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Sanskrit (India/Hindu) Theatre:

First Theatre to allow woman to perform

They use their theatre as a teaching skill

Theatre is staged with religion

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India also has an old and long-lasting tradition of full-length poetic plays, which are called Sanskrit Dramas because they were written mainly in Sanskrit. In fact, however, they combine both classical Sanskrit with Prakrit or different forms of vernacular languages.

The tradition was maintained for nearly 1 200 years, which makes it the longest continuous performing tradition of any drama texts in the world. The tradition of performing Greek tragedies, for example, lasted only about half a millennium, while the continuous performing tradition of Shakespearean dramas lasted less than a century.

The earliest Sanskrit plays were written in the early centuries AD and they gradually ceased to be performed at some time during the 15 th century, when Sanskrit was no longer a living, spoken language, and the Muslims had invaded northern India, where the tradition had been thriving.

Playwrights and their Works

As has already been mentioned, the earliest Sanskrit dramas date from the early centuries AD. The problem, however, with this genre is that the plays are almost impossible to date accurately. This also means that very little is known about the lives of their authors. The use of the Sanskrit language of the learned upper castes indicates that most of the Sanskrit dramas represent court theatre, which was probably created and performed under royal patronage.

The Sanskrit dramas cover a wide range of subjects and types of play. They include full-length poetic love stories, political plays and palace intrigues, as well as shorter farces and one-act love monologues. The foremost drama genre centred on the character of a noble hero. These "heroic dramas", often with plots derived from tradition, are called natakas. Another important type of drama is a kind of social play dealing with various kinds of human relationships. These plays, mostly invented by their authors, are called prakranas.

The earliest existing plays are attributed to Bhasa. The best known is a kind of political romance called The Vision of Vasavadatta. Other writers include the poet-king Sudraka, to whom three plays are attributed. The most famous of them is The Little Clay Cart, in which a love story and political intrigue intermingle.

Ratnavali is a complicated intrigue set in harem by the poet Harsha, while Bhavabhuti is known for his Ramayana-derived play, The Latter Story of Rama, and a love story, Malati and Madhava. The Minister's Seal, the only existing complete play by Visakhadatta, with its ruthless political plot, is a kind of thriller of its time. The most famous of all Sanskrit playwrights, both in India and in the West, is, however, Kalidasa.

Kalidasa

As is the case with most of the Sanskrit dramatists, very little is known about the life of Kalidasa, the most celebrated poet in the history of India. It is believed that he belonged to the priestly Brahman caste and that he lived in North India at some time during the late 4 th to mid 5 th centuries AD, that is, during the classical Gupta Period.

His known works include three lengthy narrative poems, and three plays: Malavika and Agnimitra, Urvasi Won by Valour, and the famous Shakuntala (also The Recognition of Shakuntala). Kalidasa's poetry has been praised for its beauty and "limpidity" or a kind of transparency. It has been seen as reflecting the "ease and largeness of vision", characteristics of the mature classical Gupta period.

Shakuntala

The Recognition of Shakuntala, or more often just Shakuntala, is regarded as the epitome of Sanskrit dramas. The basic story of this lyric, fairytale-like play in seven acts is derived from the Mahabharata. It was certainly common practice to borrow and enhance elaborate characters and events from the epic literature.

Video clip: King Dusyanta and his charioteer are out hunting; the opening scene of Shakuntala in the kutiyattam style Veli Rosenberg

Shakuntala tells about the love of King Dusyanta and a beautiful girl, Shakuntala, who is the foster daughter of a forest hermit (and, in fact, of semi-divine origin). They meet, make love, and engage in a secret marriage. As a token of his love, the king gives Shakuntala a ring. However, owing to a magic trick, the king forgets Shakuntala, and she is taken to the heavens, where she gives birth to the king's son. Only when the king sees the ring he has given to the girl does he again remember their love. While visiting the heavens, the king meets Shakuntala and their son and they are finally reunited ( synopsis of the play Shakuntala).

The play moves freely from the deep forest to the urban palace and from the earth to different levels of the heavens. Supernatural powers are at play, heavenly nymphs take part in the action, and the king is able to overthrow demons while flying with his airborne chariot.

This fantastic and complex world is described with poetic brilliance and concentrates on the themes of longing and rejection, while the main rasa of the play is love. On a deeper level the conflict is created by the opposing forces of desire ( kama) and duty ( dharma). Desire versus duty was the standard conflict in many of the Sanskrit dramas, as it has, indeed, been in many Western and Chinese dramas too.

The Languages

The language of Shakuntala, as well as other Sanskrit dramas, is characterised by the blending of classical Sanskrit with local Prakrit languages. The royal heroes and Brahman priests, ascetics and high officials use Sanskrit, while women, children and all low-caste characters speak Prakrit. Thus the plays, already at the level of language, reflect the social and gender hierarchies of their time. This intermingling of languages may also have been intended to make the plays understandable for those spectators who did not understand Sanskrit.

