Theatre History Sites on the WWW

Notices

The next meeting of the International Federation for Theatre Research will be in St. Petersburg May 22 - May 27, 2004.

In conjunction with this meeting, the IFTR Scenography Working Group invites submissions of Abstracts for our sessions at the forthcoming IFTR/FIRT meeting in St. Petersburg.

Within the larger theme of the conference, our sessions will focus upon fundamental questions regarding the interaction between the director and the designer and its effects on theatre space and performance.  We wish to explore the following issues:  What is the nature of collaboration between designer and director?  How do design teams implement directorial concepts?  How are issues of mise-en-scène addressed by the designer?  Prior to the advent of the director, who held this role and how did this affect the design production process?

Papers on these issues and related topics may be proposed within the following areas:  history of scenography in performing arts; scenographic theory and practice; costume design; lighting and sound design; design for dance and multimedia performance; mask, puppet, and object theatre; contemporary live art and visual theatre companies.

Click here for more details, including submission deadlines and contact information.

Theatre Arts Journal: Studies in Scenography and Performance

Published by the Gordon Craig Society for Theatre Research and Tel-Aviv University, is a semi-annual scholarly peer-reviewed journal, devoted to exploring current issues in scenography in performing arts. The journal encourages original scholarly research that examines the visual and audial aspects of performance – stage, costume, lighting and sound design, theatre architecture, masks, puppets, and movement as a sensorial element -- and their contribution to the construction of meaning.

Click here for the Call for Papers and more information

General Information

"The Machinery" a modern print by Jane Lydbury

American Society for Theatre Research Theatre Library Association International Federation for Theatre Research Society for Theatre Research (UK) Association for Theatre in Higher Education Theatre Symposium (a publication of the SETC) SIBMAS (International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts) SIBMAS International Directory of Performing Arts Collections and Institutions "The directory lists approximately 7000 international institutions with holdings related to the performing arts." THEATRON (Theatre History in Europe: Architectural and Textual Resources Online)   U. of Warwick, UK The Centre for Performance Research (University of Aberystwyth) Wading on the Web (USITT's monthly guide to Theatre sites) Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute (Ohio State) Templeman Library Theatre Collections (University of Kent at Canterbury) The Billy Rose Theatre Collection (New York Public Library) Ransom Center: Collections: Performing Arts (U. of Texas - a major collection) The Shubert Archive University of Bristol Theatre Collection (Including the Old Vic Archives) The Raymond Mander & Joe Mitchenson Theatre Collection Performance in History " . . . a web site consisting of many linked modules on performance through history and across cultures. It is being created, maintained, and updated by scholars from across the globe." History of Performance Studies Papers by graduate students in the Communication Studies Department of the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas A digital bibliography for Brockett's History of the Theatre WWW-Virtual Library of Theatre and Drama 18th Century Resources (some theatre information) Costume History Theatre History On-line (Course outline and resources) Theatre History and Computing Theatre Perspectives International Luminarium (Medieval, Renaissance & 17 Century Literature) Theatre Museum (London) Thalia Germanica (German Language Theatre Resources) Notes on Italian Theatre History Slovak Theatre History Slovenian Theatre Links links compiled by Rok Volfand on Slovenian theatre Estonian Theatre (1870-1940) The Moscow Art Theatre German Political theatre (life and work of director Erwin Piscator) In German Commedia dell' Arte Kompani Komedi (Sweden's only Commedia dell´Arte-group) This Month in Theatre History ASTR Evaluation of Internet Resources Used in Teaching and Research

Classical Theatre Web Sites

In 1987 and 1989, I had the good fortune to tour theatres in Greece, Turkey and Italy as part of groups led by Clifford Ashby (above right). Among the many theatres we visited was the early Greek Theatre at Thorikos (above left). Dr. Ashby has recently published Classical Greek Theatre: New Views of an Old Subject.

Dr. Ashby organized a tour of Greece and Turkey for the summer of 1999 which visited many of the sites mentioned in the book. The tour dates were June 10 to July 4. I have set up a web site with a copy of the itinerary and links to lots of relevant information. I will add pictures from the trip as soon as I get a chance. I also have created a Greece/Turkey section on my Travel Page with lots of travel tips, many suggested by participants on the tour. You can contact Dr. Ashby directly with specific questions about the trip.  

