Theatre Theatre is the branch of performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience, using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, and spectacle. It is linked to
ritual in ancient cultures across the world. The most familiar form of theatre is the scripted
play, in which actors portray characters in a narrative unfolding in real time before an audience. Theatre diversified into
musicals integrating song and dance and opera with all the words set to music. In
improvisational theatre, actors invent material instead of following a set script, while performance art explores other disciplines to understand cultural intersections. The relationship between performers and audience has varied from formal and distant
proscenium productions to more intimate formats.
Dance In the context of performing arts, dance generally refers to human
movement, typically rhythmic and to music, used as a form of audience entertainment in a performance setting. Definitions of dance are culturally contingent and range from functional forms such as
folk dance to codified virtuoso techniques such as
ballet.
Choreography is the art of composing dances and choreographers assign how movement conveys meaning. Dance serves both social and artistic functions. It features in ceremonies, rituals, customs, and celebrations. In Black and Indigenous communities, dance is often inseparable from music and communal ritual.
Modern dance emerged as a 20th century response to ballet strictures, emphasizing freer bodily movement and self-expression. Subsequent forms including
hip-hop dance,
contemporary dance, and
postmodern dance continue expanding what dance is and who performs it.
Music Music is an art form which combines
timbre,
pitch,
rhythm, and
dynamics to create sound. It can be performed using a variety of instruments and styles and is divided into genres such as
folk,
jazz,
hip hop, pop, and rock, etc. As an art form, music can occur in live or recorded formats, and can be
planned or
improvised. Jazz combines written arrangements with improvisation, while in
classical Western concert music faithful interpretation of the written score is central.
Film From
Thomas Edison's
kinetoscope in the 1890s,
cinema developed into a
mass media with the
Hollywood studio system. Film acting differs from stage acting, projecting to a camera rather than to an audience. The performance is then shaped and assembled in
editing. Acting on camera often requires subtlety rather than the projection required on stage. Film has become an umbrella term covering cinema and television, with different film cultures around the world accessible by streaming services. Distinct film cultures in South Asia, East Asia, and elsewhere reach wide audiences.
Opera In opera, the drama is primarily conveyed through singing with an orchestral accompaniment. It combines music, drama, and spectacle into a single art form. Opera originated in Italy at the end of the sixteenth-century and spread throughout the world, becoming the prestige entertainment of aristocratic then bourgeois society. The form ranges from smaller
comic operas to spectacular
grand opera. Operas by
Mozart,
Verdi,
Wagner, and
Puccini remain among the most performed.
Other forms Circus arts include
clowning,
acrobatics,
aerials, and
object manipulation. Ancient Egyptian depictions survive that show acrobatics, which was performed at festive occasions.
Contemporary circus is an interdisciplinary performance form integrating circus elements with narrative, with
Cirque du Soleil a widely recognizable example. The broader field of performing arts include
musical theatre,
magic,
mime,
spoken word,
puppetry,
performance art,
improv, and
stand-up comedy. ==History==
Ancient and classical periods As early as the 19th century BCE, a large religious ceremony in Egypt may have had theatre-like elements. The earliest text of a play is the
Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus from the 20th-century BC. Greek playwrights including
Aeschylus,
Sophocles, and
Euripides developed
tragedy in the fifth century BCE, while
Aristophanes,
Cratinus, and
Menander developed
comedy. Greek theatre was performed in outdoor auditoriums with actors performing in masks. Greek theatre spread over the Mediterranean and beyond. India produced a performing arts tradition. The
Natya Shastra is a Sanskrit treatise on dramaturgy that formulated Indian theatrical theory and practice, attributed to
Bharata and possibly compiled 200 BCE - 200 CE. Dramatists such as
Bhāsa,
Kalidasa,
Bhavabhuti produced a rich heritage of dramatic literature. The Sanskrit epics
Ramayana and
Mahabharata are popular in India and much of Southeast Asia. In China, the dramatic tradition goes back to the
Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) involving music and theatre.
Shadow puppetry emerged during the
Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE). During the
Tang dynasty (618–907 CE),
Emperor Xuanzong established the
Pear Garden to train musicians and performers. In the
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), the
Zaju variety play reached its peak, having
Beijing opera as a descendant.