Another characteristic of the dramas is the blending of prose and verse. The verses are mainly in Sanskrit, although, for example, nine of Shakuntala's 194 verses are in Prakrit. The alternation of languages as well as prose and verse widens the scale of linguistic expression from "high" to "low", from noble to vulgar, and anything in between.

The Types of Character

The characters of the Sanskrit dramas are types rather than individuals. The main types of character include the noble hero, nayaka, often a prince or a king, and the heroine, nayika. The villain of the play is called pratinayaka.

The clown or jester character is called vidushaka. Surprisingly, he may even be a highborn Brahman. Although he is possibly intelligent, he is usually lazy, while his humour is spiced with eroticism. Because of his social background he is able to move freely in the social hierarchy. Thus he can be a close friend or a personal servant of the hero. However, only he is allowed to add social and even political criticism to the play and he translates the hero's Sanskrit lines into vernacular language.

The troupes included various professionals, from minor actors to make-up assistants, stage technicians, musicians and the conductor of the orchestra. Music had a central role in the Sanskrit dramas, but it is not known what exactly the genre of music that accompanied the plays was.

The primus motor of a troupe, as well as the actual play, is sutradhara, or the theatre director. He was supposed to have expert knowledge of all aspects of theatre. He also took an active role in the actual performance by introducing the actors and the play to the audience, in the prologue, and often guiding and commenting upon the flow of the story.

Sanskrit Drama on the Stage

One of the main questions in recent studies of the Sanskrit dramas is how they were staged and performed. There seems to be a consensus that the acting technique corresponded to the stylised natya, described in the Drama Manual or the Natyashastra, as has already been discussed above. Thus the rasa or the sentiment was conveyed not only by word but also through facial expressions, symbolic gestures and other stylised body language.

It is possible, however, that different types of dramas employed different acting styles. For example, a heroic nataka play may have required a classical, Natyashastra- derived acting style, while a short farce may have been performed in a more realistic style etc.

It is believed that the theatre houses in which the Sanskrit dramas were performed were rather small because abhinaya, or the mimetic acting style, with its facial expressions and eye movements had to be seen close-up. It is also believed that the stage was bare, and just as on the stage of Shakespeare's dramas, movements, gestures, and dialogue signalled the locations of actions.

Many of the Sanskrit dramas include stage directions, which seem to support the above hypothesis. They also indicate that some stage props may have been used. They may have included various weapons, chariots etc, although it is also possible that these could have been indicated by movements and symbolic hand gestures.

Sanskrit Dramas in the East and the West

Of all Sanskrit dramas it is Kalidasa's Shakuntala that is best known outside India. A Shakuntala manuscript was found in a monastery in coastal China, indicating close cultural ties between China and India. It is even possible that the Sanskrit dramas influenced the development of Chinese theatre during the times when the contacts were most active.

Shakuntala was probably the first Asian drama translated into Western languages. It is also one of the very first Sanskrit works ever translated into English. The first translation was done by the famous orientalist, Sir William Jones, in 1789. Its publication was a sensation and it went into five editions during two decades. It was translated into German in 1791, and into French in 1803. Later it was translated into several other Western languages.

One of Shakuntala's greatest admirers was Goethe, who was inspired by it while writing his Faust. He wrote a poem in praise of Shakuntala:

Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline,
And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed,
Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?
I name thee, O Shakuntala, and all at once is said.
(Translation by E. B. Eastwick)

Shakuntala became a kind of icon of the 19 th century orientalistic movement. It inspired operas and ballets, among them Marius Petipa's ballet La Bayadère. But most often Shakuntala's story was very loosely referred to. It served merely as a source for various kinds of Eastern fantasies.

Shakuntala is probably the most frequently performed Asian play in the West. One of the most important 20 th century interpretations was by the Polish theatre guru, Grotowski. Sanskrit dramas and their acting technique are now actively studied both in the East and in the West.

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Sanskrit Dramas | Asian Traditional Theatre & Dance

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India also has an old and long-lasting tradition of full-length poetic plays, which are called Sanskrit Dramas because they were written mainly in Sanskrit. In fact, however, they combine both classical Sanskrit with Prakrit or different forms of vernacular languages.

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Greek Theatre:

All the theatre’s looked the same

Only males could vote for theatre parts

The chorus sometime danced

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The ancient theatre is without question the most important feature for sight-seers in Taormina, also because for its very fortunate natural setting, with splendid view toward the Calabrian coast, the Ionian coast of Sicily and the spectacular cone of Etna.

The construction of the amphitheater starts probably by the Greeks around the third century. BC, at the time of .

To allow the construction was necessary to remove manually from the mountain over 100,000 cubic meters of rock.

