The Minack Theatre by The Minack TheatreSociety of London Theatre & UK Theatre
Meet the Author...
Mark Fox is an authority on theatre and its history. He is currently Chairman of The Frank Matcham Society; President of Perspectiv; Committee Member for The Society of Theatre Research and The British Hall Society; and a Friend of The Theatres Trust.
Join him on a journey through theatre's history...
Curtain up!
Every theatrical performance is a unique shared experience.
Theatre can entertain or educate and enrapture or enrage. Be it drama, dance, opera, mime, comedy, circus, music or an interactive experience, performers can reach out to an audience and create an experience and memory like no other art-form.
Kabuki actor: Bando Hikosaburo (one of a triptych with F1978.76 and F1978.77) (1864) by Artist: Toyohara Kunichika, Publisher: IzutsuyaSmithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
The magic of live performance
Culturally and economically theatre has been at the heart of human society from Ancient Greece onwards, constantly adapting to social and political developments across the globe. Japanese Kabuki, Indian Shadow puppets, Italian Opera and British pantomime are amongst many forms unique to their culture all of which developed with similar aims and brought joy, interest and satisfaction to ordinary people in their thousands.
By Loomis DeanLIFE Photo Collection
Nothing compares to live theatre...
It is a labour-intensive industry providing employment for people of all ages, talents and interests. For every performer onstage there will be as many as 30 other people working behind the scenes, in wardrobe, box offices, marketing and management, and production support.
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London's West End and New York's Broadway are the world's concentrated centres for theatrical excellence, but regional and amateur theatre of all sizes across the world play their part in creating the magic that only live performance can supply.
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Theatre finds a way
As long as we need to maintain social distancing these are worrying times for live theatre but the professionals who make it all happen will find a way to continue. Elizabethan Theatres survived plagues and Victorian Theatres stayed standing through smogs and the Blitz and, with the government protection order, today’s venues will survive and find some way to keep sharing as history shows they always have.
Hitchcock Directing (1962-12) by Gjon MiliLIFE Photo Collection
Come with me, Mark Fox, on a journey from Greek Theatre to present day in this mini series on the history of theatre. Keep reading here to start the journey.
