117-668: The Leicester Square Theatre is a 400-seat theatre in Leicester Place, immediately north of Leicester Square , in the City of Westminster , London. It was previously known as Notre Dame Hall , Cavern in the Town and The Venue . The theatre hosts stand-up comedy, cabaret, music, plays and comedies. The building originated as the Notre Dame Hall in 1953, replacing an earlier building that had been destroyed by World War II bombing, and part of
234-410: 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
351-602: A Harvest Ranger from the Planet Androzani Major, in the 2011 Christmas Special of Doctor Who , titled The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe . In 2009, Bailey presented a project about the explorer and naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace , in the form of an Indonesian travelogue. Bailey said in an interview that Wallace had been "airbrushed out of history", and that he felt a "real affinity" with him. In 2013, to coincide with
468-406: 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
585-422: A guest on his show TV Heaven, Telly Hell . He appeared twice on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross . Bailey also hosted his own show Comic's Choice , which aired in 2011. Bailey presented Wild Thing I Love You , which began on Channel 4 on 15 October 2006. The series concentrates on the protection of Britain's wild animals, and has included re-homing badgers , owls and water voles . Bailey appeared in
702-449: A member of a school band called Behind Closed Doors, which played mostly original work. He is a classically trained musician and was the only pupil at his school to study A-level music, which he passed with an A grade. He also states he was good at sport and was the captain of the KES 2nd XI cricket team in 1982, which often surprised his teachers. He would often combine music and sport by leading
819-726: A minor key and performing the Hokey Cokey in the style of the electronic band Kraftwerk. In February 2007, Bailey appeared twice with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Anne Dudley in a show entitled Cosmic Shindig . Performed in the Colosseum in Watford on 24 February and in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 26 February, the show contained orchestrally accompanied versions of many of Bailey's previously performed songs, an exploration of
936-527: 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
1053-500: 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
1170-483: A regular feature for some years over the festive season. The theatre is owned and managed by artistic director Martin Witts. Theatre Theatre or theater 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
1287-473: A team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002, Bailey became his successor. Host Mark Lamarr continually teased him about his looks and his pre-occupation with woodland animals. On 18 September 2008, it was announced that Bailey would leave the series and be replaced by a series of guest captains including Jack Dee and Dermot O'Leary . While touring in 2009, Bailey joked that the main reason for leaving
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#17328521200131404-519: 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
1521-421: 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
1638-435: 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
1755-693: 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
1872-436: 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
1989-432: Is an English musician, comedian, actor and television presenter. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom Black Books and for his regular appearances on the panel shows Never Mind the Buzzcocks , Have I Got News for You , and QI , as well as for his stand-up comedy work. He plays a variety of musical instruments and incorporates music into his performances. Bailey was listed by The Observer as one of
2106-657: 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
2223-644: 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
2340-526: 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,
2457-1093: Is regarded as one of the best New Comedian competitions and has given rise to the Not So New Comedian Competition and Sketch Off, both at the theatre's sister venue, the Museum of Comedy at St. George's, Bloomsbury . The theatre has subsequently been host to many comedians, including Al Murray , Michael McIntyre , Arabella Weir , Dave Chappelle , Ed Gamble , Janey Godley , Jerry Sadowitz , Jim Gaffigan , Tim Vine , Mark Thomas , Michelle Wolf , Micky Flanagan , Rachel Parris , Ricky Gervais , Ruby Wax , Sean Lock , Tom Stade , and Stewart Lee . Theatre shows have included Tiddler , Scarecrows Wedding , Private Peaceful , An Evening With Joan Collins , and Musik (the Pet Shop Boys Musical). Music has been performed by Blake, Mark Kingswood, Macy Gray , Buddy Greco , Joe Longthorne , Hazel O'Connor , and Boy George . Performers who have returned regularly to
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#17328521200132574-419: 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
2691-467: 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
2808-835: 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) . Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey ,
2925-508: 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
3042-645: The 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe . A critical and commercial success, he then transferred it to the West End, where tickets sold out in under 24 hours, and new dates had to be added. He continued to tour it all over the UK as well as in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Bailey expanded on subjects such as the war on Iraq . He also talks extensively about drugs, at one point asking the audience to name different ways of baking cannabis . A DVD
3159-511: The 2010 general election campaign. In 2015, he endorsed Jeremy Corbyn 's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election , saying, "Corbyn's nomination showed there is a kind of craving for a bit of honest speaking, a bit of principled plain speaking. But I think he is in a bit of a bind. Nuanced debate doesn't cut it in the toxic, political atmosphere. He’s having a fast-forward of his own political evolution, having to become 'a politician' –
3276-537: 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 ,
3393-509: 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
