Up Next
Back to Show
Crash Course Theater
What Is Theater?
Season 1
Episode 1
We're going to ask the two classic questions about theater. 1.What is theater? And 2. Is it spelled -re or -er? Well, there's a clue to question two in the title of the video. The first question is a little trickier. We'll look at some of the historical definitions of theater, and investigate some of the ways people have thought about theater in different times and places in the world.
Support Provided By
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.
12:20
Noh, and its counterpart Kyogen are some of the most revered theater forms in Japan.
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!