Curated category
Theatrical genres
- Gilbert and SullivanW. S. Gilbert was born in London on the 18th of November 1836, and Arthur Sullivan followed six years later on the 13th of May 1842.
- SatireThe word satire comes from the Latin term satur, meaning full. A subsequent phrase lanx satura shifted this definition to miscellany or medley.
- Stand-up comedyIn 1866, Mark Twain took the stage for his touring show Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands. This performance marked one of the earliest examples of a…
- Improvisational theatreThe earliest well-documented instance of improvisational theatre in Western history dates back to 391 BC with the Atellan Farce.
- BurlesqueThe word burlesque first appeared in a title within Francesco Berni's Opere burlesche during the early 16th century. These works circulated widely as…
- Shadow playIn the first millennium BCE, shadow play likely emerged in Central Asia or India. By 200 BCE, Indian tholu bommalata shows used flat, jointed puppets made of…
- PantomimeThe word pantomime arrived in English from the Latin term pantomimus, which itself derived from the Greek word pantomimos.
- TragedyIn the 6th century BCE, Athenian tragedy emerged as a dance-drama form during an annual state religious festival honoring Dionysus.
- TragicomedyThe Roman comic playwright Plautus coined the term tragicomoedia in Latin during the prologue to his play Amphitryon. He used the word somewhat facetiously…