3510-636: The British Comedy Awards in 1999. Although he did not win the Perrier Comedy Awards in 1996, the nomination was enough to get him noticed. In 1998, the BBC gave him his own television show, Is It Bill Bailey? . Bailey's television debut had been on the children's show Motormouth in the late 1980s – playing piano for a mind-reading dog. Bailey reminisced about the experience on the BBC show Room 101 with Paul Merton in 2000. In 1991, he
3627-501: 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
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3744-539: The Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Sean Lock , a show about an ageing rockstar and his roadie , script-edited by comedy writer Jim Miller. It was later serialised for the Mark Radcliffe show on BBC Radio 1 . The show's attendances were not impressive and on one occasion the only person in the audience was comedian Dominic Holland . Bailey almost gave up comedy to take up a telesales job. He went solo
3861-504: The Hammersmith area of London with his wife Kristin, whom he married in 1998, on a whim, in Indonesia . In 2009, he said: "We were travelling around Asia and sailed into a place called Banda , with a beautiful lagoon, and a smoking volcano on one side and a Dutch colonial fort, an old church and remains of a little town on the other. We decided to get married there and then." Their son Dax
3978-554: 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
4095-554: 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
4212-723: The Tinselworm tour enjoyed three sell-out nights at the MEN Arena in Manchester, Europe's largest indoor arena, and culminated with a sell-out performance at Wembley Arena . Early in 2007, a petition was started to express fans' wishes to see him cast as a dwarf in The Hobbit films , after his stand-up routine mentioned auditioning for Gimli in The Lord of the Rings . The petition reached its goal in
4329-546: 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),
4446-511: 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
4563-514: 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
4680-573: 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
4797-484: 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
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4914-465: 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
5031-464: The 50 funniest acts in British comedy in 2003. In 2007, and again in 2010, he was voted the seventh greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4 's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups . In 2020 Bailey won the 18th series of the televised BBC dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing with his professional partner Oti Mabuse . At 55, he is currently the oldest winner in the show's history as of 2024. Mark Robert Bailey
5148-407: 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
5265-472: The BBC show Hustle as the character "Cyclops", a side-line character. In autumn 2009, Bailey presented Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza . Continuing his foray into natural history , Bailey presented ITV1 's half-hour wildlife mini-series Baboons With Bill Bailey . The series was filmed in Cape Town and spanned eight episodes, with exclusive content available on itvWILD. Bill Bailey played Droxil,
5382-540: 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
5499-589: 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,
5616-652: The Horne (2003). In 2008, the theatre was under new ownership and underwent refurbishment of the auditorium and bars and reopened in August with the new name of the Leicester Square Theatre . The opening season included American comedian Joan Rivers making her acting debut with her play Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress , which played a total of 75 performances to celebrate her birthday. A musical based on
5733-875: The Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra , conducted by Anne Dudley . In November 2009 he was a guest on Private Passions , the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3. In July 2011, Bailey performed at the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth , headlining the Saturn Stage. He released an album, In Metal , using songs played at Sonisphere, later that year. In June 2014, The Music House for Children announced Bailey would become their patron alongside Sophie Ellis-Bextor in celebration of their 20th anniversary. Bailey lives in
5850-503: 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
5967-607: The United Kingdom and Ireland . In 2022 Bailey took the tour to venues in Europe, and in October to Australia. Bailey plays numerous musical instruments, and incorporates music into his comedy. He has perfect pitch . His stand-up routines often feature music from genres such as jazz, rock (most notably prog rock from the early 1970s), drum'n'bass , classical, and even theme songs , usually for comic value. Favourite instruments include
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#17328521200136084-788: 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),
6201-622: 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
6318-453: The album. In the mid-90s Notre Dame Hall hosted The Halloween Society's monthly events which featured short films, variety acts, live music and cabaret. In 2001, it was converted to a theatre and named The Venue . Productions at The Venue included the world premiere of the Boy George musical Taboo , which played a highly successful run in 2002 before transferring to Broadway ; and Round
6435-469: 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 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
6552-582: 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
6669-440: The centenary of Wallace's death , Bailey presented a two-part documentary, Bill Bailey's Jungle Hero , first broadcast on BBC Two on 21 and 28 April 2013. He travelled around producing and filming the series in Indonesia and Borneo . Bailey took part in the eighteenth series of the televised dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing , broadcast in late 2020. He won the competition with his partner, Oti Mabuse , becoming
6786-458: The comic strip Alex , by Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor , starring Robert Bathurst , finished the year 2008. The theatre launched its New Comedian of the Year competition in 2009. This competition has seen many well-known acts come through to become finalists, including Rob Beckett , Rachel Parris , Dane Baptiste , Sofie Hagen , Tim Renkow , Joby Mageean, Bilal Zafar , and Tez Ilyas . It
