty miles of London". Initially christened the New Greenwich Theatre , it subsequently acquired several new names including Theatre Royal, New Prince of Wales's Theatre, Morton's Theatre and Carlton Theatre . Even so, it continued to be known as the Greenwich Theatre, and was still recorded as such in 1911 before becoming a cinema. The alternative name Theatre Royal, Greenwich emerged as early as 1865 and
9394-466: The most notorious attack on theatre prior to the ban. Viewing theatre as sinful, the Puritans ordered the closure of London theatres in 1642 . On 24 January 1643, the actors protested against the ban by writing a pamphlet titled The Actors remonstrance or complaint for the silencing of their profession, and banishment from their severall play-houses . This stagnant period ended once Charles II came back to
9516-411: The necessary skills (dance, music, and recitation) in a [hereditary process]. Its aim was both to educate and to entertain. Under the patronage of royal courts, performers belonged to professional companies that were directed by a stage manager ( sutradhara ), who may also have acted. This task was thought of as being analogous to that of a puppeteer —the literal meaning of " sutradhara " is "holder of
9638-410: The necks to facilitate the use of multiple heads with one body. When the heads were not being used, they were stored in a muslin book or fabric-lined box. The heads were always removed at night. This was in keeping with the old superstition that if left intact, the puppets would come to life at night. Some puppeteers went so far as to store the heads in one book and the bodies in another, to further reduce
9760-563: The old shell and it eventually reopened as the Greenwich Theatre in 1969. It had to survive a further crisis in the late 1990s prompted by the 1997 withdrawal of its annual subsidy from the London Arts Board . It eventually reopened in November 1999. The seating capacity is currently 421, around an open thrust stage. On 21 October 1969, the theatre re-opened with Martin Luther King ,
9882-437: The oldest surviving work of dramatic theory —his Poetics ( c. 335 BCE ). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods, "Old Comedy", "Middle Comedy", and "New Comedy". Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes , while Middle Comedy is largely lost (preserved only in relatively short fragments in authors such as Athenaeus of Naucratis ). New Comedy
10004-411: The owners brought before the magistrates. It reopened on 25 April 1836, with the necessary licence, under the management of Douglas William Jerrold and William John Hammond . The theatre was enlarged in 1836 and a gallery added in 1839. In 1849 the manager was William Farren . For a while in 1851 it was owned by William Robert Copeland , and known as Punch's' Playhouse and Marionette Theatre . In 1856
10126-697: The physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. Places, normally buildings, where performances regularly take place are also called "theatres" (or "theaters"), as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe"). Modern Western theatre comes, in large measure, from the theatre of ancient Greece , from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres , and many of its themes , stock characters , and plot elements. Theatre artist Patrice Pavis defines theatricality, theatrical language , stage writing and
10248-451: The police magistrates". On at least two subsequent occasions, the Greenwich Theatre celebrated its Richardson heritage. In April 1868 at Eleanor Bufton 's first night as manager, she recited a poem written for the occasion, weaving the Richardson saga around her own. Five years later, at Easter 1873, lessee and manager Mr J. A. Cave reproduced Richardson's performances as closely as possible and even brought back Paul Herring, veteran clown of
10370-574: The possibility of reanimating puppets. Shadow puppetry is said to have reached its highest point of artistic development in the eleventh century before becoming a tool of the government. In the Song dynasty , there were many popular plays involving acrobatics and music. These developed in the Yuan dynasty into a more sophisticated form known as zaju , with a four- or five-act structure. Yuan drama spread across China and diversified into numerous regional forms, one of
10492-399: The quality of the entertainment. He said that twenty years of past successes had proved the value of full houses at moderate prices. Additionally, for those who could afford higher prices, ample accommodation would be provided. After Cave's time, the theatre gradually sank to a lower and lower level and "a once prosperous place was reduced to utter ruin by the incompetence and mismanagement of
10614-443: The remainder of the Puritans and very religious of the time. The main question was if seeing something immoral on stage affects behaviour in the lives of those who watch it, a controversy that is still playing out today. The seventeenth century had also introduced women to the stage, which was considered inappropriate earlier. These women were regarded as celebrities (also a newer concept, thanks to ideas on individualism that arose in
