119-642: The Theatre Royal Stratford East (commonly referred to as just Stratford East) is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham . Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood , whose statue is outside the theatre. The theatre was designed by architect James George Buckle, and commissioned by Charles Dillon, né Silver, adoptive son of
238-415: A Spaghetti Western . Excited by urban life, Ivan desperately tries to get a job but is repeatedly turned away. Finally, he turns to the preacher his mother suggested, who offers him only menial jobs under the scrutiny of Longa, an older church worker. In contrast with his unhappiness about the church jobs, Ivan pursues his romantic interest in the preacher's ward, Elsa. But many of the church members believe
357-410: 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
476-535: A co-production with English National Opera for Benjamin Britten 's community opera Noye's Fludde directed by Lyndsey Turner and featured different community groups and schools across Newham and East London. Equus won three Off-West End Awards in 2020, including Best Production, Best Director (Ned Bennett) and Best Lighting Design ( Jessica Hung Han Yun ). Fall's second season (Sep 2019 – Jul 2020) opened with Katori Hall 's Our Lady of Kibeho and included
595-406: 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
714-427: A failed attempt to kill José. Capitalizing on Ivan's notoriety, Hilton turns Ivan's song into a radio hit. Ivan tries to do the same, taking photos as a two-gun outlaw and sending them to the press. As Ivan's status rises, the police work harder to catch and kill him. Detective Jones, tasked with capturing Ivan, temporarily shuts down his protection racket to starve the community of their drug money, thereby pressuring
833-440: A job running marijuana . Ivan complains about the poor pay, concerned that he's being taken advantage of. Not knowing that the drug runners are protected from arrest by José's deal with Detective Jones, a corrupt police official, Ivan purchases a pair of guns for protection. Ivan learns that a delivery he made was valued at $ 100,000, and he continues to complain about his meager pay. In response, José and Detective Jones arrange for
952-533: 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
1071-500: 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
1190-524: A police commissioner, Jamaican-Chinese Carlton Lee, portraying himself as a sound engineer, and producer Joe Gibbs, all make brief appearances on screen. Production began in 1970, but "dragged [for the next two years] due to inadequate funding". The film was a sensation in Jamaica due to its naturalistic portrayal of black Jamaicans in real locations and its use of Jamaican Patois , the local creole . According to Henzell, "Black people seeing themselves on
1309-405: A policeman to arrest Ivan, but, remembering his earlier whipping, Ivan shoots and kills the officer. Ivan has a tryst with José's girlfriend, during which the police ambush him. He evades capture by killing three officers. When he returns home, he tells Elsa that, through these crimes, he is finally getting the fame he's always wanted. He then gets his revenge by killing José's girlfriend and making
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#17327718906331428-524: 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
1547-421: 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
1666-435: 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
1785-697: 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
1904-419: A woman dancing to Ivan's song. The film stars reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who plays Ivanhoe Martin , a character based upon a real-life Jamaican criminal of that name, better known as Rhyging , who achieved fame in the 1940s. Prior to filming, the project had a working title of Rhygin . This then changed to Hard Road to Travel before finally being changed to The Harder They Come , prompting Cliff to write
2023-436: 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
2142-400: Is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone , and starring Jimmy Cliff . The film is most famous for its reggae soundtrack that is said to have "brought reggae to the world". Enormously successful in Jamaica, the film also reached the international market and has been described as "possibly the most influential of Jamaican films and one of
2261-663: 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
2380-644: 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
2499-539: 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,
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#17327718906332618-419: 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
2737-464: Is surmounted by the letters "FF", commemorating the association with the Fredericks – possibly Frederick Fredericks, the husband of Dillon's sister, and a successful actor in his own right. Theatre superstition has it that should the letters ever be removed, the theatre will crumble. TRSE closed in 1938 and remained closed until 1943. Revues were then briefly tried, but failed, and again the theatre
2856-472: 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