The plant was later renovated and expanded by the Romans, who inserted columns, statues and ingenious covers.

HISTORY

The Greek theatre of Taormina, who was born to accommodate dramatic performances or musical, it was transformed during the Roman times to make room for games and gladiatorial battles. This involved the expansion of the orchestra, which in Greek times was destined to the musicians, in order to be adapted to the new function arena.

The theater is divided into several parts:

The scene

The scene is the most important part that remains of the theater and preserves in part its original form. But nothing remains of his ornaments and columns. According to many scholars, the first order was made up of nine columns arranged in groups of three, while the second was formed by sixteen columns lowest equidistant. It is said that these columns arrived by sea to Villagonia, were then attached with ropes and pulled by hordes of slaves to the Theatre. During the Middle Ages most of these columns were removed to build palaces and embellish places of worship, including the Cathedral. The scene is obviously where the actors used to perform.

The orchestra

The orchestra of the theatre was the area was for the musicians, but the choruses and dancers also performed there. In roman age it was trasformed in arena for the games of the gladiators.

The cavea

The cavea is all carved into the rock and could hold up to 5,400 spectators. The steps were separated into two parts; in one sitting spectators, who could also make use of the pillow; in the other half, slightly hollowed, rested his feet that sat on the top step. The first places were definitely reserved to the authorities. Even today, the auditorium is divided into nine sections cuneiform, served eight ladders.

The portici

Behind the wall of the upper closure of the cavea, to increase the number of places, were built brick two large porches that accompanied the whole development of the cavea. The vaults of the arcades supported a terrace each. The first porch supported the lower terrace, divided into several rows of wooden seats reserved for women, while the arc of the second porch, which claimed the highest terrace of the theater, without fixed seats, housed the most humble people.

Access stairs

The scale step makes three turns and narrowed as it rose. In the three carried out there were three doors that introduced the auditorium: the first gave the possibility of entry to the authorities and to the important people, the other spectators had to continue to go up in order to enter the auditorium.

The Greek Theatre of Taormina is the second largest theater of Sicily, after the one in Syracuse, it is also the world's best known and most admired.

Since the 50s the theater has been tapped to host various forms of entertainment like theater, concerts, the award ceremonies of the David di Donatell, symphonies, operas and ballets.

VIDEO

Here's a great video by videoibam showing all the beauty of the Greek Theatre.

TOURIST INFORMATION

ADDRESS

TIMETABLE

RATES

Full ticket: € 13,50
Reduced ticket: € 8,50 (EU members age 18-25)
Free: 0,00 (EU members under the age of 18; Italian teachers; On your birthday; Every first Sunday of the month; Press)
Audioguide: € 5,00
* For reduced or free tickets, a document proving the requisities is required. ** No senior reductions (in accordante to D.M. 94/2014).
LOCATION

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Greek Theatre of Taormina - Sicily - TravelTaormina.com

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The Greek Theatre is without question the most important feature for sight-seers in Taormina. Find out the timetable and the rates.

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Roman Theatre:

For it to be legal to perform they have to have the Empire on the Cavea

People built houses on the Cavea to preserve it

The audience is shielded

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If the quality of theatre is reflected in the values of the civilization out of which it grows, then this is vividly illustrated by the fate of theatre in Roman times. Suffering from vulgarized public taste, a lack of originality, and a preference for spectacle over seriousness, nearly all of the Roman plays were imitations or loose translations of Greek dramas, even to the extent of their being performed in Greek costume. Eventually, after 400 years of competing with chariot races, gladiatorial fights to the death, and the spectacle of criminals and religious and ethnic minorities being torn apart by wild animals, theatre came to an apparent end.

Several factors must be taken into account in explaining why this happened, but perhaps the main reason lay in the way Roman authorities used circuses and public games, at which theatrical performances took place, to divert the public from economic and political dissatisfaction. The number of official festivals proliferated. In 240 bce, when drama was first included, the games lasted less than a week. By the 1st century ce there were 60 days of games throughout the year, and, 300 years after that, 175 days were devoted to games, with plays being performed on 100 of them. Most of these festivals were secular, and theatre soon lost its close ties with religious celebrations.

Native traditions

In spite of the lack of originality shown by dramatists, there were in Italy a number of native comic traditions that helped to shape the style of Roman comedy. The Fescennine verses ( fescennia locatio) were bawdy, improvised exchanges sung by clowns at local harvest festivals and marriage ceremonies. These are thought to have combined with a tradition of performances by masked dancers and musicians from Etruria to form saturae, medleys consisting of jests, slapstick, and songs. The historian Livy says that in 364 bce these Etruscan players were summoned to Rome at a time of pestilence to appease the gods with their dancing and music.

