The History of the Theatre

by Brockett, Oscar Gross; Hildy, Franklin J.

• ISBN13: 9780205281718
• ISBN10: 0205281710
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-09-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

First published in 1968, History of the Theatre is the most comprehensive and widely used survey of theatre history. The eighth edition retains all of the traditional features that have made History of the Theatre a classic for over thirty years, including over 530 photos and illustrations, useful maps, and the expertise of Oscar Brockett, one of the most widely respected theatre historians in the field. Franklin J. Hildy contributes his scholarship and experience throughout the text and, in particular, to a discussion of English Theatre/Shakespeare (Ch. 6). The authors have scrutinized each chapter closely to sharpen, update, and reinterpret information. Revised to include and address new revisionist scholarship, the eighth edition continues to provide the most thorough and accurate assessment of the history of theatre available.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
CHAPTER 1 The Origins of Theatre	1	(12)
The Theory of Ritual Origin	1	(2)
Performative Elements and Functions	3	(2)
Other Theories of Origin	5	(2)
Ancient Egypt and the Near East	7	(3)
Looking at Theatre History	10	(3)
CHAPTER 2 Theatre and Drama in Ancient Greece	13	(36)
The Origin of Tragedy	15	(1)
The City Dionysia in the Sixth Century	16	(1)
Tragedy in the Fifth Century	17	(2)
The Satyr Play	19	(1)
Greek Comedy in the Fifth Century	20	(2)
The Dramatic Festivals of the Fifth Century	22	(2)
Play Selection and Financing	24	(1)
Actors and Acting	24	(1)
The Chorus	25	(2)
Music and Dance	27	(1)
Costumes and Masks	27	(4)
Theatre Architecture	31	(3)
Auditorium and Audience	34	(2)
Greek Drama After the Fifth Century	36	(2)
The Athenian Theatre in the Fourth Century	38	(2)
The Hellenistic Theatre	40	(5)
Greek Mimes	45	(2)
Looking at Theatre History	47	(2)
CHAPTER 3 Roman and Byzantine Theatre and Drama	49	(32)
Etruscan Antecedents	50	(1)
The Roman Context	51	(2)
Roman Festivals	53	(1)
Drama Under the Romans	53	(6)
Other Entertainments	59	(1)
Production Arrangements	60	(1)
The Roman Theatre Structure	61	(3)
Other Structures for Entertainments	64	(1)
Scenery	64	(3)
Actors and Acting	67	(2)
Masks and Costumes	69	(1)
Music	70	(1)
The Decline of the Theatre in Rome	71	(1)
Theatre in the Eastern Empire	72	(2)
The Byzantine Theatre	74	(2)
The Rise of Islam	76	(1)
Looking at Theatre History	77	(4)
CHAPTER 4 European Theatre and Drama in the Middle Ages	81	(40)
The Theatre, 500 to 900 A.D.	83	(2)
The Liturgical Drama	85	(4)
The Staging of Liturgical Drama	89	(1)
The Feast of Fools	90	(1)
The Late Middle Ages	91	(1)
Performances Outside the Church	91	(2)
The Vernacular Religious Drama	93	(2)
Production Arrangements	95	(1)
The Director	96	(1)
Actors and Acting	97	(1)
Costumes	98	(1)
The Stages	99	(3)
Scenery	102	(2)
Special Effects and Machinery	104	(1)
Music	105	(1)
Audiences and Auditoriums	106	(1)
Secular Dramatic Forms	107	(1)
Farce	107	(2)
The Morality Play	109	(2)
Chambers of Rhetoric	111	(1)
Interludes	112	(2)
Tournaments, Mummings, and Disguisings	114	(1)
Royal Entries and Street Pageants	115	(2)
The End of Medieval Drama	117	(1)
Looking at Theatre History	118	(3)
CHAPTER 5 Italian Theatre and Drama, 1400-1700	121	(32)
Renaissance Drama	122	(3)
Beginnings of the Baroque Era	125	(1)
The Neoclassical Ideal	125	(2)
Intermezzi and Opera	127	(1)
The Development of New Scenic Practices	128	(8)
Development of Theatre Architecture	136	(3)
Machinery and Special Effects	139	(2)
Music and Dance	141	(1)
The Festival Context	141	(1)
Stage Lighting	142	(1)
Commedia dell' Arte	143	(5)
The Decline of Italy	148	(1)
Looking at Theatre History	149	(4)
CHAPTER 6 English Theatre from the Middle Ages to 1642	153	(34)
Early Tudor Drama	153	(2)
The University Wits	155	(1)
Shakespeare and His Contemporaries	156	(3)
Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists	159	(1)
Government Regulation of the Theatre	160	(1)
Acting Troupes	161	(4)
The Public Theatres	165	(7)
The Private Theatres	172	(4)
Scenery, Properties, Special Effects, and Music	176	(1)
Costumes	177	(1)
Audiences	178	(1)
The Stuart Court Masques	178	(5)
Looking at Theatre History	183	(4)
CHAPTER 7 The Spanish Theatre to 1700	187	(18)
The Religious Drama	188	(2)
The Beginnings of a Secular Drama	190	(1)
The Early Professional Theatre in Spain	191	(1)
Lope de Vega and His Contemporaries	192	(1)
Calderon and His Contemporaries	193	(1)
The Corrales	194	(4)
Acting Companies	198	(1)
Actors and Acting	198	(2)
Costumes	200	(1)
The Stage and Scenery	200	(1)
Court Entertainments	201	(2)
Looking at Theatre History	203	(2)
CHAPTER 8 The Theatre in France, 1500-1700	205	(28)
Theatre at Court and in the Schools Prior to 1600	205	(2)
The Public Theatre in Paris Before 1595	207	(1)
The Public Theatre, 1595-1629	208	(2)
The Triumph of the Neoclassical Ideal	210	(3)
Acting Companies, 1629-1660	213	(1)
The Public Theatre, 1629-1660	214	(1)
Scenic Practices in the Public Theaters, 1629-1660	215	(2)
The Triumph of the Italian Ideal in Scenery, 1640-1660	217	(2)
The Naturalization of the Italian Ideal, 1660-1700	219	(3)
French Drama, 1660-1700	222	(3)
Acting Companies, 1660-1700	225	(1)
The Organization of French Acting Companies	226	(2)
Theatre Architecture and Scenic Practices, 1660-1700	228	(1)
The Close of the Seventeenth Century	229	(2)
Looking at Theatre History	231	(2)
CHAPTER 9 The British Theatre 1642-1800	233	(34)
Theatrical Activity, 1642-1660	233	(3)
The Reestablishment of the Theatre	236	(1)
Acting Companies, 1660-1700	236	(1)
English Drama, 1660-1700	237	(3)
English Drama, 1700-1750	240	(3)
Governmental Regulation of the Theatre	243	(2)
English Drama, 1750-1800	245	(2)
The Playwright	247	(1)
Financial Policies	247	(2)
Theatre Architecture	249	(2)
Scenic Practices	251	(3)
Costume Practices	254	(2)
Actors and Acting, 1660-1800	256	(5)
Audiences and Performances	261	(1)
The Provincial Theatre	262	(1)
Theatre of Colonial North America	263	(1)
Looking at Theatre History	264	(3)
CHAPTER 10 Italy and France in the Eighteenth Century	267	(26)
The Evolution of Italian Scenic Design	267	(5)
Italian Drama of the Eighteenth Century	272	(2)
French Drama of the Eighteenth Century	274	(4)
Parisian Acting Troupes	278	(5)
The Dramatist	283	(1)
Actors and Acting	283	(2)
Theatre Architecture	285	(2)
Scenic Practices	287	(1)
Costume Practices	288	(2)
Looking at Theatre History	290	(3)
CHAPTER 11 Theatre in Northern and Eastern Europe during the Eighteenth Century	293	(32)
The Court Theatres of Germany	293	(3)
The Jesuit Theatre	296	(1)
The Early Public Theatre in Germany	297	(2)
The Reforms of Gottsched and Neuber	299	(1)
Acting Troupes, 1740-1770	300	(2)
German Drama, 1740-1787	302	(3)
The Establishment of National Theatres, 1770-1800	305	(2)
Evolution of Staging in the Eighteenth Century	307	(3)
F.L. Schroder	310	(1)
Iffland and Kotzebue	311	(1)
Goethe, Schiller, and Weimar Classicism	312	(1)
Theatre and Drama in Other Countries of Northern Europe	315	(3)
Theatre in Russia to 1800	318	(3)
Looking at Theatre History	321	(4)
CHAPTER 12 Theatre in Europe and the United States during the Early Nineteenth Century	325	(52)
Theoretical Foundations of Romanticism	326	(1)
Romantic Drama in Germany	327	(2)
Postromantic German-Language Drama	329	(3)
Theatrical Conditions in German-Language Theatres	332	(4)
The French Theatre, 1789-1815	336	(1)
French Drama, 1800-1850	337	(3)
Theatrical Conditions in France, 1800-1850	340	(1)
Directing and Acting in France, 1800-1850	341	(3)
Scenery, Costume, and Lighting in France, 1800-1850	344	(3)
Russian Drama and Theatre, 1800-1850	347	(3)
Trends in English Theatre, 1800-1843	350	(2)
English Drama, 1800-1850	352	(2)
English Theatrical Conditions, 1800-1843	354	(6)
Macready and Vestris	360	(2)
Theatre in North America, 1782-1815	362	(3)