10736-415: The same name, but whose letters and telegrams were getting mixed up with theirs. After renovations in 1891, he reopened as Morton's Model Theatre, then called it The Model House and Temperance Theatre, finally around 1898/99 simplifying the name to an earlier usage as Morton's Theatre. By this time, he was the owner. In 1897, he produced plans to build a new theatre seating 3000 on a nearby vacant site but this
10858-546: The same name. He boasted that Greenwich was the only temperance theatre in the whole of London. By 1892, he was involved in many other theatres around the country, including acting as the Sefton Parry Trust's representative and personal agent for all their properties. In 1895, he took on the lease of Parry's Theatre Royal in Hull and later purchased it. Morton engaged Ellen Terry at a guaranteed fee in order to gain prestige for
10980-422: The satyr play eventually found its way to Athens in its most well-known form. Satyr's themselves were tied to the god Dionysus as his loyal woodland companions, often engaging in drunken revelry and mischief at his side. The satyr play itself was classified as tragicomedy, erring on the side of the more modern burlesque traditions of the early twentieth century. The plotlines of the plays were typically concerned with
11102-455: The scale of poetry in general (where the tragic divides against epic and lyric ) or at the scale of the drama (where tragedy is opposed to comedy ). In the modern era, tragedy has also been defined against drama, melodrama , the tragicomic , and epic theatre . Improvisation has been a consistent feature of theatre, with the Commedia dell'arte in the sixteenth century being recognized as
11224-448: The seeds of Sanskrit drama. This treatise on grammar from 140 BCE provides a feasible date for the beginnings of theatre in India . The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is A Treatise on Theatre ( Nātyaśāstra ), a compendium whose date of composition is uncertain (estimates range from 200 BCE to 200 CE) and whose authorship is attributed to Bharata Muni . The Treatise is
11346-428: The speculators". Those speculating managers included Mr Robertson, Mr H. C. Sidney, Mrs W. Lovegrove & Mr George Villiers, and Mr D. M'Intosh. In the autumn of 1879 J Aubrey, then Sole Lessee and Manager, soon after presenting his Christmas pantomime was made bankrupt. In 1884, Parry identified William Morton as the man to take over his ruined theatre. Morton's first theatrical success had been to launch and sustain
11468-588: The spoken parts were written in the Attic dialect whereas the choral (recited or sung) ones in the Doric dialect , these discrepancies reflecting the differing religious origins and poetic metres of the parts that were fused into a new entity, the theatrical drama . Tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilisation . That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet
11590-461: The strings or threads". The performers were trained rigorously in vocal and physical technique. There were no prohibitions against female performers; companies were all-male, all-female, and of mixed gender. Certain sentiments were considered inappropriate for men to enact, however, and were thought better suited to women. Some performers played characters their own age, while others played ages different from their own (whether younger or older). Of all
11712-409: The style of performance would be similar to that of the old Adelphi , but there would be improvements to suit contemporary taste that made the most of the latest skills and recent inventions. His aim was to attract the highest class of residents by superior pieces carefully acted by a thoroughly efficient company. His first recruits were Bessie Foote from the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, Eliza Hamilton from
11834-558: The term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans , in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians , in a common activity", as Raymond Williams puts it. From its obscure origins in the theatres of Athens 2,500 years ago, from which there survives only a fraction of the work of Aeschylus , Sophocles and Euripides , through its singular articulations in
11956-420: The theatre was closed and remained empty, occasionally being used for storage. In 1949, the building was closed. Greenwich Council bought the site for demolition in 1962, but agreed to support the idea of a new theatre if there was enough local enthusiasm to justify it. Ewan Hooper, a local actor and director, accepted the challenge of rallying support. A new building was designed by architect Brian Meeking within
12078-468: The theatre, knowing that he was bound to make a loss. At "Treasury", Ellen Terry asked the manager for a statement of the total receipts, and, realising that Morton would have a serious loss, magnanimously said she would accept only a net share, the only instance, said Morton, of any one who offered to take less than their "pound of flesh". Dan Leno was involved in a minor drama on the evening of 12 December 1895. Double-booked in Greenwich and Brighton , he