From the areas of southern Italy and Sicily settled by the Greeks came the phlyax plays in the 4th century bce. Named for the Phlyakes (literally "Gossip Players"), these were burlesques and travesties of mythology and daily life that were probably improvised. They were performed on a raised wooden stage with an upper gallery, and the actors wore grotesque costumes and masks similar to those of the Greek Old Comedy. Acrobatics and farcical scenes were a major ingredient of the phlyax. The Oscan inhabitants of Campania, in the Neapolitan region of Italy, also had a long tradition of farces, parodies, and political satires influenced by Greek models, which became popular in Rome during the 3rd century bce. This genre was known as fabula Atellana ("Atellan play," Atella being the name of a Campanian town). The significance of the fabula Atellana is that it introduced a set of stock characters, such as Maccus and Bucco, which were thought to be the direct ancestors of many of the Italian commedia dell'arte characters. The actors wore masks, improvised their dialogue, and worked slapstick routines and other buffoonery into the plots.

Imitation of Greek models

In the literary theatre, plot invention and characters were largely taken from Greek plays. Livius Andronicus, a Greek living in Rome, was the first to adapt Greek plays (in 240 bce), and his example was followed in 235 bce by the poet Gnaeus Naevius, a native of Campania. Naevius can be regarded as the first native Italian playwright, and the genre of comedies he founded was called fabula palliata ("play in Greek dress"). His less successful tragedies on Roman history were known as fabulae praetextae ("plays in the Roman toga"). Naevius's attempts at satire were audacious enough to land him in prison, which is probably why the noted poet Quintus Ennius, who followed him as a dramatist, limited himself to safe adaptations of Greek tragedies, mostly those of Euripides.

In the 2nd century bce the two most important comic writers of the Roman theatre, Plautus and Terence (who came from lower-class backgrounds), were both influenced by the New Comedy of the Greeks, and their plays retained the Greek setting and costume. Plautus, who had few literary pretensions but a sharp sense of wit and wordplay, blended the comic style of Menander with the fabula Atellana to produce vigorous farces about mistaken identities, sexual intrigues, and the mischief of household servants. His 21 surviving plays (of a total of about 130) were in turn to inspire playwrights for centuries to come, including Shakespeare. The braggart soldier, Miles Gloriosus, became one of Plautus's most imitated characters. Terence, who closely followed the style of Menander, aimed at a more discerning audience. His comedies are noted for their grace and delicacy, and they avoided the buffoonery that attracted Plautus.

Seeds of decay

The audience that followed Terence's plays was a small and exclusive one. From the start Roman theatre was dependent on popular taste in a way that had never been known in Greece. If a play failed to please, the manager of the festival was obliged to return part of the subsidy from public funds. Thus, even in Republican times, there was some anxiety to give the public what it wanted, and this proved to be the sensational, the spectacular, and the crude. Huge amphitheatres such as the Colosseum in Rome were built throughout the empire as evidence of the power and grandeur of Rome, but not of its artistic life and energy. The general public preferred boxers, beasts, and mock sea battles to drama. Actors and dramatists were tempted to adapt their style of presentation accordingly. Where it had once been subtle, the acting became coarse and declamatory. The actors took to wearing built-up shoes ( cothurni) and bigger masks in order to make themselves appear larger than life. Some of the small number of tragedies that were staged were filled out with long processions of animals, gaudy costumes, and elaborate effects, all emphasizing the hollowness of both theatre and audience.

Theatre buildings themselves became grander in the 1st century bce. Erected on flat ground, the raked semicircular auditorium was a freestanding structure of great engineering complexity. With the elimination of the chorus from plays, the orchēstra was no longer needed other than as a space for important guests to sit, and the action took place on a wide, raised stage backed by an imposing architectural facade, the scaenae frons, which was often two or three stories high. The audience could be protected from harsh sunlight by a huge awning. The comfort was unrivaled, but it came too late; what took place on these stages had become trivial and degrading. It is not surprising that serious people avoided the theatres and writers were alienated from them.

One reaction against the excesses of the theatre was the custom of reading tragedies aloud to select gatherings of intellectuals. It is thought that this was the purpose behind the tragedies of Seneca, a Stoic philosopher and statesman under the emperor Nero in the 1st century ce, for there is no record of any of his works having been produced. While his plays lack the craftsmanship of the Greeks, Seneca's importance lies in the fact that he was the principal medium through which Renaissance writers became acquainted with Greek tragedy. His division of the plays into five acts, his exaggeration of the melodramatic and violent aspects of the originals, his emphasis on rhetoric, and his preoccupation with the conflict between passion and reason helped to shape the Elizabethan drama and French Neoclassical tragedy that followed a millennium and a half later.

