theatre

Table of Contents

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Watch self-blinded Oedipus confer with chorus leader about fulfillment of Apollo's prophecy in Oedipus Rex

Watch Shakespeare's tragic protagonist Hamlet deliver a soliloquy in the second act of Hamlet

lithograph poster for Hamlet

Listen to Norris Houghton discuss the difficulty of staging Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard

theatre of the Auditorium Building in Chicago

Globe Theatre, London

performance of William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost

scene from Hamlet

Go inside a Globe Theatre model with Maynard Mack to examine features of the Elizabethan playhouse

For Students

Globe Theatre, London

theatre summary

Discover

A mug shot taken by the regional Colombia control agency in Medellin

Pablo Escobar: 8 Interesting Facts About the King of Cocaine

Young boys working in a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909. Boys are so small they have to climb onto the spinning frame to reach and fix broken threads and put back empty bobbins. Child labor. Industrial revolution

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

airplane in flight (plane, aircraft, flying)

7 Puzzling Plane Disappearances

Franklin D. Roosevelt, who formulated the Four Freedoms.

7 Alphabet Soup Agencies that Stuck Around

Bar graph of the United States Death Toll during major events. Infogram chart.

U.S. Death Toll During Major Events

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)

New Seven Wonders of the World

Camel at Khor Rori, Oman; mammal.

Do Camels Store Water in Their Humps?

theatre: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Struggling English museums, galleries and theatres get £270m rescue fund from government • Feb. 21, 2025, 12:22 AM ET (BBC)

Theatre artist calls upon younger generation to nurture theatre • Feb. 14, 2025, 4:36 AM ET (The Hindu)

Life cut short: Theatre director and actor Saurabh Gharipurikar passes away in Hyderabad • Feb. 12, 2025, 6:26 AM ET (The Hindu)

Facts

Also Known As	drama

Photos and Videos

lithograph poster for Hamlet

theatre of the Auditorium Building in Chicago

Globe Theatre, London

performance of William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost

scene from Hamlet

Watch self-blinded Oedipus confer with chorus leader about fulfillment of Apollo's prophecy in Oedipus Rex

Watch Shakespeare's tragic protagonist Hamlet deliver a soliloquy in the second act of Hamlet

Listen to Norris Houghton discuss the difficulty of staging Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard

Go inside a Globe Theatre model with Maynard Mack to examine features of the Elizabethan playhouse

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

Western theatre theatrical production African theatre performance art Black theater epic theatre script Tony Awards poor theatre Yiddish drama architecture film dance radio printmaking sculpture painting drawing history of photography garden and landscape design

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir

president of Iceland

Henry Bauchau

Belgian author

Poster for the stage adaptation of J.M. Barrie's The Little Minister, starring Maude Adams and presented by Charles Frohman, c. 1897.

Charles Frohman

American theatrical manager

Albee, Edward Franklin

Edward Franklin Albee

American theatrical manager

Quiz

Shadow puppet (wayang kujlit), Indonesia. (puppetry, theater, theatre)

A History of Theatre Quiz

William Shakespeare and Lord Chamberlain's Men performing "Love's Labour's Lost" for Queen Elizabeth I, from the Works of William Shakespeare; etching, dated c. mid-19th century.

A Night at the Theatre Quiz

American playwright Tennessee Williams, 1955.

Quick Quiz: American Playwrights