2975-541: Is to bring London's new communities to the stage, and portray their experiences as second and third generation emigrants. His debut play as artistic director was The Battle of Green Lanes by Cosh Omar , set amongst London's Cypriot society. He directed the hit musicals The Harder They Come (at Theatre Royal Stratford East and then transferred to The Barbican and the West End's Playhouse Theatre) and also Come Dancing by Ray Davies and Paul Sirett. In 2007, Pied Piper won
3094-802: 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) . The Harder They Come The Harder They Come
3213-518: 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
3332-546: 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 ,
3451-516: 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
3570-485: The Apollo Theatre . In 2005, the theatre produced a musical version of the cult Jamaican film The Harder They Come – famous for its reggae soundtrack, which also transferred to the West End. This production was written by the film director Perry Henzel and was one of the most successful productions in the theatre's history. In 2018, Nadia Fall became artistic director. The Theatre Royal became famous under
3689-508: 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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3808-639: The National Theatre , an adaptation of Charles Dickens ' Oliver Twist by Bryony Lavery for Ramps on the Moon and a revival of Roy Williams ' seminal play Sucker Punch , directed by Roy Alexander Weise. The productions Noye's Fludde and Our Lady of Kibeho were nominated for Olivier Awards , winning Outstanding Achievement in Opera for The Children's Ensemble in Noye's Fludde. On 1 October 2024 it
3927-563: 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
4046-569: 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
4165-559: 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),
4284-516: 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
4403-514: 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
4522-573: 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
4641-484: 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
4760-465: 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
4879-407: 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
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4998-553: 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
5117-598: 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,
5236-533: The Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, as did Cora Bissett 's play Roadkill. in 2011. The theatre was nominated again in 2014 with their production of Oh! What a Lovely War! , a revival of the Joan Littlewood classic. Michael also directed the annual pantomime and was again nominated for an Olivier Award for Cinderella. In 2012 Stratford East, 'fast becoming one of
5355-598: The Olympiad's Stratford Cultural Quarter project. In 1990, TRSE scored a massive hit with the premiere of Five Guys Named Moe , which immediately transferred to the West End and won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. The show has been produced all over the world, including Broadway, and continues to be revived regularly. In 2004, TRSE made history by having the first British Black musical, The Big Life , transfer to London's West End , where it played at
5474-553: The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bob Charlton ( Hilton ), Volair Johnson ( Pushcart Boy ), and well known comedians Bim and Bam : Ed "Bim" Lewis ( Photographer ), and Aston "Bam" Wynter ( Drunken Husband ). Legendary ska musician Prince Buster ( DJ at Dance ) makes a cameo in the movie, telling the audience to "sit tight and listen keenly!" Other personalities from the Jamaican music industry, such as Duke Reid, who appears as
5593-507: 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
5712-716: The Royal Shakespeare Company from 1991 until her death in 2003. Notable Venables productions included Old King Cole , The Silver Tassie , The Funniest Man in the World , and Sisters . Philip Hedley , who had worked as an assistant to Joan Littlewood for some years, took over the artistic directorship of the Theatre Royal from Clare Venables in 1979. He provided traditional entertainment in style of old music hall variety shows on Sunday evenings while seeking to engage with new Asian and Black audiences, as
5831-531: The Stratford shopping centre in the 1970s, but was saved by a public campaign and protected in June 1972 by English Heritage with a Grade II* listing . Money remained short, and the manager, Gerry Raffles, only managed redecoration and replacements as cash became available. In 2001, following a successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid, all of the theatre's front of house and backstage areas were refurbished as part of
5950-799: The TRSE with his own adaptation of a Georges Feydeau farce Out of Practice . Clare Venables was artistic director from 1977 to 1979. She went on to run the Crucible Theatre Sheffield from 1981 to 1992, was a founding director of the Actors' Centre and a member of the Arts Council Drama panel. She was principal of the BRIT School of Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon from 1995 to 1999; and director of education of
