Drama research links

Contents

• Ancient Greece to medieval
• Shakespeare
• Reformation to romanticism
• Realism to absurdism
• Theatre history
• Technical theatre

 

Ancient Greece to medieval

1. Ancient Greece

• Theatre of ancient Greece (Wikipedia)
• Ancient theatre – from Theatre History.com
• Ancient Greece timeline – BBC for schools (not specifically about theatre)
• Ancient Greek theatre – reasonable introductory explanation by Ellie Crystal, who appears to be some sort of alternative healing quack. Treat with caution but worth reading.
• Life of Socrates – brief outline of the life of this important Greek philosopher, from Philosophy Pages.
• Ancient Greek theatre – Northern Virginia Community College – Introduction to Theatre Online Course.

Tragedies

• Aeschylus (presumed inventor of tragedy), The Persians (472 BC), The Oresteia (458 BC)
• Phrynichus
• Euripides
• Sophocles

Comedies

• Aristophanes
• Menander

2. Medieval theatre

• Medieval drama – from Theatre History.com
• Medieval drama links – a personal collection of around 200 links to medieval drama resources, complied by Sydney Higgins
• Medieval English drama – large bibliography of books on medieval drama (most should be available at least through inter-library loan).

Shakespeare

• English Renaissance theatre (Wikipedia)
• Hamlet Online – offers a directory of web pages devoted to Hamlet. Emphasis is placed on informative, useful, and worthwhile sites of interest. In general, print works are not covered, although some of the major Shakespeare finding tools are mentioned in the papers section.
• William Shakespeare (Wikipedia)
• Hamlet (Wikipedia)
• Shakespearean tragedy (Wikipedia)
• AC Bradley’s Shakespearean Tragedy – Complete text of the classic of criticism. Includes author information.
• Shakespeare’s Tragedies by Andrea Elliott and Mahvash Gandhi – high school teachers’ notes from UK
• The SpellBinder – the Elizabethan world view
• Shakespeare’s stage – Examines the development of the theatres and stages from Medieval drama to Shakespeare’s time.
• Elizabethan England and the world of Shakespeare – lots of links to Shakespeare and Elizabethan England resources.
• The Elizabethan Theatre – dot point notes from Northern Virginia Community College.
• Shakespeare Retold – website for BBC series (recently shown on ABC in Australia) in which several Shakespeare plays (Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew) were rewritten and performed in a contemporary setting and language. The website includes sections for Explore Shakespeare Interactive, 60 second Shakespeare (creating your own interpretation of Shakespeare in one minute – make a film or audio, take a scene or whole play, keep it classic or make it modern, it’s up to you. Includes streaming videos), and Shakespeare quizzes (which Shakespeare character do you most resemble?).

Reformation to romanticism

1. Commedia dell’arte

• Commedia dell’arte (Wikipedia) – a theatre form which commenced in Italy in the 15th century and was popular throughout Europe until the 18th century.
• Commedia dell’arte – from Theatre History.com

 

Realism to absurdism

• Nineteenth century theatre (Wikipedia)
• Realism (generally – including visual art and literature) (Wikipedia)
  • Henrik Ibsen (Wikipedia)
    • The Wild Duck – full text; study notes
• Naturalism (Wikipedia)
• Ibsen and realism – by Jens-Morten Hanssen (from Ibsen in the US)

• Notes on naturalism in the theatre – Wayne S. Turney
  • Playwrights – Emile Zola (though mostly a novelist); August Strindberg (also spans expressionism)
• Konstantin Stanislavsky (Wikipedia)
• Nineteenth-Century Theatre: Toward the Modern Drama (author Alain Bailin – institution not apparent)
• Realism – The First Phase (author Alain Bailin – institution not apparent)
• Australian Catholic University – Useful discussion on realism and naturalism in the theatre, the differences between the two and the position of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
• Modern Drama – Article from the Modern Drama journal discussing the term ‘modern drama’ and exploring the background behind Zola’s theories of naturalism for the theatre.
• Newberry College – excellent resource examining the emergence of the realism movement in theatre, relevant playwrights, the introduction of naturalism, and the distinct differences between realism and naturalism for the theatre
• Symbolism (Wikipedia)
• Expressionism (Wikipedia)
  • The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill
• International Brecht Society – A non-profit educational organization founded in 1970 and based on Bertolt Brecht’s own plans for a “Diderot Society”. A great place to visit and discover all things Brechtian.
• Epic theatre (Wikipedia)
  • Bertolt Brecht (Wikipedia)
    • The Good Woman of Setzuan (Wikipedia)
    • The Threepennny Opera website
• Theatre of the Absurd (Wikipedia)
  • Playwrights – Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov. Tom Stoppard, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Fernando Arrabal, Harold Pinter, Edward Albee and Jean Tardieu are also often associated with this movement.
• Death of a Salesman
  • Arthur Miller
• Samuel Beckett On-Line – This site features the largest selection of Samuel Beckett article links on the web. Included are Brooks Atkinson’s famous review of “Wating for Godot,” Sir Peter Hall’s reflections on directing Beckett’s plays, and much more.
• Samuel Beckett Resources and Links – comprehensive grouping of on-line essays, reviews, analyses and various other material related to the life and works of Beckett.Waiting for Godot (Wikipedia)
• Everything you’ve always wanted to know about Waiting for Godot but … – website by Penelope Merritt
• Theatre of Cruelty
  • Antonin Artaud (Wikipedia)
  • Albany State University Comprehensive essay examining the theatre of
    Artaud.
  • Anais Nin Account of a 1933 performance by Artaud at the Sorbonne.
  • Colin Russell Comprehensive explanation of Artaud’s theories and his Theatre of Cruelty techniques.
  • Donald Gardner Comprehensive essay The Reinvention of the Human Face, discussing Artaud and his work.

 

Theatre history

• History of theatre (Wikipedia)
• Changing Stages – website of excellent PBS TV series on the history of twentieth century theatre
  • Changing Stages – resources page (lots of good links)
• Theatre Database – numerous articles from Ancient Greek theatre through to the 20th century.

 

Technical theatre

• Stage Crew Site – Includes hints and tips on making scenery and props.
• Columbia Encyclopedia – Historical overview of the characteristics of scenic design in all major periods of theatre history.
• Northern State University – Useful FAQ on the nature of set and costume design.

• ScenographyUK – Excellent initiative featuring set and costume designs from Trent Theatre Design graduates. Site includes several image galleries.
• State University of New York Geneseo – Very good three-part lecture notes by Melanie Blood on the set designer’s tools and processes. Includes discussion on the historical conventions of theatre set design.
• State University of New York Geneseo – Useful multi-part lecture notes on various theatre spaces used throughout the history of theatre, including the proscenium arch, thrust and arena stages.
• Theatre direction; Theatre technique; List of theatre directors (Wikipedia)
• Stagecraft (Wikipedia); Lighting (Wikipedia); Stage lighting (Wikipedia)
• Stage management (Wikipedia)
• The Meyerhold revolution – website about this
• The Actor – basic explanation of Meyerhold’s acting method (Vsevolod Meyerhold was a Russian theatrical producer, director and actor whose provocative experiments in unconventional theatre made him one of the seminal forces in modern theatre cf. Stanislavsky)