Middle Ages In medieval Europe, theatre was entwined with the
Christian Church, with
mystery plays adapting Biblical stories and dramatizing sermons. Secular entertainment included itinerant performers like
jongleurs who combined singing, telling jokes, clowning, juggling, tumbling, or magic tricks. In West Africa,
griots shared oral history with music and storytelling, reciting genealogy and specializing in musical instruments. They also had social roles like political advisers. In the medieval Islamic world, the
ta'ziyeh were shadow puppet theatre telling religious epic dramas, with Shi'a ta'ziyeh focused on the death of
Husayn ibn Ali. The ta'ziyeh was a living tradition through the 1930s when it was banned in Iran.
Renaissance The Renaissance, beginning in 15th century Italy and spreading throughout Europe saw a revival of classical forms, alongside theatrical innovations.
Domenico da Piacenza is credited with the first use of the term
ballo to describe choreographed court dances. The term eventually became
Ballet. The first Ballet
per se is thought to be
Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx's
Ballet Comique de la Reine (1581). troupe on a wagon'', by
Jan Miel, 1640 By the mid-16th century the
commedia dell'arte became widely popular in Europe. This improvisational form performed by professionals used
stock characters, including servants, old men, and lovers. A professional theatre industry also emerged in England, providing an institutional context for
William Shakespeare's plays in the late 16th century. In 1597, the first opera,
Dafne was performed and throughout the 17th century, opera would rapidly become the entertainment of choice for the
aristocracy in most of Europe, and eventually for large numbers of people living in cities and towns throughout Europe. A
proscenium arch and curtain used in Italy during the 17th century established the traditional theatre form that persists to this day. In England, the
Puritans banned theatrical performance until 1660, after which women began to appear in plays. The French introduced formal dance instruction in the late 17th century.
18th and 19th centuries The introduction of the popular
opera buffa brought opera to the masses as an accessible form of performance.
Mozart's
The Marriage of Figaro and
Don Giovanni are 18th century landmarks. In the early 19th century, the
Romantic movement emphasized individual self-expression, emotional directness, and nationalist energies. In opera, this led to the spectacular
grand operas of
Giacomo Meyerbeer and then to the musical dramas of
Giuseppe Verdi. The
Gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork) of
Richard Wagner united dance, music, and poetry into one expression. Influential ballet repertoire included
Giselle (1841) and
Swan Lake (1877). Romantic ballet provided more prominence to the female dancing body and
pointe work. The 19th century also saw the expansion of popular performing arts, driven by
urbanization and the growth of commercial entertainment.
Variety shows,
vaudeville, and
burlesque offered working class entertainment. Gaslight and later
electric lighting transformed the visual perception of theatre.
Modern era dancing the Faun in ''
L'après-midi d'un faune'' (1912)
Modern dance began in the late 19th century and early 20th century in response to the restrictions of traditional ballet. Pioneers
Isadora Duncan and
Loie Fuller focused on natural, expressive movements over conventional technique. The arrival of
Sergei Diaghilev's
Ballets Russes (1909–1929) revolutionized ballet. Diaghilev's collaboration brought together choreographers, dancers, composers, authors, visual artists, and
fashion designers. New ballet companies with strong national identities were founded across Europe starting in the 1930s.
Konstantin Stanislavski's
"System" revolutionized acting in the early 20th century, introducing psychological realism.
Method acting exercises are taught in many acting schools. The motion picture was invented in the 1890s and developed into a global mass market after World War I. Hollywood's studio system created film actors and shaped star image. The subsequent development
radio and
television affected the diversity of performance.
Postwar Following World War II, opera and ballet were built up, supported by state subsidies.
Postmodernism in the performing arts was largely a phenomenon of 1970s and 1980s, challenging the boundaries between art forms. In contemporary performing arts, digital technology is being integrated with live performance.
Animation,
motion capture, and real-time interactivity have extended what is possible on stage. During
COVID-19 lockdowns theatres worldwide produced streaming and hybrid formats, spurring innovation and debates about the future of live performance and digital technology. == Non-Western and Indigenous traditions ==