Mime and pantomime

After Seneca, serious dramatic literature in Rome virtually ceased, and the newly erected stone theatres were taken over by mime (Latin mimus) and pantomime ( pantomimus) as the level of public taste steadily fell. Pantomime grew out of the wreckage of tragedy as a kind of burlesque ballet in which a chorus chanted the story to musical accompaniment, while a solo actor silently used gesture and dance to portray the various characters in a succession of masks. Particular emphasis was placed on the erotic elements of the story.

Historical Pictures Service, Chicago

Of more interest is the mime, which was derived from the Greek mime traditions and the fabula Atellana. By the 2nd century bce it had a large following in Rome. Mime was characterized by great diversity: sometimes the shows were tragicomic dramas, but most often they were indecent burlesques on the gods in which female performers also took part. They featured dialogue, acrobatics, songs, and slapstick routines. Companies ranged from itinerant groups of six players to the troupe of 60 actors recorded in 169 ce. Although the performers were highly skilled (some of them achieved widespread fame), mime contented itself with easy targets, pandering to the taste of the emperor. By the time of the Christian persecutions under Nero and Domitian, mimes were used to ridicule the Christian faith on stage. In Centunculus, for example, a clown was baptized and martyred, being grotesquely crucified in a way calculated to burlesque his faith. Sometimes the shows were spiced with sexual acts and real executions on stage. At the end of the Roman era, mime actors were performing throughout the empire, but after the triumph of Christianity the theatre of the day was abominated by the Church Fathers as an art so debased as to have lost any relevance to the general good of society. In the 5th century all performers of mime were excommunicated, and in the following century the theatres were closed.

The old Roman Empire was Christianized and became divided in two: one based in Rome, the other in Constantinople (modern Istanbul). There being no other outlet for the expression of the supernatural and the cycle of the seasons, semitheatrical religious festivals, magnificent rituals, and processions once again became the principal means of community celebration. These were particularly elaborate in the Byzantine church, centred in Constantinople. Meanwhile, the mimes dispersed. Though the church did its best to prohibit them through the Middle Ages, they managed to carry on their art illicitly, finding audiences wherever they could. Mime, as performed by jesters, jongleurs, bands, and acrobats, is an unbroken dramatic tradition that reaches from the Classical world to modern Europe. The texts and theoretical treatises of the Classical world were all to lie largely unused for more than 900 years. The Roman theatre failed because it had lost its seriousness of purpose; yet, in what survived, sufficient elements were present to stimulate a new and powerful theatre during the Renaissance.

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Western theatre - Western theatre - Ancient Rome: If the quality of theatre is reflected in the values of the civilization out of which it grows, then this is vividly illustrated by the fate of theatre in Roman times.

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Chinese Theatre:

Religion and theatre are intertwined

Theatre is a performance tradition

Zaju are 4 acts long with 10-20 songs

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Grauman’s Chinese Theatre | Description, History, & Facts

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Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is an iconic movie palace on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. The opulent and extravagant Chinese facade is a piece of movie history that has been preserved since the building opened in 1927.

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Middle Ages (dark) Theatre:

They were the first to allow women in the theatre

Anyone can participate, not just the nuns

All stories in the Bible were acted

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Theatre - Medieval, Architecture, Performance

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Theatre - Medieval, Architecture, Performance: In terms of performances and theatres, Roman drama reached its height in the 4th century ce, but it had already encountered opposition that was to lead to its demise. From about 300 ce on, the church tried to dissuade Christians from going to the theatre, and in 401 the fifth Council of Carthage decreed excommunication for anyone who attended performances on holy days. Actors were forbidden the sacraments unless they gave up their profession, a decree not rescinded in many places until the 18th century. An edict of Charlemagne (c. 814) stated that no actor could put on a priest’s

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Japanese Theatre:

Performance can last up to 8 hours

The goal is to convey a mood not a story

Jars are placed to help with sound

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The three major classical theaters in Japan are Kabuki, Noh, and Bunraku. All three of these performance types have been listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages. Kabuki is a Japanese classical theater art form that can be traced back to the Edo Period. The word Kabuki is written with three characters that mean song (ka), dance (bu), and skill (ki). A typical kabuki show has elaborate costumes, exaggerated wigs, distinct make-up, over the top actions, and consists of an all-male cast. The emphasized movements in the performance are to convey certain meanings to the audience since many old Japanese words are used in the dialogue.

Noh are a form of traditional theater that involves music, dance, and drama. The movements are slow with poetic language in a monotonous tone while the actors wear rich and heavy costumes. During the interludes of the main performance comical pieces known as kyogen are performed. It first originated in the 14th century and was popularized by a man named Zeami. The distinct feature of Noh is the use of masks that tell the audience the character being played. The masks are usually carved from blocks of Japanese cypress with three dimensional properties that allow the actors the ability to show various expressions from different angles. Only males are allowed to play the parts which are Shite (leading character), Waki (supporting actor), Hayashi (musicians) Jiutai (chorus), and Koken (stage attendants).