6069-781: The UK premiere of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe , Ballet Black, pantomime Sleeping Beauty , Frantic Assembly 's The Unreturning by Anna Jordan, a revival of Peter Shaffer 's Equus directed by Ned Bennett and co-produced with English Touring Theatre . The critically acclaimed production transferred to the West End in summer 2019 playing at Trafalgar Studios. Other shows included Pilot Theatre's touring show Noughts & Crosses (novel series) , an adaptation of Malorie Blackman 's novel by Sabrina Mahfouz , August Wilson 's play King Hedley II , directed by Fall and starring Lenny Henry , Cherrelle Skeete, Leo Wringer , Martina Laird, Dexter Flanders and Aaron Pierre as Hedley. The season ended with
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#17327718906336188-467: The UK's most innovative and interactive theatres', launched its Open Stage Project, enabling people to participate with everything from programming ideas to working on productions. 2014 productions at TRSE included David Baddiel 's musical The Infidel, co-directed by Kerry Michael and David Baddiel. The 2016 season included Hotel Cerise , an adaptation of Anton Chekhov 's The Cherry Orchard by Bonnie Greer . In 2016 Kerry Michael expanded TRSE across
6307-680: The Vaudeville Theatre in the West End in 1993 and Zorro! The Musical which opened two weeks after Hill's death in 1995. Notable productions by Ken Hill at the TRSE include On Your Way, Riley! by Alan Plater , Scrape Off the Black by Tunde Ikoli, and My Girl by Barrie Keeffe . Maxwell Shaw , another member of the original Theatre Workshop, was a character actor on both stage and film, most notably in The Oblong Box and Start The Revolution Without Me. He opened his tenure at
6426-820: 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),
6545-578: 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
6664-409: The actor-manager Charles Dillon (died 1881) in 1884. It is the architect's only surviving work, built on the site of a wheelwright's shop on Salway Road, close to the junction with Angel Lane. It opened on 17 December 1884 with a revival of Richelieu by Edward Bulwer-Lytton . Two years later, Dillon sold it to Albert O'Leary Fredericks, his sister's brother-in-law and one of the original backers of
6783-469: 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
6902-587: 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
7021-544: The chapel. The preacher discovers the rehearsal, and enraged, fires Ivan then chastises Elsa, jealously accusing her of fornication. Ivan returns to the church compound the next day to collect the bicycle he built, but Longa claims it as his own. Ivan picks a fight, ultimately slashing Longa brutally with a knife. The police sentence Ivan to a violent whipping, and when he's released, he and Elsa move in together. Ivan records his song, " The Harder They Come ", at Hilton's recording studio. But with Hilton's payola stranglehold on
7140-552: 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
7259-430: The course of the show's run we want audiences from all backgrounds to enjoy and discuss this thought-provoking new play." 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
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#17327718906337378-471: 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
7497-433: 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
7616-454: 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,
7735-484: 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
7854-477: 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
7973-400: The exclusion of ‘white’ people’ is currently and entirely fully legal. The theatre defended the performance approach robustly. Nadia Fall, the theatre's artistic director, defended the performance: "I understand that this initiative isn't going to chime with everyone, and that's OK; that's why there are 28 performances that aren't a Black Out night. No one is excluded from attending and during
8092-481: 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
8211-517: 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
8330-507: The film has a 91% score based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2 1/2 stars out of 4, writing that the "movie’s ending is an exercise in plot; its beginning and its music deserve better than that". The staff of Variety magazine wrote that the film "has a sharp and racy rhythm, in keeping with the syncopated music of the isle, plus an underlying social theme in
8449-628: 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
8568-493: The guise of a familiar tale". Music credits listed at the end of the film: In 1980, Jamaican-American author Michael Thelwell published a novel based on the film, using the same title. Thelwell inserted many Jamaican proverbs into the novel that were unused in the film. In 2006, Prasad Corporation digitally restored the film, recapturing its original look by cleaning it frame by frame to remove dirt, tears, scratches, and other artifacts. In 2005, The Harder They Come
8687-675: 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
8806-672: 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
