Theatre was invented by the ancient Greeks. The audience sat in a half circle in the open air and watched plays on an elevated stage. Since then theatre has taken various forms across the world.
Shakespearean theatre
William Shakespeare 1564-1616 was an English dramatist whose plays are popular even t0oday. Shakespeare was very much at home performing amidst the noisy crowd at the open –air Globe theatre in London. He wrote and staged many of his greatest plays especially for the Globe. When the Globe opened in 1599, Julius Caesar was the first play to be staged. The theatre was rebuilt and opened again to the public in 1997. Did you know, in Shakespeare’s time, teenage boys played the female characters?
Broadway theatre
The general American public loves this form of professional theatre, it is known as Broadway theatre or Broadway show. It could be a play or a musical that is presented in one of the large theatres with 500 or more seats. The Broadway theatre and London’s West theatre are usually considered the best of commercial theatres staging plays and shows in English.
The Phantom of the Opera is considered one of the longest running Broadway musicals so far.
Mumbai dreams, a Bollywood- based musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber ran in the Broadway theatre. AR. Rahman did India proud by composing its music.
Indian theatre
In India, the regional theatre which includes Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Kanada and Manipuri is popular. Some famous theatre directions and writers are Mahesh Dattai, Girish Karnad (Kannada) , Vijay Tendulkar (Marathi), Alyque Padamsee, Habib Tanvir (Bhopal) etc. find out about other forms of folk theatre such as jatra, Nautanki, Ramlila, in India.
Koodiyattam or Kutitattam
This is a traditional and very old form of theatre from Kerala. It is performed in the Sanskrit language in the Hindu temples.
Kabuki
The Japanese kabuki can be traced back to the late 17th century. This is an oriental form of theatre that presents a mix of singing, dancing and play acting. The costumes and makeup used are very elaborate.
If you want to witness the kabuki theatre, you can visit the kabuki-za in Tokyo, Japan.
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