12200-453: The theatrical culture of the city-state. Having emerged sometime during the 6th century BCE, it flowered during the 5th century BCE (from the end of which it began to spread throughout the Greek world), and continued to be popular until the beginning of the Hellenistic period . No tragedies from the 6th century BCE and only 32 of the more than a thousand that were performed in during
12322-696: The throne in 1660 in the Restoration . Theatre (among other arts) exploded, with influence from French culture, since Charles had been exiled in France in the years previous to his reign. In 1660, two companies were licensed to perform, the Duke's Company and the King's Company . Performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisle's Tennis Court . The first West End theatre , known as Theatre Royal in Covent Garden , London,
12444-519: The time because of his use of floor space and scenery. Because of the turmoil before this time, there was still some controversy about what should and should not be put on the stage. Jeremy Collier , a preacher, was one of the heads in this movement through his piece A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage . The beliefs in this paper were mainly held by non-theatre goers and
12566-534: The time, it was a splendid building boasting a new stage, ''equal to many of the West End theatres'', and a new lavatory! The architect was W. R. Hough. It briefly rejoiced in the name "Crowder's Music Hall and Temple of Varieties" but in 1879 was renamed by the new owner, Alfred Ambrose Hurley, as the Royal Borough Theatre of Varieties . In 1898 it was rebuilt to the designs of John George Buckle, possibly for
12688-429: The type of play performed by the puppets. Both styles generally performed plays depicting great adventure and fantasy, rarely was this very stylized form of theatre used for political propaganda. Japanese forms of Kabuki , Nō , and Kyōgen developed in the 17th century CE. Cantonese shadow puppets were the larger of the two. They were built using thick leather which created more substantial shadows. Symbolic colour
12810-519: The wake of Renaissance Humanism ), but on the other hand, it was still very new and revolutionary that they were on the stage, and some said they were unladylike, and looked down on them. Charles II did not like young men playing the parts of young women, so he asked that women play their own parts. Because women were allowed on the stage, playwrights had more leeway with plot twists, like women dressing as men, and having narrow escapes from morally sticky situations as forms of comedy. Comedies were full of
12932-476: The women's suffrage movement. By February 1871, the management had been taken on by Frederick Belton. In August of that year, Eleanor Bufton was involved in a serious railway accident which affected her memory and interfered with her career. In 1872, Mr J A Cave took out a long lease from Sefton Parry and made considerable alterations and improvements before his opening night. He promised that admission prices would be materially reduced without in any way reducing
13054-475: The works of Shakespeare , Lope de Vega , Racine , and Schiller , to the more recent naturalistic tragedy of Strindberg , Beckett's modernist meditations on death, loss and suffering, and Müller's postmodernist reworkings of the tragic canon, tragedy has remained an important site of cultural experimentation, negotiation, struggle, and change. In the wake of Aristotle's Poetics (335 BCE), tragedy has been used to make genre distinctions, whether at
13176-532: The young and very much in vogue, with the storyline following their love lives: commonly a young roguish hero professing his love to the chaste and free minded heroine near the end of the play, much like Sheridan's The School for Scandal . Many of the comedies were fashioned after the French tradition, mainly Molière, again hailing back to the French influence brought back by the King and the Royals after their exile. Molière
13298-457: Was a form of dance - drama that employed a chorus whose parts were sung (to the accompaniment of an aulos —an instrument comparable to the modern oboe ), as were some of the actors' responses and their 'solo songs' ( monodies ). Modern musical theatre is a form of theatre that also combines music, spoken dialogue, and dance. It emerged from comic opera (especially Gilbert and Sullivan ), variety , vaudeville , and music hall genres of
13420-440: Was also very prevalent; a black face represented honesty, a red one bravery. The rods used to control Cantonese puppets were attached perpendicular to the puppets' heads. Thus, they were not seen by the audience when the shadow was created. Pekingese puppets were more delicate and smaller. They were created out of thin, translucent leather (usually taken from the belly of a donkey). They were painted with vibrant paints, thus they cast
