History of Drama and Theatre Lecture

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Vocabulary flashcards covering major terms, people, movements, and technical elements from the lecture on world theatre history, suitable for exam review.

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80 Terms

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Italian Renaissance Theatre

Period that introduced innovations in theatre architecture, scenic design, and neoclassical dramatic rules.

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Sofonisha

First significant vernacular Italian tragedy by Giangiorgio Trissino featuring a 15-member chorus.

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Neoclassical Ideal

Renaissance dramatic doctrine stressing verisimilitude, moral lessons, and avoidance of fantasy or the supernatural.

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Verisimilitude

Appearance of truth and reality on stage, a core demand of neoclassical drama.

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Perspective Scenery

Italian technique of painting and architecture that created the illusion of depth on stage.

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Chariot-and-Pole System

1641 scenery-shifting method invented by Giacomo Torelli using wheeled wagons beneath the stage.

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Teatro Olimpico

Permanent indoor theatre (1580-1584) in Vicenza designed by Andrea Palladio and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi.

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Teatro Farnese

1618 Parma theatre noted for its modern proscenium arch and movable scenery.

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Commedia dell’Arte

Italian ‘comedy of professional players’ characterized by improvisation, stock characters, and masks.

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Stock Characters

Fixed comedic types (e.g., Pantalone, Arlecchino) used in commedia dell’arte improvisations.

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Sebastiano Serlio

Mannerist architect whose theatre treatise influenced Renaissance stage design.

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Andrea Palladio

Architect who began the design of Teatro Olimpico but died before its completion.

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Vincenzo Scamozzi

Venetian architect and writer who finished Teatro Olimpico’s design.

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Isabella (Bella) Andreini

Celebrated commedia dell’arte actress and writer.

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Elizabethan Era

English theatrical golden age during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603).

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Red Lion

1567 London playhouse—first purpose-built theatre in England, ultimately unsuccessful.

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The Theatre (1576)

First commercially successful English playhouse, built by James Burbage.

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Globe Theatre

1599 public theatre associated with William Shakespeare’s company.

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Elizabethan Comedy

Play genre with happy endings, often concluding in marriage (e.g., A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

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Elizabethan History Play

Drama focused on the lives of English kings, such as Henry V or Richard II.

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Elizabethan Tragedy

Play in which the protagonist’s downfall ends in death (e.g., Hamlet, Othello).

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Thomas Kyd

Playwright of The Spanish Tragedy, pioneering Elizabethan revenge tragedy.

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Christopher Marlowe

Elizabethan dramatist known for Doctor Faustus and Edward II.

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Thomas Heywood

Playwright of domestic tragedy A Woman Killed with Kindness.

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John Webster

Jacobean tragedian famed for The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi.

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Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

Modern indoor reconstruction of a Jacobean private theatre next to the Globe.

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20th-Century Black Theatre

Movement portraying African-American life and racism, emerging from 1950-60s racial turmoil.

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LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)

Playwright of The Toilet and Dutchman, key voice in Black Arts Movement.

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Douglas Turner Ward

Author of Day of Absence (1967), satirizing racial dynamics in America.

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Ntozake Shange

Playwright of choreopoem For Colored Girls… (1976), giving voice to Black women.

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Women’s Theatre (1970s)

Stage movement advancing feminism and women artists’ careers.

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Wendy Wasserstein

Playwright of Uncommon Women and Others, linked to feminist theatre.

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Marsha Norman

Author of Getting Out, representing women’s issues on stage.

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Beth Henley

Pulitzer-winning playwright of Crimes of the Heart.

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Gay and Lesbian Theatre

Genre tackling homosexual themes, legally constrained until 1960s free-speech rulings.

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Stonewall Riot (1969)

Police raid–turned-uprising at NYC’s Stonewall Inn that sparked the modern gay rights movement.

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The Boys in the Band

1968 Mart Crowley play—first mainstream hit comedy about gay men.

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John Glines

Producer who opened a NYC theatre in 1976 dedicated to gay-themed plays.

