The Living Stage: A History of the World Theater

by Kenneth Macgowan

We have tried to tell as complete a story as possible within reasonable length to give the reader the full picture of the historical development of the theater. In certain areas that have been exhaustively covered by distinguished scholars - the Greek theater, for instance, we have had to less space to differing theories and conjectures than in others. So brief an outline of 2500 years of theater history, however, cannot cover every topic to the satisfaction of every reader. Included are fifty new arresting illustrations that include reconstruction of ancient theaters, maps of the classic theaters of Europe, reproductions of old and new paintings, engravings, and designs, and diagrams of stage machinery. For the 200 additional line drawings we have gone to historical sources as well as to modern plans and sketches. Contents Theater Begins With Primitive Man; The Great Greeks and the Much Lesser Latins; Theater Reborn Before Medieval Altars; The Renaissance Theater in Italy; Spain's Golden Age; The Theater that Elizabeth I Sustained; France In and Out of the Renaissance; The Restoration and the 18th Century in England; 1500 to 1800 in Teutonic Lands; The 18th Century in France and America; The Oriental Theater; The 19th Century, a Time of Change in Europe; The American Theater, 1800 to 1900; 20th Century Realism; The Theater of Today and Tomorrow.

543 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1955