Introduction

This webliography will explore theatre and its aspects from Greek times all the way to today. This website is for any and all interested in theatre, or wanting to know about theatre.

I, Austin Long, am a theatre major at Tarleton State University. I am currently a freshman, but have been interested in theatre ever since I was a small child. I hope that by creating this annotated webliography I will catch the interest of my readers.

Thanks, and enjoy!

Table of Contents

  • Theatre History
  • Greek Theatre
  • Roman Theatre
  • Medieval Theatre
  • Italian Theatre
  • English Theatre
  • Spanish Theatre
  • French Theatre
  • The Restoration
  • Modern Theatre

Theatre History Podcast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnvXlI1GAwo

This podcast acts as a general overview of theatre history all the way from ancient Greek times to today. It gives a summary of theatre history, as not all of theatre history can be told within eleven minutes. This podcast acts as an interesting and useful guide that can help one learn about the basic overview of theatre history.

Theatre History Blog

http://sfltn.blogspot.com/2012/03/past-week-in-theatre-history-mar-19-mar.html

This blog acts primarily as a blog to discuss important events that have happened in theatre. It basically takes the form of a timeline, but discusses theatre events that happen years ago on certain dates. This blog wouldn't act much as a site for theatre history information, but more as an entertaining blog talking about past dates in history.

Greek Theatre

http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Theatre/

This website gives detailed information over Greek theatre. It focuses primarily on the origins of Greek theatre and the aspects of Greek theatre, such as the scenic practices and costumes used. The site also talks about tragedies, comedies, and the acting style used. One could easily find useful information about Greek theatre on this site.

Ancient Greek Theatre

http://anarchon.tripod.com/indexGREEKTH.html

The website given consists of a lot of detailed, useful information over ancient Greek theatre. It talks about the Golden Age of Greek Drama, tragedy, comedy, and the physical space used. This website acts as a very useful site full of information. One could easily use this site to locate any information about theatre in Ancient Greece.

Roman Drama

http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chapters/131romtheatre.htm

This website gives a very detailed overview of Ancient Roman theatre. It goes into great detail and provides a lot of useful information. This site would be good to use as a study guide for Roman theatre, as it has a list of key terms at the bottom of the page. Anyone looking to find useful, accurate information on Roman theatre would find this site very helpful.

Roman Theatre

http://www.angelfire.com/ut/latiniii/history.html

This site gives a brief history of Roman theatre. It primarily focuses on the influences on Roman theatre and the architecture of the Roman theaters. The site talks about how strongly Roman theatre was influenced by Greek theatre. The site would only be useful for finding information on the influences and architecture, not necessarily the history of Roman theatre itself.

Medieval Theatre

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/medieval.htm

This site talks about the history of Medieval theatre after the fall of Rome. It goes into detail about the power of the Church with Liturgical Drama, as well as drama outside of the church. The site talks about the staging, and also gives examples of plays written during the Medieval times. The site is full of useful information, but could perhaps be expanded on. Nonetheless, one could still find a lot of useful information about the history of Medieval theatre.

Italian Drama

http://www.theatredatabase.com/18th_century/italian_drama_001.html

This site gives a basic overview of Italian Drama during the eighteenth century. The site primarily focuses on the history of Italian theatre and how it changed over the years. It talks about commedia dell' arte, improvised comedy, and discusses Italian playwrights such as Carlo Goldini. This website has a lot of useful information about the history of Italian theatre during the eighteenth century and would be a good source for information.

Italian Scenic Perspective

http://www3.northern.edu/wild/ScDes/serlio.gif

This image shows a sketch of a scenery for a play. Using Italian scenic principles, a designer could acheived this perspective by combining a series of flats and a slanted stage to create a perspective as shown in the image. This image shows an example of Italian scenic perspective and could be useful for someone wanting to learn more about the Italian scenic principles.

English Renaissance Theatre

http://www.lacanadaplayhouse.org/lecture%20ELIZABETHAN.pdf

This article provides a very detailed description of English theatre's origins and history. It goes into detail about all the aspects of British theatre, such as costumes, playwrights and stage characteristics. The article would act as a very good study guide, as it has a list of key terms and gives a timeline as well as a list of important playwrights and works.