8925-756: The local demographic changed. The theatre continued Littlewood's agenda to portray and express the experience of local people in East London. In 1999, he began the Musical Theatre Initiatives scheme to encourage new writing in musical theatre. The final show he produced at Stratford East, The Big Life , was the first black British musical to go to the West End. In 2004, after 25 years as artistic director, he retired. Kerry Michael joined Stratford East in 1997, as an associate director, becoming artistic director in September 2004. His manifesto
9044-432: The local music industry, Ivan's only option is to sign Hilton's exploitative $ 20 contract. However, unbeknownst to Ivan, Hilton decides to play the song only enough to recoup his investment, and not enough to let Ivan become a music superstar. Meanwhile, Elsa has struggled to find work and, concerned about money, stays home instead of going out to celebrate Ivan's song release. At the club, Ivan runs into José, who offers him
9163-587: The management of Gerry Raffles (1928–1975), who worked with director Joan Littlewood on such productions as A Taste of Honey and Oh, What a Lovely War! . In 1975, her collaborator and partner, Gerry Raffles died of diabetes , and in 1979, a devastated Joan Littlewood moved to France, never to direct again. Notable names to get their break at TRSE include Richard Harris , Murray Melvin , Barbara Windsor , Victor Spinetti , Brian Murphy , Avis Bunnage , Harry H Corbett , Yootha Joyce , composer/lyricist Lionel Bart , and writer Shelagh Delaney . Michael Caine
9282-464: 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
9401-461: The most important films from the Caribbean". After Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin's grandmother dies, he leaves the rural country for the city of Kingston , where he is immediately conned out of all his possessions by a street vendor. Though his mother tells him that city life is hard, she suggests he might find work with a local Christian preacher. Ivan then meets José, who takes him to see Django ,
9520-471: 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
9639-500: The movie was limited outside of Jamaica because the local patois spoken by the characters was so thick that it required subtitles, making it possibly "the first English language movie in history to require subtitles in the United States". The soundtrack to the film is considered a breakthrough for reggae in the United States. The film received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes ,
9758-411: 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
9877-410: 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
9996-437: 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
10115-438: The other drug runners to turn Ivan in. He forces the press to not publish Ivan's photos and bans Ivan's song from the radio. During another shootout, Ivan's shoulder is wounded, and he only narrowly escapes. His closest drug-dealer friend, Pedro, helps him hide out and suggests that he escape to Cuba. But the community grows increasingly desperate without their drug trade money. Elsa, deciding she has no other way to survive, tells
10234-424: The police of Ivan's plans to flee. Ivan swims out to the ship to Cuba, but not having the strength to climb aboard, he passes out. Waking up on the beach, he is ambushed by a police assault team. The police's approach is intercut with the sounds and images of a movie audience cheering Ivan on as if he is a hero character. He emerges from his hiding area, holding his two guns, and is shot to death. The film ends with
10353-582: 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
10472-403: The preacher might be raising her to be his own romantic partner, increasing the conflict between him and the preacher. After building a bicycle from an abandoned frame he finds, he delivers the preacher's recording to Hilton, a prominent record producer, then asks Hilton for a chance to audition. That night, he borrows the key to the church from Elsa so he can practice his secular audition song in
10591-499: The public to kindly refrain from attending. The introduction of the performances were described by the Tory Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Festus Akinbusoye, as a 'poor and dangerous precedent'. Opinion was widely divided, some labelling the events progressive while others labelling them racist, separatist and hypocritical. However, the cabinet office later stated that: under the ‘2010 Equality Act’
10710-477: The rear of the theatre. Thankfully the fire happened at midnight, with the safety curtain lowered, saving the auditorium which retains many of its original features to this day. The theatre was closed until January 1922. The Fredericks family continued to manage the theatre until 1932, although after the World War I , the theatre fell into financial difficulties, opening only irregularly after 1926. The proscenium
10829-443: 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
10948-459: The return of Ballet Black, pantomime Dick Whittington , Eclipse Theatre's new play The Gift by Janice Okoh and Frantic Assembly's 25th anniversary play I Think We Are Alone by Sally Abbott and co-directed by Kathy Burke and Scott Graham. The rest of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included a new verbatim play by Nadia Fall Welcome To Iran in co-production with
11067-422: 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
11186-460: 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
