Theatre Through the Ages

Theatre among primitive peoples — The origins of Greek tragedy and the satyric drama — Greek tragedy in the fifth century B.C. — Aristophanes and Greek comedy — The architecture of Hellenistic and Roman theatres — Roman theatre — Everyday theatre in the Middle Ages: mimes and minstrels — Liturgical drama — The mystery-plays: religious theatre for the people — The humanist revival of ancient classical theatre — Learning, speculation and archeology in the Renaissance — The baroque vogue for opera — The commedia dell’arte — French professional acting from farce to tragedy — The comedie francaise in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries — Theatre on wheels and in courtyards in the golden age — For the kings of England — four and five fencing foils and one wooden hoop — English theatre during the Restoration — Garrick and Shakespearian interpretation — Lessing and middle-class theatre — History, Shakespeare, and romanticism — The boulevards of Paris and the strolling players of romantic Italy — Forms and motifs in the oriental tradition — Naturalism and psychological realism: Antoine and Stanislavsky — The theatre artist and his symbols — Theatre and poltic and the strolling players of romantic Italy — Forms and motifs in the oriental tradition — Naturalism and psychological realism: Antoine and Stanislavsky — The theatre artist and his symbols — Theatre and political strife — The disintegration of theatrical space