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AIDS Plays

1980s subgenre addressing the AIDS epidemic and its impact on the gay community.

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Realism (Theatre)

19th-century movement striving for lifelike text and performance reflecting everyday life.

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Naturalism (Theatre)

More extreme realism presenting life scientifically and unselectively, often bleak.

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Konstantin Stanislavski

Co-founder of Moscow Art Theatre; developed psychological realism acting system.

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Moscow Art Theatre

1898 Russian company dedicated to realistic production, led by Stanislavski & Nemirovich-Danchenko.

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A Doll’s House

Henrik Ibsen’s realist play challenging 19th-century marital norms.

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Miss Julie

August Strindberg’s naturalistic drama of class and sexual conflict.

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Kabuki

Japanese popular theatre form begun in 1603 featuring stylized acting, dance, and elaborate makeup.

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Hanamichi

Kabuki walkway extending into the audience for dramatic entrances and exits.

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Mawari-Butai

Revolving stage mechanism used in kabuki theatres.

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Onnagata

Male kabuki actors specializing in female roles.

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Jidai-Mono

Kabuki plays dealing with historical, often samurai, subjects.

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Sewa-Mono

Kabuki domestic dramas focusing on commoners and romance.

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Shosagoto

Dance-centred kabuki pieces emphasizing movement over plot.

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Oshiroi

White rice-powder base makeup used in kabuki.

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Kumadori

Colored facial lines in kabuki makeup denoting character traits.

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Noh

Classical Japanese masked dance-drama emphasizing austere movement and music.

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Kyogen

Traditional Japanese comic theatre featuring stock master-servant characters.

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Bunraku

Japanese puppet theatre with large, intricately controlled puppets.

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Butoh

Post-WWII Japanese avant-garde dance-theatre blending absurdist, grotesque movement.

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Shingeki

20th-century Japanese modern drama using naturalistic acting and Western techniques.

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Tadashi Suzuki

Japanese director who fused avant-garde methods with classical Noh and Kabuki.

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Sho-Gekijo

‘Little theatre’ movement of the 1980s fostering small, experimental Japanese companies.

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French Classicism

17th-century movement reverting to Greek-Roman ideals; stressed order, clarity, and the unities.

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Louis XIV

French ‘Sun King’ who patronized the arts and asserted absolute monarchy ('L’état, c’est moi').

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Cardinal Richelieu

Chief minister who founded the French Academy (1635) and used ballet de cour for propaganda.

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French Academy of Language and Literature

1635 institution standardizing French arts, language, and dramatic rules.

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Giacomo Torelli

Italian designer nicknamed ‘The Great Wizard’ for rapid set-change machinery in Paris and Venice.

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Ballet de Cour

Court ballet genre mixing dance and allegory to glorify the monarchy.

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Hôtel de Bourgogne

First permanent Paris theatre, rectangular with tiered seating and large parterre.

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Théâtre du Marais

Former tennis court converted to theatre in 1645, featuring proscenium and raked stage.

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Salle des Machines

1662 Paris theatre with 140-foot-deep stage and elaborate set-changing machinery.

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Habit à la Romaine

Stock costume for tragic roles in French classical theatre, styled after Roman dress.

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Palais à Volonté

Generic exterior palace backdrop used in French tragedies.

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Bienséance

French classical rule of propriety—no onstage violence or coarse language; moral elevation of audience.

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The Unities

Classical principles requiring a play’s single action to occur in one place within 24 hours.

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Molière

French comic playwright of Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and The Imaginary Invalid.

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Jean Racine

Tragic playwright noted for Phèdre, exemplifying psychological depth and strict unities.

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Pierre Corneille

Playwright of Le Cid and Horace, exploring honor and duty in French tragedy.

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Victor Hugo

Romantic author who broke classical rules with plays like Hernani.

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Marivaux

French playwright of refined comedies about love and class, e.g., The Game of Love and Chance.

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Alexandre Dumas père

19th-century dramatist of historical adventure plays such as Henri III and His Court.