Theatre: Difference between revisions

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''(This article is about the art form; for other uses of the term see [[Theatre (disambiguation)]].''
 
'''Theatre''' (also known as '''theater,''' especially in North America) are those areas of the [[arts]] involving performance, especially of the spoken word. The word is derived from the Greek "θέατρον" via the French "théâtre".
''(This article is about a type of built structure; for other uses of the term see [[Theatre (disambiguation)]].''
The term "drama" comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] "δρᾶμα" (a deed or act; by extension an [[action (praxis)]] represented on a stage).
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A "'''theatre'''" (sometimes spelt "'''theater'''" in [[American English]]) is a structure in which [[Play (drama)|plays]] and other dramatic works are performed. The term is used (especially in [[North America]]) by extension to that branch of the [[performing arts]] concerned with the staging of such works, also called "drama" or "the [[dramatic arts]]".
 
The word "theatre" comes from the the [[Greek language|Greek]] "''θέατρον''" ("theatron" meaning "place of seeing") via the [[French language|French]] "théâtre".
 
==Ancient theatres==
Legend traces the origins of drama in [[Ancient Greece]] to the sixth-century [[Common Era|BCE]], when a man called Thespis (hence the use of the term "thespian" for "actor") first added spoken parts to traditional choral and dance performances. Actors wearing [[mask]]s performed outdoors at festivals in honour of [[Dionysos]], the god of theatre, often to crowds of 12,000 or more. Nearly all Greek religious sites had a theatre used for these festivals; the first stone theatre to be built in Ancient Greece was the [[Theatre of Dionysos]] in [[Athens]].  It was cut into the cliff face south of the [[Acropolis]] between 342 and 326 BCE, a replacement by the Athenian statesman [[Lykourgos]] of an earlier structure built of wood and earth.  (What can be seen in Athens today are in fact the remains of a later rebuilding by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] — a much enlarged structure.)
 
Greek theatres were originally made up of three main parts: the ορχήστρα (orchestra), originally a circular performance space around the altar, later a (sometimes semi-circular) space in which the [[chorus]] danced and the actors performed; the κοίλον or θέατρον, the tiers of seats around the orchestra, with access from above; the προσκήνιον (proscenium), backdrop and stage (this was the part of the theatre to undergo most changes over the centuries).
 
==Elizabethan theatres==
Elizabethan plays were mainly performed publicly in four types of venue (performances were also given in private houses and gardens): the yards of [[inn]]s, open-air amphitheatres, and purpose-built playhouses. The earliest of these were the inn yards, whose layout influenced the playhouses (and the dramatic structure of many plays), and which were themselves sometimes converted into playhouses. Amphitheatres were used in the Summer, acting troupes moving to indoor venues in the Winter.
 
==The nineteenth century==
 
==Modern developments==
 
 
===The main parts of a modern theatre===
 
==See also==
*[[Cinema]] (American English "movie theater")
 
==External links==
*[http://ah.bfn.org/a/virtual/tc.html#Gr Architecture around the World]
**[http://ah.phpwebhosting.com/a/OUTofBFLO/greece/bckgrd.html#Theaters "Classical Greek Architecture"]
**[http://ah.phpwebhosting.com/a/OUTofBFLO/greece/ath/acrop/theat/ "Theatre of Dionysus and Odeon of Herodus Atticus"]
*[http://www.didaskalia.net/ ''Didaskalia''] — electronic journal and resource dedicated to the study of ancient Greek and Roman drama in performance
*[http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-biography-elizabethan-theatre-playhouse-inn-yards.htm Elizabethan Theatres, Playhouses, and Inn-Yards]
*[http://www.theatrecrafts.com/glossary/glossary.shtml "Glossary of Technical Theatre terms"] — from Theatrecrafts.com

Revision as of 16:08, 2 February 2008

(This article is about the art form; for other uses of the term see Theatre (disambiguation). Theatre (also known as theater, especially in North America) are those areas of the arts involving performance, especially of the spoken word. The word is derived from the Greek "θέατρον" via the French "théâtre". The term "drama" comes from the Greek "δρᾶμα" (a deed or act; by extension an action (praxis) represented on a stage).

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