[[de:Spiele]][[eo:Teatro]][[nl:Kleinkunst]] '''Theater''' is that branch of the [[performing arts]] concerned with acting out stories using combinations of speech, gesture, music, sound and spectacle - indeed any one or more elements of the other performing arts. Theater takes such forms as [[opera]], [[ballet]], [[mime]], [[pantomime]]. "[[Drama]]" is that branch of theater in which speech, from written text ([[Theatre/play|plays]] or "[[dramatic literature]]") or improvised, is paramount. [[Theatre Techniques]] 20th Century American Theater: : [[Eugene O'Neill|Eugene O'Neill]] : [[Arthur Miller]] : [[David Mamet]] : [[Edward Albee]] : [[Neil Simon]] : [[George S Kaufmann]] : [[Tennessee Williams]] : [[Thorton Wilder]] : [[Lorraine Hansberry]] 20th Century British Theatre: : [[Alan Ayckbourn]] : [[John Galsworthy]] : [[John Osborne]] : [[Harold Pinter]] : [[J.B. Priestley]] : [[Tom Stoppard]] : [[Peter Barnes]] Most of the above styles have been performed in [[Repertory]] 20th Century German Language Theater Authors: : [[Heiner Mueller]] : [[Bertolt Brecht]] : [[Thomas Bernhardt]] : [[Elfriede Jelinek]] : [[Friederich Durrenmatt]] : [[Wolfgang Hildesheimer]] 20th Century German Language Theater Directors: : [[Fritz Kortner]] : [[Peter Stein]] : [[Peter Zadek]] : [[Frank Castorf]] : [[August Everding]] : [[Max Reinhardt]] 20th Century Irish Theatre : [[George Bernard Shaw]] : [[Samuel Beckett]] Other 20th Century English-language playwrights: : [[Athol Fugard]] This gives a brief outline of some of the better-known playwrights; but theater does not operate on playwrights alone. Plays are often produced by a [[production team]]: various technical, support, and design staff. Among these are the [[scenic designer]], the [[lighting designer]], the [[costume designer]], the [[Theatre/director|director]], the [[dramaturg]] and the [[stage manager]]. This is not an all inclusive list, and may include other personnel from the world of [[technical theatre]]. See also: [[dramatist]], [[history of theater]], [[improvisational theater]], [[radio and television drama]], [[cinematic drama]] ---- '''Theatre''' is also the building in which works and plays are performed. Some of these buildings are masterpieces of [[architecture]]. Others, as for those mainly known for [[opera]], became cultural references and symbols. The original [[Greek theatre]] was semicircular in form and was normally built on a hillside, often overlooking the sea. Such theatres were constructed with faultless acoustics, so that a player standing centre stage could be clearly heard throughout the auditorium. The [[Roman]]s copied this style of building, but tended not to be so concerned about the location, being prepared to build walls and terraces instead of looking for a naturally-occurring site. During the [[Elizabethan era]] in [[England]], theatres were constructed of wood and were circular in form, like the [[Globe Theatre]] in [[London]], home to [[William Shakespeare]]'s troupe of actors. The Globe has now been rebuilt as a fully working and producing theatre near its original site (largely thanks to the efforts of film director [[Sam Wanamaker]]) to give modern audiences an idea of the environment for which Shakespeare and other playwrights of the period were writing.