William Shakespeare

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/

This website includes information on the works and biography of William Shakespeare, a man very important to English Theatre. The biography is very detailed and describes how Shakespeare helped to shape English theatre. This site is very useful by offering not only information about Shakespeare, but also providing information about the Globe Theatre and his plays, among other useful information.

Spanish Golden Age Theatre

http://westerntheatrehistory.com/SpanishMovements.aspx

This website provides a lot of useful information about Spanish theatre during the Golden Age. It gives accurate information about corrales, the area used to perform, acting companies, and aspects such as scenery and costumes. The site gives detailed information and would prove very useful in giving information about Spanish theatre during the Golden Age.

Early Spanish Dramas and Epics

http://www.theatrehistory.com/spanish/bates003.html

This article primarily focuses on early Spanish drama in comparison to that of Italy. The article focuses on Spanish theatre during the Renaissance and goes into detail about the history of how theatre came about in Spain. The article does a good job giving detailed information, and would be very useful in finding information on the history of early Spanish drama.

French Theatre

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Theatre/DF_theatre.shtml

This website gives an in depth overview of French theatre. The website primarily focuses on the seventeenth century through the twentieth century. The site gives examples of important French playwrights througout the years and talks about specific plays performed. The website is very thorough in its overview, and would be exceptionally useful to anyone needing information on theatre in France.

Theatre in France, 1500 - 1700

http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Theatre_History/Theahis_8.html

This website gives an accurate study of French Theatre history, and talks about important French playwrights Moliere, Cornielle and Racine. It also talks about the Hotel de Bourgone, "which was the only permanent theater in Paris between 1595 and 1629." The webiste gives useful information, but it could be explained more in depth. Despite this, the website still acts as a useful sight that one could use to help to learn about French theatre.

Restoration Theatre

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/restor.htm

This website gives a condensed summary of theatre during the Restoration. The website discusses the Restoration in England and Comedy of Manners, as well as giving a short list of notable playwrights during the Restoration. The information the website gives is accurate, yet it could use more information. The website does not offer up enough information to give a viewer enough information to learn much about theatre during the Restoration.

Restoration Drama

http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/restoration_drama_001.html

The website explores the changes of theatre that occurred during the Restoration. It goes into detail about subjects such as appearance of women on the English stage, parody of heroic drama, and women playwrights. As well as giving examples of important changes occurring, the website also names specific plays written during this time. The website shows strength in its layout, and makes it easy for the viewer to follow along. This website would be useful for those interested in the Restoration and the growth of theatre during that time period.

Modern Theatre: 18th - 20th Centuries

http://www.msuiit.edu.ph/ipag/studies/drama/topics/modern.html

This website gives a basic overview of modern theatre from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries. The website talks about playwrights of the time, as well as specific plays being written and performed during this time period. The website talks about the introduction of plays "with ordinary people as characters, such as in She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith and The School for Scandal by Richard Sheridan." The website also talks about technological innovations and "emphasis on more natural forms of acting." This website would be useful for anyone looking for a general overview of modern theatre.

Modern Theatre, 1875-1915

http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Theatre_History/Theahis_15.html

This website overviews how modern theatre was developed by the works of theatre innovators and directors such as Richard Wagner, Germany's Georg II, and Belasco. The website goes into great detail about these individuals, but says very little about other factors that helped create what we today consider modern theatre. The website also covers a short time span, from 1875 to only 1915. This leaves out almost one hundred years of modern theatre. This website would be very useful for someone studying the early ages of modern theatre and individuals who helped to shape it.

Modern Theatre Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdqBSrcyQaY

This video overviews theatre since the eighteenth century. This video gives an accurate summary of how theatre has changed over the years, and the different forms of modern theatre. This video is very effective in describing how modern theatre came about. One of the video's strengths is that it presents pictures going along with what he is describing. However, the way in which the presenter presents the information is in a someone monotone voice and can make the video boring to watch. Anyone seeking to learn useful information about modern theatre might find this video helpful.