The Theatre Portal

Ancient Greece theatre in Taormina, Sicily, Italy

Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. It is the oldest form of drama, though live theatre has now been joined by modern recorded forms. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. Places, normally buildings, where performances regularly take place are also called "theatres" (or "theaters"), as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe").

A theatre company is an organisation that produces theatrical performances, as distinct from a theatre troupe (or acting company), which is a group of theatrical performers working together. (Full article...)

Featured article

Avery Hopwood
The Demi-Virgin is a three-act play written by Avery Hopwood (pictured). Producer Albert H. Woods staged it on Broadway, where it was one of the most successful plays of the 1921–22 season. The play is a bedroom farce about former couple Gloria Graham and Wally Deane, both movie actors, whose marriage was so brief that the press speculated about whether Gloria was still a virgin. Because it contained suggestive dialog and women in the cast wore revealing clothes, the production was considered highly risqué at the time. The script alluded to a contemporary scandal involving actor Fatty Arbuckle, and one scene featured actresses stripping as part of a card game. Reviewers generally panned the play as unfunny and vulgar. A magistrate ruled the play was obscene, and obscenity charges were brought against Woods, but a grand jury declined to indict him. Woods promoted the controversy to increase ticket sales. The play had no long-term literary impact and was never published, but it did stimulate arguments over censorship of theatrical performances.

In this month

Globe Theatre

Joseph Grimaldi as Clown
Joseph Grimaldi (1778–1837) was an English actor, comedian, dancer, and the Regency era's most successful entertainer. He popularised and expanded the role of "Clown" in the harlequinade that formed a part of British pantomimes during the 1800s, and became a key pantomime performer at the Drury Lane, Sadler's Wells and Covent Garden theatres. While a boy, he appeared on stage at Drury Lane as "Little Clown" in the pantomime The Triumph of Mirth; or, Harlequin's Wedding. Other successful roles at the theatre followed, but he left in 1806 to take up theatrical residencies at the Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells theatres. As he matured, he began performing as Clown, for which character he created the whiteface make-up design still used in pantomime and by many other clowns today. The numerous injuries he received as a result of his energetic performances eventually led to a decline in his health and to his semi-retirement in 1823. Living in obscurity during his final years, he became an impoverished alcoholic. Grimaldi died at home in Islington, aged 59, having outlived his wife and his actor son Joseph Samuel.

Did you know (auto-generated) -

Selected quote

WikiProjects

Main project

Theatre WikiProjects

Descendant projects
  • New York Theatre
  • Musical Theatre
Sister projects
  • Dance
  • Ballet
  • Opera
  • Gilbert and Sullivan
  • Richard Wagner
  • Magic
  • Stagecraft
  • Drum Corps
  • Literature
  • Shakespeare
  • Circus

More did you know

Mary Saunderson

Topics

Recognized content

Extended content

Good articles

Good topics

  • Active Broadway theaters
  • File:Lully Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - 01. Ouverture.ogg

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories
Theatre
Theatre by city
Theatre by continent
Theatre by country
Theatre by culture
Theatre by date
Theatres
History of theatre
Theatre-related lists
Works about theatre
Acting
Alternative theatre
Amateur theatre
Theatre awards
Barn theatres
Casting (performing arts)
Theatre characters
Chess in theatre
Christmas onstage
Contemporary theatre
Theatre controversies
Costumes
Theatre criticism
Theatre databases
Disability theatre
Theatre districts
Drama
Theatre in education
Theatre element redirects to lists
Theatre festivals
Fringe theatre
Futurist theatre
Theatrical genres
Theatre logos
Masks in theatre
Minority-language theatre
Theatre museums
Theatrical occupations
Theatrical organizations
Theatre people
Plays
Theatre production companies
Puppet theaters
Theatre soundtracks
Spider-Man in live performances
Stage portrayals of individual people
Stagecraft
Street theatre
Theatre studies
Touring theatre
Theatre stubs

Things you can do

Things you can do
  • Add {{Portal|Theatre}} to the See also section of Theatre-related articles.
  • Tag the talk pages of Theatre-related articles, categories and templates with {{WikiProject Theatre}} (needed to generate article alerts).
  • Join WikiProject Theatre and list yourself as a Participant.
  • Attention: A list of articles needing immediate attention is available.
  • Rate the Unassessed Theatre articles in WikiProject Theatre.
  • Notability: Articles with notability concerns, listed at WikiProject Notability.
  • References: Add references to Unreferenced biographies of living people.
  • Requested articles: Requested articles for Stage and theatre.
  • Stubs: Help expand United States theatre stubs, European theatre stubs, Play stubs, Theatre (structure) stubs, Theatrical people stubs, and more...

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.