6903-552: 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
7020-467: 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
7137-433: 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
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#17328521200137254-454: 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,
7371-659: The early days of January, and was sent to the producers. It was hoped that as the Tinselworm tour took him to Wellington where the film was in pre-production, he would be able to audition. Dandelion Mind was released on DVD on 22 November 2010. In 2012, his world tour entitled Qualmpeddler toured the UK as well as returning to Australia and New Zealand in August and September 2012. In September and October 2018, Bailey toured his show, The Earl of Whimsy , to seven venues within New Zealand. In December 2021, Bailey started touring his new show, En Route To Normal , to venues in
7488-479: 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
7605-472: 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
7722-477: 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
7839-517: 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
7956-612: 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
8073-646: 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
8190-404: The instruments of the orchestra and a number of new pieces of music. The Queen Elizabeth Hall performance was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 16 March 2007 as a part of Comic Relief 2007. Bailey had planned to put himself forward as Britain's Eurovision entry in 2008, as a result of several fan petitions encouraging him to do so. In October 2008, he performed Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to
8307-452: The intellectual panel game QI since it began in 2003, alongside host Stephen Fry and regular panellist Alan Davies ; he was the winner of the show's unaired pilot episode. Other television appearances include a cameo role in Alan Davies' drama series Jonathan Creek as failing street magician Kenny Starkiss and obsessed guitar teacher in the "Holiday" episode of Sean Lock's Fifteen Storeys High . He later appeared with Lock again as
8424-546: The keyboard, guitar, theremin , kazoo and bongos . He also mentioned in an interview that he has achieved Grade 6 Clarinet . He was part of punk band Beergut 100, which he founded in 1995 with comedy writer Jim Miller and also featured Martin Trenaman and Phil Whelans, with Kevin Eldon as lead singer. The band performed at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe . His musical routines include performing " The Star-Spangled Banner " in
8541-659: 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
8658-464: 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
8775-466: 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
8892-411: 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
9009-410: 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
9126-525: The next year with the one-man show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam . The show led to a recording at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London which was broadcast in 1997 on Channel 4 as a one-hour special called Bill Bailey Live . It was not until 2005 that this was released on DVD uncut and under its original title. It marked the first time that Bailey had been able to tie together his music and post-modern gags with
9243-437: 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
9360-461: The pilot script for Black Books , a Channel 4 sitcom about a cold-hearted bookshop owner, his nice-guy assistant, and their socially awkward female friend. It was commissioned in 2000, and Bailey took the part of the assistant Manny Bianco , with Moran playing the owner Bernard and Tamsin Greig the friend, Fran. Three series of six episodes each were made. When Sean Hughes left his long-term role as
9477-574: 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
9594-524: The rebuild of the adjacent Notre Dame de France church, and the hall was used as a French cultural centre for a time. It became a popular music venue in the 1960s under the name Cavern in the Town , regularly hosting beat music group The Small Faces . It was renamed Notre Dame Hall in the 1970s and presented The Rolling Stones and The Who , but specialised in punk music , hosting such acts as The Sex Pistols . In 1979, The Clash previewed material from London Calling here shortly before recording
9711-443: 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
9828-422: 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
9945-455: 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
10062-556: The second series of the E4 teenage "dramedy" Skins playing Maxxie's dad, Walter Oliver. In episode 1, Walter struggles with his son's desire to be a dancer, instead wishing him to become a builder, which is what he himself does for a living. Walter is married to Jackie, played by Fiona Allen . Bailey appeared on the first episode of Grand Designs Live on 4 May 2008, helping Kevin McCloud build his eco-friendly home. In 2009, Bailey appeared in
10179-448: 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
10296-403: The show was a lack of desire to continue humming Britney Spears ' Toxic to little known figures in the indie music scene. During this time he also left his position as "curator" of the Museum of Curiosity , and declared his intention to "retire" from panel games, although he has since appeared on QI many more times and hosted Have I Got News For You . Bailey has appeared frequently on
10413-589: The show was broadcast on Channel 4 that Christmas. A modified version of it also proved successful in America, and in 2002 Bailey released a CD of a recording at the WestBeth Theatre in New York City. The show contained his popular music parodies (such as Unisex Chip Shop, a Billy Bragg tribute, which he also performed with Bragg himself at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival ), "three men in a pub" jokes (including one in
10530-515: The show's oldest winner at 55, displacing the previous oldest winner Joe McFadden . Their win made Mabuse the first dancer to receive the title two years in a row. In 2022, Bailey voiced Grandfather Smed in the Christmas adaptation The Smeds and The Smoos (film) In 2001, Bailey began touring the globe with Bewilderness . A recording of a performance in Swansea was released on DVD the same year, and