Bunraku is a traditional puppet theater that was once a popular form of entertainment for commoners during the Edo Period in Osaka. It later evolved into an artistic theater in the late 17th century. The puppets are half the size of a human being and are operated by three performers who are the main operator with their two assistants. No strings are used to operate the puppet and the puppeteer is in full view for the audience. The story of the show is narrated by one person who also voices all the puppets. A shamisen (guitar with three strings) accompanies the narrative to help create the tone of the performance.

Kabuki is a traditional form of theatre that originated in the Edo Period. In Japan, it is recognized as one of the three major classical forms of theatre including noh and bunraku.

Kabuki has captured the hearts and minds of audiences since the beginning of the 17th century to present day. It is an art form rich in showmanship.

It is renowned for its appearance involving impressive costumes, striking makeup, eccentric wigs, and not to mention, the exaggerated actions performed by the actors.

Music and dance are skillfully applied, bringing life to the characters from Japan's past, both real and imaginary. Plays can range from realistic tragic dramas to thrilling adventure stories. Plots are usually based on historical events, moral conflicts, love stories, warm hearted dramas, tales of tragedy or conspiracy, and many other well known stories.

The Kabuki is staged is equipped with dynamic gadgets such as revolving platforms and trap doors, used for actors to appear and disappear. Additionally, the Kabuki stage has a footbridge (hanamichi) that leads into the audience allowing dramatic entrances and exits.

Kabuki theatre has important characteristics like its own music, costumes, props and gadgets, and uses specific language and acting styles. All of these elements combined produce an astounding and captivating performance.

Originally, kabuki used to involve both male and female actors and was popular among common people.. However, later during the Edo Period, Tokugawa Shogunate restricted women to participate. Since then, all the actors are played by men, a tradition that has remained till present day. Therefore, there are male actors that specialize in playing female role (onnagata).

All the actors play the roles of warriors, thieves, as well as respectable ladies, and prostitutes. They have always been worshipped by an adoring audience who may shout out the actors' names while on stage. All kabuki actors have a hereditary stage name (yago). It is an accepted practice for people in the audience to shout their favorite actor's names during critical and appropriate times to show support.

Stagehands called kurogo will sometimes appear on the stage, usually dressed in all black. Their role has no direct connection to the story, they are there to assist actors with props or other help to make the act appear seamless. They are treated invisible or non existent to the audience.

Mainstream kabuki use to be performed at selected venues in big cities like Edo (present day Tokyo), Osaka, and Kyoto in the olden days.

Today, you can enjoy kabuki plays in selected theaters with Western-style seats. There are even earphones provided to listen to an English translation.

Through all these modern developments in the past century, Japan's culture from the past has not been lost. Buy tickets to enjoy a rich play with a one of a kind venture to the past. There are well-known venues located in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Fukuoka, and more.

Kabuki is the most popular traditional style of Japanese drama. It has been named as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Originating in the 14th century, Noh is a traditional form of theatre involving music, dance, and drama. During the Muromachi Period (1333-1573), a man named Zeami popularized and formalized the Noh we know of today. Four main noh troupes were established during this era, receiving sponsorship from shrines and temples.

It was during the Tokugawa Period (1603-1867) that Noh became even more standardized when the shogunate made it the official ceremonial art and issued regulations for its governance. Furthermore, tradition was emphasized instead of innovation. A fifth troupe was also added during this time. This would make five main noh troupes that are still performed till this day.

Structured around music and dance, Noh theater consists of slow movement, poetic language, monotonous tone, and brilliant costumes. Plots are usually based on history, legend, literature and contemporary events. Themes in Noh plays are often related to dreams, ghosts, spirits and supernatural worlds.

All performers in Noh plays are male. There are five essential roles that are involved to create an outstanding performance.

There is a leading character called Shite. The shite may act as a deity, a holy man, a demon, a spirit, or a living man depending on each play. Movements are used to express various moods.

The supporting character, waki, plays roles such as a monk, priest or samurai. The waki always portrays living people in contrast to the shite.

The musicians are known as Hayashi. There are four musicians that provide soundtrack for the performance using a flute (fue), shoulder drum (kotsuzumi), hip drum (otsuzumi) and stick drum (taiko).

The chorus, Jiutai, sits to the left of the stage and collaborates with the shite in the narration of the story. Lastly, there are stage attendants called Koken. They dress in black and assist the performers in various ways, such as handing them props, but are not directly connected to the story.

There are a variety of types of Noh plays. For instance, the kami (god) play involves a sacred story of a Shintō shrine, shura mono (fighting play) centers on warriors, katsura mono (wig play) has a female protagonist, and gendai mono (present day play) is a story considered contemporary and realistic rather than legendary and supernatural.