13542-417: Was built in 1832 in seven weeks, at a cost of £3,000. The theatre opened on 15 January 1832, as Rayner's New Subscription Theatre , with a production of Struggles at Starting . Within weeks, the venture failed and was sold to the actress Harriet Waylett , re-opening on 29 May as The New Strand (Subscription) Theatre with Damp Beds . Again, the theatre lacked support and closed in November 1832. The theatre
13664-561: Was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal, Drury Lane . One of the big changes was the new theatre house. Instead of the type of the Elizabethan era, such as the Globe Theatre , round with no place for the actors to prepare for the next act and with no "theatre manners", the theatre house became transformed into a place of refinement, with a stage in front and stadium seating facing it. Since seating
13786-464: Was heavy. Attempts were made to recoup the expenditure through a sale, but this was unsuccessful. Mrs Swanborough had to go through the Bankruptcy Court in 1885. Sherson said that, after this, the house ceased to be the old Strand. It came under the direction of Alexander Henderson, who produced adaptations of French light opera with the best results. Though it regained a portion of its vogue under
13908-568: Was in the Swanborough's first production. Turner also ran a theatrical agency. His final appearance was at a benefit for the Strand General Theatrical Fund (of which he had been treasurer) in April 1882. The first appearance of the popular pantomime character, Widow Twankey , played by James Rogers in Byron's version of Aladdin, took place at The Strand in 1861. Other successful works in
14030-639: Was located in the Strand in the City of Westminster . The theatre was built on the site of a panorama in 1832, and in 1882 was rebuilt by the prolific theatre architect Charles J. Phipps . It was demolished in 1905 to make way for Aldwych tube station . From 1801, Thomas Edward Barker set up a rival panorama to his father's in Leicester Square , at 168/169 Strand. On the death of Robert Barker, in 1806, his younger brother, Henry Aston Barker took over management of
14152-443: Was never followed through. In 1904, he moved to Hull, where, in 1934, at the age of 96, he published his memoirs. He attributed his health in old age to hard work, regular habits and an abstemious diet. After Sefton Parry's death in 1887, the ownership of his theatres was transferred to the Sefton Parry Trust. William Morton eventually purchased the Greenwich Theatre outright, then, in April 1900, sold it to Arthur Carlton, who named it
14274-422: Was no longer all the way around the stage, it became prioritized—some seats were obviously better than others. The king would have the best seat in the house: the very middle of the theatre, which got the widest view of the stage as well as the best way to see the point of view and vanishing point that the stage was constructed around. Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg was one of the most influential set designers of
14396-512: Was one of the top comedic playwrights of the time, revolutionizing the way comedy was written and performed by combining Italian commedia dell'arte and neoclassical French comedy to create some of the longest lasting and most influential satiric comedies. Tragedies were similarly victorious in their sense of righting political power, especially poignant because of the recent Restoration of the Crown. They were also imitations of French tragedy, although
14518-524: Was re-opened in early 1833 as the New Strand Theatre , by Frances Maria Kelly – who also based a drama school there. The singer, Rebecca Isaacs was the Directress of Operas at the theatre from 1852 to 1853, and again in 1855. The theatre failed because it was unlicensed, and this put it into competition with London's patent theatres . Presenting plays by subscription was one method of evading
14640-627: Was reputed to be the king of the burlesque actors. Leicester was later played by Maria Ternan. The burlesque that lived longest in the memories of old playgoers, according to Sherson, was Brough's, The Field of the Cloth of Gold . Henry Jameson Turner was by far the longest serving actor at the Strand. His first appearances pre-dated the Swanboroughs. He moved from the Lyceum to the Strand in 1849, his first wife, Eleanor, and eldest daughter, Ellen, also appearing with him. He served under both Farren and Payne, and
14762-604: Was used in The Era as late as December 1902. It remained in Parry's ownership until his death in December 1887 when ownership was transferred to the Sefton Parry Trust. It was sold by auction as the "Greenwich Theatre" in 1909. Parry was soon involved in building further theatres in London. By September 1866, William Sydney (who also managed theatres in Richmond, Norwich & Stockton) had become
14884-458: Was whisked off the Greenwich stage at 10.10 pm, bundled into a cab to New Cross Station , where a specially chartered train took him to Brighton. Within 90 minutes, he was on the stage of the Alhambra. There were several name changes during Morton's time. New , as is customary, was soon dropped. Later, it became "Morton's Prince of Wales's Theatre" to distinguish it from a new London theatre bearing
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