11305-428: The scheme. In 1887 the theatre was renamed Theatre Royal and Palace of Varieties and side extensions were added in 1887. The stage was enlarged in 1891, by the original architect. In 1902, Frank Matcham undertook minor improvements to the entrance and foyer. The Theatre reverted to its Theatre Royal Stratford East ('TRSE') name in 1914. A fire on the stage on August Bank Holiday Monday of 1921 did considerable damage to
11424-638: The screen for the first time created an unbelievable audience reaction". The film premiered at the Carib Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica, on 5 June 1972, and was then released in February 1973 in New York City by Roger Corman 's New World Pictures to little attention. It became more popular when it was played to midnight audiences nationwide the following April. However, the popularity of
11543-452: 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
11662-477: The song of the same name. The story very loosely follows the real Martin/Rhyging's life updated to the 1970s, though the historical Rhyging was neither a musician nor drug dealer. Cliff's previous acting experience had come from school productions. Other major roles in the film were played by Janet Bartley ( Elsa ), Basil Keane ( Preacher ), Ras Daniel Hartman ( Pedro ), Beverly Anderson ( Upper St. Andrew Housewife ), eventually married to Michael Manley who became
11781-596: 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
11900-718: The square to Gerry's, a new cafe and an 80-seater studio. Kerry Michael stepped down as artistic director in 2017. A director and playwright, Fall has worked extensively at the Royal National Theatre , directing shows including Chewing Gum Dreams , Our Country's Good and Home – which she also wrote. Fall has also worked with London's Hampstead Theatre and Bush Theatre , where she directed Taylor Mac's Hir . Fall's first season (Sep 2018 – Jul 2019) opened with an adaptation of Lope de Vega 's Fuenteovejuna by April De Angelis called The Village featuring Anya Chalotra and Art Malik . The season also included
12019-461: 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
12138-568: 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
12257-459: 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
12376-721: 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,
12495-532: 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
12614-429: 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
12733-519: 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
12852-475: 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
12971-540: 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
13090-457: 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
13209-708: Was adapted into a stage musical by the Theatre Royal Stratford East and UK Arts International in the UK, with a script overseen by Henzell. The show opened on 25 March 2006, boasting the original soundtrack as well as a couple of additions, including "The Ganja Song", written by Geraldine Connor , featuring Rolan Bell as Ivan. The production later moved to the Playhouse Theatre , and was performed in Toronto and Miami . The Harder They Come , Suzan-Lori Parks' musical adaptation of
13328-440: 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
13447-404: Was announced that Nadia is being replaced by Lisa Spirling from Spring 2025 The theatre scheduled a ‘Black out’ or ‘black only’ series of performances later copied around London by a number of different theatres. This was widely criticised by many members of the public and a variety of media outlets, while widely supported by others. The events received criticism for asking all ‘white’ members of
13566-460: Was by no means guaranteed or uniform throughout the tour. "They'll lynch us", recalls Sven Stahl. "I still have nightmares about Alice in Wonderland at Barnsley and the miners throwing pennies at John Blanshard." The company were to return, as the Theatre Workshop in 1953, with artistic director Joan Littlewood and take over the theatre. The theatre came under threat with the construction of
13685-576: Was closed until October 1946. Taken over by David Horne , it briefly became a successful playhouse including the legendary premiere of Patrick Hamilton 's Gaslight , with Sybil Thorndike and Derek Bond – which ran for six months and was the theatre's first transfer to the West End. The theatre closed again in December 1949. In late 1950, a touring company presented the Christmas pantomime , Alice in Wonderland . Highly experimental, its success
13804-574: 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
13923-474: Was famously told by Littlewood: "P*ss off to Shaftesbury Avenue. You will only ever be a star. " The playwright and director Ken Hill , a protégé of Joan Littlewood, took over as artistic director after she moved to France, prompted by the death of her partner, Gerry Raffles. After his short tenure as artistic director, Hill continued to work with TRSE until his death, most notably in raucous musicals. They included The Invisible Man which transferred from TRSE to
14042-422: 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
14161-516: 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
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