Here is a photo of the entire group (except for Patrick Donnelly who was only with us for the first week) at Pergamon. Top row: Jonathan Marks, Jerry Bangham, Peter Coulson, Phil Hill, Elisabeth Hostetter, Frank Hildy, Daniel Watermeier, Felicia Londré, Clifford Ashby. Bottom row: Rachel Greene, Julie Mitchell, Nina Da Vinci Nichols, Pattie Lusk, Elizabeth Vandiver, Sylvia Ashby, Bill Orth.

• Classical Theatre Sites (Click on the dots on the map to visit 30 theatre sites - usually with a plan and a picture)
• The History of Greek Theatre site
• Recreating the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens
• Pergamon: The Theatre Site (Computer modeling project)
• The Ancient Greek Theatre CD ROM (University of Pennsylvania)
• Didaskalia Home page (The Classic Theatre in the Modern age)
• Greek Theatre Museum
• The Ancient City of Athens
• Internet Classics Archive
• Perseus Database
• Classics and Mediterranean Archaeology Home Page (Very extensive links)
• Classics at Oxford
• The University of Oxford (Beazley Archive)
• Greece - General Information
• The American School of Classical Studies at Athens
• Ohio State's dig at Isthmia (very little information about the theatre)
• Australian National Museum (extensive assortment of pictures of Classic theatres)
• Rivendell's Greek Drama Page
• The Corinth Computer Project
• Euripides Links
• Bill Thayer's Roman Theatres page (part of a site on the Romans with links to over 1,500 other Roman-related sites)
• ColosseumWeb (Tour the Colosseum in virtual reality - a high speed connection is recommended)

Medieval Theatre

The Snapdragon, Norwich Castle

• MRDS - Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society
• Medieval Drama Links
• Records of Early English Drama (REED)
• The York Doomsday Gateway page
• The York PSim (Pageant Simulator) a teaching aid and research tool, is computer software that models the motion of pageant wagons during a simulated York Corpus Christi Pageant
• The University of California at Irvine production of The Castle of Perseverance
• WWW Resources for Theatre History and Early Music
• Medieval Web sites
• NetSERF: Medieval Drama
• Medieval English Drama - Modernized Performance Texts

Elizabethan Theatre

Photo by Diane Daugherty

I've been visiting the Globe site since it was a vacant lot. In the summer of 1998, I was pleased to have the opportunity to see five shows there. This picture shows me in the Globe, along with IFTR ex-President Josette Féral and other IFTR members, listening to Frank Hildy explain that the Pit still lacked the coating of Thames mud and hazelnut shells that should be in place for this season.

Later English Theatre (Including the former Empire)

Hogarth's The Beggar's Opera at the Tate

The Illusionistic Stage

• A great site created by my Ohio State classmate Frank Mohler with animations of Renaissance machinery
• The Development of Scenic Spectacle
• Drottningholm Court Theatre
  • Details about a publication about the machinery (in Swedish)
  • The Drottningholm Theatre Museum
• The Castle Theatre of Ceský Krumlov
• Teatro Olympico, Vicenza (in Italian)
  • Teatro Olympico, Vicenza (brief, but in English)
• Teatro Olympico, Sabbioneta
• Teatro Comunale of Florence
• The Medici Theatre in the Galleria degli Uffizi (text only)
• Thomas Pallen's pictures of models of Medici Theatres
• La Fenice Official Home page
• La Fenice (English text)
• La Scala Home page
• Naples - Teatro San Carlo
• Parma Theatres
• Teatro Ventidio Basso - Ascoli Piceno
• Rome - Burcardo Library and Theatre Collection
• Teatru Manoel  300 years of theatre in Malta
• Parisian " Fin de règne" drama. Included [in French] are a chronological index of performances in Paris from1673 to1715 (information on all shows --- spoken drama, opera, Italian comedy and fairground theater --- and, for many of them, plot summaries and commentary) , an alphabetical index of all comedies first performed from 1673 to 1715
• The Paris Opera (The Salle Garnier of Phantom fame)
• Renaissance and Baroque Architecture: Architectural History 102 (General background)
• Carthalia An interesting collection of theatre illustrations on postcards

American Theatre

Other Theatre Links

You may find other useful links on my Theatre Page.

This page will always be under construction. Please suggest any good sites that I have missed.

Page last revised 6 October 2003.