Playwrights
Comedies, tragedies, and histories oh my! This playwright is known for his iconic plays such as Hamlet.
Shakespeare
A modern musical-dramatic work that incorporates singing, dancing, and acting
Musical Theatre
The women parts in Elizabethan theatre were played by
Young Boys
This Tennessee Williams play, set in New Orleans, features the iconic line “Stella!” and a harsh character named Stanley Kowalski.
A Streetcar Named Desire
Half man, half goat.
Satyr
Expressionistic playwright, penned the existential and wildly popular play Our Town
Thornton Wilder
Incorporates machine and technology in its theatre because it promotes progress and speed. Form of Avant Garde theatre.
Futurism
According to tradition, this 6th-century BCE performer stepped out of the chorus to become the first actor, giving us the word "thespian" today.
Thespis
This play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project uses real interviews to dramatize the aftermath of a hate crime in Wyoming.
The Laramie Project
Plays whose copyright has expired and can be performed without paying royalties.
Public Domain Plays
Wildly popularly Expressionist playwright who penned the blue-collared hit The Hairy Ape
Eugene O'Neill
When the main character is brought to ruin or extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a moral weakness, flaw or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances, you are witnessing a
Tragedy
This famous open-air theatre, originally built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company, was destroyed by fire and later rebuilt.
The Globe
Set in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, this Thornton Wilder play uses minimal props and a Stage Manager to guide audiences through everyday life and death.
Our Town
An early rehearsal in which the script is read and discussed from beginning to end; designers may make presentations.
Read Through
20th century French existentialist, whose work can often make you feel as though there is No Exit
Jean Paul Sarte
"Photographic" realism. One step further. The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky for one
Naturalism
This Italian theatre form, known for its highly stylized masks, gestures, and improvisation, originated in Venice and was later adopted throughout Europe.
Commedia dell'Arte
This Bertolt Brecht play follows a wagon-driving woman during the Thirty Years’ War and critiques capitalism and war profiteering.
Mother Courage and Her Children
This absurdist playwright wrote Waiting for Godot, a groundbreaking post-WWII play where “nothing happens, twice.”
Samuel Beckett
1600s French Neoclassical playwright known for his comedies, particularly Tartuffe
Moliere
Theatre that exposed life as a brutal, harsh reality with the use of flashing lights, screams, disturbing sounds, and other disturbing theatrical elements
Theatre of Cruelty
This classical Japanese theatre form, known for its stylized movement and masks, dates back to the 14th century and often explores themes of the supernatural.
Noh
In this whimsical play, fairies like Oberon and Puck meddle with the love lives of Athenian youths in an enchanted forest.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare's acting troupe who opened the Globe Theatre.
Lord Chamberlain's Men