History of Drama and Theatre Lecture

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

Italian Renaissance Theatre

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

Sofonisha

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

Neoclassical Ideal

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

Verisimilitude

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

Perspective Scenery

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

Chariot-and-Pole System

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

Teatro Olimpico

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

Teatro Farnese

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

Commedia dell’Arte

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

Stock Characters

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

Sebastiano Serlio

Mannerist architect whose theatre treatise influenced Renaissance stage design.

Andrea Palladio

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

Vincenzo Scamozzi

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

Isabella (Bella) Andreini

Celebrated commedia dell’arte actress and writer.

Elizabethan Era

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

Red Lion

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

The Theatre (1576)

First commercially successful English playhouse, built by James Burbage.

Globe Theatre

1599 public theatre associated with William Shakespeare’s company.

Elizabethan Comedy

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

Elizabethan History Play

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

Elizabethan Tragedy

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

Thomas Kyd

Playwright of The Spanish Tragedy, pioneering Elizabethan revenge tragedy.

Christopher Marlowe

Elizabethan dramatist known for Doctor Faustus and Edward II.

Thomas Heywood

Playwright of domestic tragedy A Woman Killed with Kindness.

John Webster

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

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

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

20th-Century Black Theatre

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

LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)

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

Douglas Turner Ward

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

Ntozake Shange

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

Women’s Theatre (1970s)

Stage movement advancing feminism and women artists’ careers.

Wendy Wasserstein

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

Marsha Norman

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

Beth Henley

Pulitzer-winning playwright of Crimes of the Heart.

Gay and Lesbian Theatre

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

Stonewall Riot (1969)

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

The Boys in the Band

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

John Glines

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

AIDS Plays

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

Realism (Theatre)

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

Naturalism (Theatre)

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

Konstantin Stanislavski

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

Moscow Art Theatre

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

A Doll’s House

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

Miss Julie

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

Kabuki

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

Hanamichi

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

Mawari-Butai

Revolving stage mechanism used in kabuki theatres.

Onnagata

Male kabuki actors specializing in female roles.

Jidai-Mono

Kabuki plays dealing with historical, often samurai, subjects.

Sewa-Mono

Kabuki domestic dramas focusing on commoners and romance.

Shosagoto

Dance-centred kabuki pieces emphasizing movement over plot.

Oshiroi

White rice-powder base makeup used in kabuki.

Kumadori

Colored facial lines in kabuki makeup denoting character traits.

Noh

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

Kyogen

Traditional Japanese comic theatre featuring stock master-servant characters.

Bunraku

Japanese puppet theatre with large, intricately controlled puppets.

Butoh

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

Shingeki

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

Tadashi Suzuki

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

Sho-Gekijo

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

French Classicism

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

Louis XIV

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

Cardinal Richelieu

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

French Academy of Language and Literature

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

Giacomo Torelli

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

Ballet de Cour

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

Hôtel de Bourgogne

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

Théâtre du Marais

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

Salle des Machines

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

Habit à la Romaine

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

Palais à Volonté

Generic exterior palace backdrop used in French tragedies.

Bienséance

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

The Unities

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

Molière

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

Jean Racine

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

Pierre Corneille

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

Victor Hugo

Romantic author who broke classical rules with plays like Hernani.

Marivaux

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

Alexandre Dumas père

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