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Crash Course Theater
Just Say Noh. But Also Say Kyogen
Season 1
Episode 11
Mike is taking you to Japan to look at Noh theater. Noh, and its counterpart Kyogen are some of the most revered theater forms in Japan, and are still performed today. Today you'll learn how Noh grew out of traditional Shinto dances, what a Noh theater looks like, and how audiences managed to sit through 8 hour performance in the days before memory foam theater seats. (hint: it was the Kyogen).
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10:40
Spain was having kind of a moment in the 16th and 17th centuries.

12:54
In the 1600s, English theater had to go into hiding, from PURITANS. Enter: WOMEN.

11:50
Thanks, Shakespeare! Let's talk about Ben Jonson, revenge tragedies, and court masques.

10:46
Let's take a look at Shakespeare's comedies, romances, problem plays and heroines.

11:29
Shakespeare's tragedies had some jokes, and they changed the way tragedies were written.

10:52
How a young Shakespeare stormed into London's theater – and wrote some pretty good plays.

12:17
Let's take a look at London theater and the playwrights who set the stage for Shakespeare.

10:43
Painting, music, architecture, and plays with fart jokes were all thriving from 1300-1500.

11:10
After European churches changed their minds on theater, drama became an outdoor activity.

11:01
Meet Hrotsvitha: a cool, 10th century nun/playwright who influenced a new era of theater.

11:59
As Christianity rose in the west, theater declined. But it returned – via Catholic Mass!

12:02
Thanks to Bharata Muni, we can tell you quite a bit about Ancient Sanskrit theater.