Masks in which the shite wears are equally important in noh plays. It lets the audience know what kind of character is being portrayed. Masks representing demons, spirits, as well as women and men of various ages are frequently used. They are carved from blocks of Japanese cypress. The three dimensional properties allow skilled actors to create various expressions using changes in head orientation.

Costumes are composed of multiple layers, textures, and details to create a majestic grace, yet an effect of a bulky, massive figure as well. Notably, expressiveness is achieved through props, such as a folding fan. The fan may represent any prop suggested by its shape and handling.

You can watch noh today in modern indoor theaters with an in-built noh stage. Well known venues are located in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. The program usually lasts for a couple of hours, which consists of a few Noh acts, along with short kyogen pieces in between.

During the Edo Period in Osaka, Bunraku started as popular entertainment for the commoners. It is the traditional puppet theater of Japan. It is also recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, along with noh and kabuki.

In the past, the performance was called ningyo joruri - ningyo meaning puppet and joruri being a kind of chanted narration. Now, it is officially called bunraku because the name was derived from a troupe organized by Uemura Bunrakuken in the early 19th century.

Each operated by three performers (a principal operator and two assistants), bunraku puppets are approximately one-half or two-third life size. Instead of using strings, the puppeteers collaborate to maneuver the limbs, eyelids, eyeballs, eyebrows, and mouths of the puppets to produce life-like actions and facial expressions. The puppeteers can be seen by the audience, but are dressed in black to express that they are "invisible".

The three puppeteers work together on stage in perfect harmony to make the puppet doll seem truly alive. Its movements are surprisingly delicate and beautiful when controlled by its master puppeteers. The puppets can be lovely, mysterious, and comical as they can make the audience laugh. They seem to win more empathy from the audience being dolls.

The story is narrated by one person (the tayu), who also voices all the puppet characters. Therefore, the tayu must have a diverse range of vocal expressions to represent all ages and genders.

Shamisen players are musicians that determine the pace of the narration with their accompanying music. Synchronized with the narration and the music from the shamisen, it's enjoyable to watch the sophisticated puppets come to life.

Similar to kabuki, bunraku is often based on adaptations of tragic love stories, heroic legends, and historical events. The most distinguished compositions by Japan's famous playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653 - 1724) are bunraku plays. Many of which are portrayed around this kind of conflict.

Bunraku is performed in mostly modern theaters including Western-style seats. It can be watched in venues such as the National Theatre in Tokyo and the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka. English headsets are usually available for most performances.

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The three major classical theaters in Japan are Kabuki, Noh, and Bunraku. All three of these performance types have been listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages. Kabuki is a Japanese classical theater art form that can be traced back to the Edo Period.

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Renaissance (Spain, Italy, England) Theatre:

A stock character in a drama or fiction that represents a type and that is recognizable as belonging to a certain genre

Only has male actors

They have ranking in their theatre’s

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Elizabethan (Shakespeare) Theatre:

They preform 6 different plays each week

Young boys took female parts until they puberty

Theatre’s weren’t expected to be quiet

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Indoor and outdoor performances

Theaters and palaces

Large open playhouses like the Globe are marvelous in the right weather, but indoor theaters can operate year-round, out of the sun, wind, and rain. They also offer a more intimate setting with the use of artificial light. Shakespeare's company planned for years to operate its own indoor theater, a goal that was finally achieved in 1609 when the Burbages took over London's Blackfriars theater.

Still more indoor productions often came during the period between Christmas and New Year, and at Shrovetide (the period before Lent) at one of the royal palaces, where Shakespeare's company and other leading companies gave command performances-a high honor that was also well-paid.

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Shakespeare's theater | Folger Shakespeare Library

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History of The Globe and other theaters in London where Shakespeare's company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, performed, audience experiences in playhouses, expectations for actors, costumes and other staging choices.

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North American (Early) Theatre:

They practiced ritual performances, including songs and dancing

The first scripted play was performed in New France (Canada)

The Puritans believed that theatre is sinful and that America is going to be a city on a hill

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The first recorded performance of a play written by an American was in 1690 at Harvard College. The first permanent American theatre was built in Philadelphia in 1766; it was made of brick and imitated English buildings in arrangement and general architecture. In 1752 Lewis Hallam, a member of a distinguished theatrical family, arrived with a troupe from England, thus marking the beginning of professional theatre in America. The theatre in America for the next 40 years was similar to British provincial theatre, with simple sets for easy traveling; few cities could yet afford theatre buildings. By the 1790s, however, troupes were based in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Charleston, South Carolina, and many permanent theatres were being erected.

The first decades of the 19th century brought not only multiplication of playhouses in the larger Eastern cities but also the extension of theatre to interior regions. The frontier spirit was embodied by Samuel Drake, who took the first company west (to Kentucky) in 1815. Drake designed an adjustable proscenium that could be set up in any large room. The front curtain was a roll drop (lowered from behind the proscenium arch), and three sets of wings (one each for exteriors, ornate interiors, and simple interiors) and six roll drops (including a garden, a street, and a wood) completed his scenic repertoire.

