dramatic literature

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

Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children)

Globe Theatre, London

theatre of the Auditorium Building in Chicago

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Spike Lee at the 2007 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California

Prominent HBCU Alumni

William Shakespeare

The Death of Shakespeare

William Shakespeare, 1564-1616. c 1907

What Did Shakespeare Sound Like?

Facsimile of one of William Henry Ireland's forgeries, a primitive self-portrait of William Shakespeare(tinted engraving). Published for Samuel Ireland, Norfolk Street, Strand, December 1, 1795. (W.H. Ireland, forgery)

The Time a Law Clerk Successfully Forged a New Shakespeare Play to Impress His Dad

poem. A poet in a Heian period kimono writes Japanese poetry during the Kamo Kyokusui No En Ancient Festival at Jonan-gu shrine on April 29, 2013 in Kyoto, Japan. Festival of Kyokusui-no Utage orignated in 1,182, party Heian era (794-1192).

World Poetry Day

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African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

Fish. Lionfish. Lion-fish. Turkey fish. Fire-fish. Red lionfish. Pterois volitans. Venomous fin spines. Coral reefs. Underwater. Ocean. Red lionfish swims by seaweed.

10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Fish

King Cobra snake in Malaysia. (reptile)

9 of the World’s Deadliest Snakes

Hemp (Cannabis sativa).

9 Mind-Altering Plants

New Zealand. Political/Physical map. Includes locator.

Where Is “Old Zealand”?

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Entrants falling and tumbling over while chasing the cheese at the 2016 'Cheese Rolling' held at Cooper's Hill, in the Cotswolds, Brockworth England

7 of the World’s Most Dangerous Festivals

dramatic literature: Facts & Related Content

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Facts

Also Known As	drama • play

Photos and Videos

Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children)

Globe Theatre, London

theatre of the Auditorium Building in Chicago

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

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

tragedy comedy Passion play melodrama chronicle play mystery play tragicomedy soliloquy well-made play morality play dance radio novel children’s literature biography rhetoric folk literature Modernist literature short story music

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Key People

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

English author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

German author

Martin McDonagh

Martin McDonagh

British-Irish playwright and filmmaker

Ben Elton

Ben Elton

British actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and dramatist

Lynn Nottage, 2018

Lynn Nottage

American playwright

Jon Fosse

Jon Fosse

Norwegian author

Danai Gurira

Danai Gurira

American actress

Tony Award winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

American playwright

Kenneth Lonergan

Kenneth Lonergan

American director

Nissim Ezekiel

Indian poet and playwright

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

English author

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

British novelist

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes

Spanish writer

Voltaire

Voltaire

French philosopher and author

Molière

Molière

French dramatist

Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli

Italian statesman and writer

Jean Racine

Jean Racine

French dramatist

Babel, Isaac

Isaac Babel

Russian author

Gabriel Marcel

Gabriel Marcel

French philosopher and author

Woody Allen

Woody Allen

American actor and director

Quiz

Pamela having divided her clothes into three bundles..., etching and engraving by Guillaume Philippe Benoist, 1745. Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) by Samuel Richardson.

Literary Terms (Part One) 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.

English and Irish Playwrights (Part Two) Quiz

Irish author Oscar Wilde, photograph (albumen silver print)by Napoleon Sarony, 1882.

English and Irish Playwrights (Part One) Quiz

Row of colorful books on a bookshelf. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

The Literary World