10647-455: The side of the house by his maternal grandfather, who was a stonemason and builder. Two rooms at the front of the family house were for his father's surgery. Bailey was educated at King Edward's School , an independent school in Bath, where he was initially a highly academic pupil. At about the age of 15, he started to become distracted from school work when he realised the thrill of performance as
10764-532: The singing on the long coach trip back from away rugby fixtures. It was here that he was given the nickname Bill by his music teacher for being able to play the song " Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey " so well on the guitar. Bailey started studies for an English degree at Westfield College of the University of London , but left after a year. He received an Associate Diploma from the London College of Music . He
10881-588: 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
10998-461: 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
11115-462: The style of Geoffrey Chaucer ) and deconstructions of television themes such as Countdown and The Magic Roundabout . A Bewilderness CD was sold outside gigs, a mixture of studio recordings of songs and monologues Bailey had performed in the past; it was later released in shops as Bill Bailey: The Ultimate Collection... Ever! That same year he also presented a Channel 4 countdown, Top Ten Prog Rock . Bailey premiered his show Part Troll at
11232-558: 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
11349-453: 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
11466-722: The thing he never was." Bailey is a feminist and a supporter of the Fawcett Society . He is also a prominent advocate of men's issues , most notably raising awareness of prostate cancer and the Men United campaign. He is a patron of International Animal Rescue and has been instrumental in the organisation's campaign to rescue dancing bears . He has also campaigned for the Sumatran Orangutan Society. For his work in environmental conservation , he received an honorary doctorate in conservation and sustainability from
11583-696: 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,
11700-519: 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
11817-429: 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
11934-410: The venue include Bill Bailey , Frank Skinner , Frankie Boyle , Henning Wehn , Richard Herring , Stacey Kent , and Stewart Lee . Richard Herring records his live podcast here, titled, Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast , featuring well-known comedians, actors and musicians. The theatre has a long-standing relationship with the children's theatre show Stick Man , which has been
12051-519: 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
12168-535: The whimsical rambling style he is now known for. After supporting Donna McPhail in 1995 and winning a Time Out award, he returned to Edinburgh in 1996 with a show that was nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award . Amongst the other nominees was future Black Books co-star Dylan Moran , who narrowly beat him in the closest vote in the award's history. Bailey won the Best Live Stand-Up award at
12285-475: 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
12402-532: 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
12519-457: 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
12636-589: Was also made an honorary member of the Society of Crematorium Organists. He performed with a boy band called The Famous Five. Acting roles included a part in a Workers' Revolutionary Party stage production called The Printers with Vanessa Redgrave and Frances de la Tour . Bailey began touring the country with comedians such as Mark Lamarr . In 1984, he formed a double act, the Rubber Bishops, with Toby Longworth (a fellow former pupil at King Edward's, Bath). It
12753-440: 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
12870-745: Was appearing in stand-up shows such as The Happening , Packing Them In , The Stand Up Show and The Comedy Store . He also appeared as captain on two panel games , an ITV music quiz pilot called Pop Dogs , and the Channel 4 science fiction quiz show Space Cadets . Is it Bill Bailey? was the first time he had written and presented his own show. Over the next few years, Bailey made guest appearances on shows such as Have I Got News for You , World Cup Comedy , Room 101 , Des O'Connor Tonight , Coast to Coast and three episodes of off-beat Channel 4 sitcom Spaced , in which he played comic-shop manager Bilbo Bagshot. In 1998, Dylan Moran approached him with
12987-514: Was born in 2003. He supports Queens Park Rangers and describes himself as an avid fan of Star Trek . Bailey has a carnivorous pitcher plant named after him, Nepenthes x Bill Bailey , created by Borneo Exotics in Sri Lanka . His sporting interests include standup paddleboarding (SUP). He is an active supporter of British Canoeing . Bailey is a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party and appeared in its fifth party election broadcast of
13104-573: Was born on 13 January 1965 in Bath, Somerset , son of Christopher and Madryn Bailey. His father was an NHS general practitioner "who ran a little surgery in the front of the house", and his mother a hospital ward nurse. Until 2018, when he revealed the correct date, his birthday was wrongly recorded by the media as 24 February. He spent most of his childhood in Keynsham , a town between Bath and Bristol . His maternal grandparents lived in an annexe built on
13221-561: 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
13338-422: 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
13455-512: 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
13572-491: Was released in 2004. His 1995 show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam . was released in 2005. The two-disc set also contained a director's cut of Bewilderness , which featured a routine on Stephen Hawking 's A Brief History of Time not seen in the original version. Bailey performed a show at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe entitled Steampunk . Bailey appeared at the Beautiful Days festival in August 2007. The UK leg of
13689-552: Was there that Bailey began developing his own style, mixing in musical parodies with deconstructions of or variations on traditional jokes ("How many amoebas does it take to change a lightbulb ? One, no two! No four! No eight..."). Longworth left to join the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1989 and was replaced by Martin Stubbs. Stubbs later quit to pursue a more serious career, and in 1994 Bailey performed Rock at
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