19th century theatre history

Theater arts examples
History of theatre timeline
Where was the first theater built

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Theatre

Collaborative form of performing art

For other uses, see Theatre (disambiguation)."Theatrical" redirects here. For the racehorse, see Theatrical (horse).

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Theatre or theater^[a] 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 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 the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe").

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The V&A's Theatre and Performance collections chart the fascinating history of theatre in Britain from the middle ages to today. From early dramatic forms, such as mystery plays and court masques, to the alternative and 'in yer face' drama of the late 20th century, via the patriotic wartime entertainment of the 1940s, and the foundation of institutions such as the Arts Council and the National Theatre.

Most early theatre in England evolved out of church services of the 10th and 11th centuries. It became a truly popular form around 1350 when religious leaders encouraged the staging of mystery cycles (stories from the Bible) and miracle plays (stories of the lives of saints). These were written and performed in the language of ordinary people rather than latin in order to teach the mainly illiterate masses about Christianity and the bible.

Each play was staged on pageant wagons that processed through the streets and stopped to perform at pre-arranged sites. By the end of medieval times, many towns had specific spaces dedicated to public theatre.

The rise of secula

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1730 Birthday of Oliver Goldsmith, British author of She Stoops to Conquer.

1900 One of the most famous of all stage performers, Helen Hayes, is born (as Helen Hayes Brown). She makes her stage debut at age five and stars in such Broadway hits as To The Ladies, Victoria Regina, and Mary of Scotland. In 1958 she stars in Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet at what had been the Fulton Theatre but was newly christened "The Helen Hayes Theatre." That theatre is destroyed in 1982 to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel. The old Little/Winthrop Ames Theatre on West 44th Street is re-christened the Helen Hayes.

1927Harry Ruby, Bert Kalmar, and Guy Bolton open their musical The Five O'Clock Girl at the 44th Street Theatre. It stays for 280 performances.

1927Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward open their drama Porgy, about a crippled beggar who finds love. It serves as the basis of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, opening precisely eight years later.

1927Tamara Geva stars in the Gallic Broadway revue Chauve