After 1825, New York City had higher standards of theatrical production and more theatre buildings than any other city in America. Although decoration and furnishings created an impression of luxury, the early urban theatres were in fact filthy and rat-infested. They had little or no fire protection, and between 1820 and 1845, no fewer than 25 theatre buildings burned down. Although most productions used stock sets and props, occasionally an elaborate or specific set was added. Interest in historical accuracy was not a major production concern until 1830, when Charles Kean visited with his Shakespeare troupe from England.

During the latter third of the 19th century, the general scenic trend was toward greater naturalism, with particular emphasis on local colour. The major design innovations came from the managers of troupes permanently based at a theatre. One such manager was Edwin Booth, whose new theatre, opened in 1869, introduced several new concepts in the United States. The most important innovation was that the stage floor was flat and had no grooves; elevators raised set pieces from the 50 feet of working space below the stage, and flying machines moved other pieces into the 76 feet of overhead space. In Booth's new theatre he abandoned the apron and used box sets almost exclusively.

Another important manager was Augustin Daly, who furthered the trend of realism. While the members of his troupe changed considerably during its three-decade history, it was the best example of the permanent stock company in the history of the American theatre. Daly stressed the unity of every production and controlled each element himself. His first success, Saratoga, by Bronson Howard, in 1870, was the first play to give a realistic picture of American life of the day.

Steele MacKaye, also active during this period, holds a unique place in theatre as an actor, manager, playwright, inventor, and designer. In an age of mechanical inventions, producers were seeking a means of effecting scene changes that would not require an intermission. In 1879, MacKaye filed a patent for a " double stage," a feature he subsequently introduced in the Madison Square Theatre in New York City. He built an elevator platform on which one scene might be set while an earlier scene was being played below. The new scene was then merely lowered, with its own stage floor, to the appropriate level, while the previous scene rolled back behind it.

Among MacKaye's other mechanical innovations were a folding theatre chair with coatrack attached, a sliding stage, a theatre ventilation system, the first installation of an electric lighting system in a theatre (1885), devices to produce cloud, ocean wave, and rainbow effects, the substitution of overhead lighting for footlights (which had been in use since the early Baroque period), and a process for fireproofing scenery. For financial reasons, some of his more grandiose schemes were never executed. For the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, for example, he designed a "Spectatorium" for musico-spectacle-dramas; it called for a sky dome that encircled the stage, a curtain made of light, a sliding stage for scene changes, and an auditorium seating 10,000 people.

In 1896 six men formed the Theatrical Syndicate, which acquired almost complete control over American theatre. They were interested only in commercially profitable works, such as productions featuring performers with large followings. The major opposition to the syndicate came from David Belasco, a producer and playwright. Belasco's aim as a producer was to bring complete realism to the stage, and it is difficult today to appreciate how spectacularly far he carried this pursuit. In 1879, in his production of The Passion Play, the story of Jesus Christ from birth to Resurrection, he arranged for a live flock of sheep to be herded onstage. When the actor James O'Neill (father of playwright Eugene O'Neill), who played Christ, was dragged before Pontius Pilate and crowned with thorns, members of the audience fainted. And after the performance, when O'Neill walked around the city, people sank to their knees and prayed to him. The play aroused such religious frenzy that Jews were assaulted on the street outside the theatre, and a court injunction forbade further performances.

The power of the Theatrical Syndicate was so great that in 1904 Belasco was forced to rent Convention Hall, a leaky building in New York City, for his productions. During the first performance there was a violent rainstorm, and the audience had to sit through the last act holding umbrellas. Belasco's productions became so popular that the syndicate was finally forced to compromise with him, thus breaking their stranglehold on the American theatre.
George C. Izenour Clive Barker

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Theatre - American Design, Architecture, Performance

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Theatre - American Design, Architecture, Performance: The first recorded performance of a play written by an American was in 1690 at Harvard College. The first permanent American theatre was built in Philadelphia in 1766; it was made of brick and imitated English buildings in arrangement and general architecture.

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Broadway Theatre:

Broadway was earlier known as the “Great White Way”

41 Broadway Theatre’s but only 4 on Broadway

66% of Broadway Audience are females

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Broadway Theater - New York, NY - Shows, Tickets, Seating Maps, Restaurants, Hotels, Parking and more

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The building originally opened in 1924 as B. S. Moss’s Colony as a premiere film house. Between 1930 and 1934, the theatre was re-named the Broadway and became a venue for theatrical productions. However, between 1934 and 1940, the venue was mainly used for movie showings, showing the premiere of Disney’s Fantasia in 1939. However, in 1940, it returned to theater stage production and has primarily held its place, hosting live theater since.