The Expanding American Theatre, 1815-1850	365	(9)
Looking at Theatre History	374	(3)
CHAPTER 13 Theatre and Drama in Europe and the United States during the Late Nineteenth Century	377	(44)
The Beginnings of Realism	378	(1)
French Drama, 1850-1900	379	(2)
Theatrical Conditions in France, 1850-1900	381	(6)
English Drama, 1850-1900	387	(3)
English Theatrical Conditions, 1843-1860	390	(3)
English Theatrical Conditions, 1860-1880	393	(3)
English Theatrical Conditions, 1880-1900	396	(5)
Theatre in the United States, 1850-1870	401	(4)
Theatre in the United States, 1870-1895	405	(6)
The Theatre in Italy and Spain, 1850-1900	411	(1)
Russian Theatre and Drama, 1850-1900	412	(3)
German and Austrian Theatre, 1850-1900	415	(3)
Looking at Theatre History	418	(3)
CHAPTER 14 The Beginnings of the Modern Theatre, 1875-1915	421	(42)
Wagner and Saxe-Meiningen	421	(4)
Ibsen	425	(2)
Zola and the French Naturalists	427	(1)
Antoine and the Theatre Libre	428	(2)
The Freie Buhne and German Realism	430	(1)
The Independent Theatre and Realism in England	431	(3)
The Continuing Tradition in England, 1900-1914	434	(2)
The Moscow Art Theatre and Realism in Russia	436	(1)
Nonrealism in France	437	(3)
Appia and Craig	440	(2)
Strindberg and Freud	442	(1)
Nonrealistic Theatre and Drama in Germany	443	(3)
Nonrealistic Theatre in England	446	(2)
The Irish Renaissance	448	(2)
Russian Modernism	450	(3)
The Revival of Idealism in France	453	(1)
The Theatre in Italy and Spain, 1875-1915	454	(1)
Theatre in the United States, 1895-1915	455	(3)
Major Technical Innovations, 1875-1915	458	(2)
Looking at Theatre History	460	(3)
CHAPTER 15 The Theatre in Europe and the United States between the Wars	463	(38)
German Theatre and Drama, 1915-1940	463	(7)
Theatre and Drama in France, 1915-1940	477	(1)
Italian Theatre and Drama, 1915-1940	477	(1)
Theatre and Drama in Spain, 1915-1940	478	(1)
Theater and Drama in Russia, 1917-1940	479	(5)
English Theatre and Drama, 1915-1940	484	(5)
Theatre and Drama in the United States, 1915-1940	489	(8)
Looking at Theatre History	497	(4)
CHAPTER 16 Theatre in Europe and the United States, 1940-1968	501	(38)
French Theatre and Drama, 1940-1968	501	(8)
German-Language Theatre and Drama, 1940-1968	509	(5)
Theatre and Drama in the United States, 1940-1968	514	(8)
English Theatre and Drama, 1940-1968	522	(8)
Theatre and Drama in Italy, 1940-1968	530	(1)
Soviet Theatre and Drama, 1940-1968	531	(2)
Theatre and Drama in Czechoslovakia, 1940-1968	533	(1)
International Developments	534	(1)
Looking at Theatre History	535	(4)
CHAPTER 17 Theatre and Drama After 1968	539	(52)
Theatre and Drama in Italy after 1968	542	(3)
Soviet and Russian Theatre after 1968	545	(4)
Theatre in Poland and Czechoslovakia	549	(6)
German Theatre and Drama after 1968	555	(1)
Theatre in France after 1968	555	(5)
British Theatre after 1968	560	(8)
Theatre in the United States after 1968	568	(20)
Postscript	588	(1)
Looking at Theatre History	588	(3)
CHAPTER 18 The Theatre of Asia	591	(40)
India	591	(2)
Sanskrit Drama	593	(1)
Sanskrit Performance	594	(2)
Modern India	596	(2)
China	598	(2)
The Development of Chinese Literary Drama	600	(4)
Beijing Opera	604	(5)
Twentieth Century Developments in Chinese Theatre	609	(1)
Japan	610	(1)
Noh Theatre	611	(5)
Bunraku	616	(2)
Kabuki	618	(5)
Modern Japanese Theatre and Drama	623	(1)
Other Asian Countries	624	(3)
Looking at Theatre History	627	(4)
CHAPTER 19 The Theatre of Africa	631	(38)
Some Basic Issues and Problems	631	(4)
Nigeria	635	(5)
Ghana	640	(2)
Sierra Leone	642	(1)
Kenya	643	(2)
Uganda	645	(2)
Tanzania	647	(1)
Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana	648	(2)
Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, San Tome and Principe, and Cape Verde	650	(1)
Senegal	651	(1)
The Ivory Coast	652	(2)
Mali and Cameroon	654	(1)
The Congo Popular Republic and Congo (Zaire)	655	(2)
South Africa	657	(8)
North Africa	665	(1)
Looking at Theatre History	666	(3)
Appendix	669	(6)
Bibliography	675	(14)
Index	689