Theater

A Broadway production of "1984" is so graphic, it has audience members fainting and vomiting.

A Broadway Production of ‘1984’ Is Making Audiences Faint and Vomit

Blood spatter, electrocution and strobe lights are all part of the experience

Aphra Behn made a name for herself in Restoration-era England, writing bawdy plays that were wildly popular.

The Spy Who Became England’s First Successful Female Writer

Aphra Behn made a name for herself in Restoration-era England, when most women still relied on their husbands

Edith Wharton circa 1900. Her play "The Shadow of a Doubt" didn't make it to the stage in 1901—but has finally been rediscovered by scholars.

Scholars Rediscover Forgotten Edith Wharton Play

“The Shadow of a Doubt” had been overshadowed by over 100 years of history

Wanted: modern takes on a classic group of plays.

Battle the Bard in Shakespeare Remix Competition

$25,000 is on the line—along with some serious bragging rights

Comedy in Ancient Rome could be a matter of life and death.

When Actors Mixed Politics and Comedy in Ancient Rome

Laughter was one way to challenge authority, but it could also mean risking your life

Marcel Marceau in 1955

The Mime Who Saved Kids From the Holocaust

Marcel Marceau is history’s most famous mime, but before that, he was a member of the French Resistance

These early Jim Henson puppets (you might recognize the frog on the right) appeared in a local Washington, D.C. television show “Sam and Friends” that ran from 1955 to 1961. Headed by Kermit, Henson’s muppets went on to wider fame.

Why Puppets (and Puppeteers) Are Still Important

Puppets aren't just children's toys, as this look into the Smithsonian's collection shows

A portrait of Dan Rice circa 1840.

This Famous American Clown Was (Probably) a Model for Uncle Sam

Dan Rice was the John Oliver of the mid-nineteenth century

Some of the performers are circus-trained, adding authenticity to the aerial acrobatics displayed.

“Call Me Ishmael” Is the Only Melville Tradition in This Innovative Presentation of “Moby Dick”

Visceral, kinesthetic, cinematic, aural and psychological, Arena Stage’s new show about the 19th-century novel is a 21st-century experience

Abraham Ortelius created the world's first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, or "Theater of the World," in 1570. Shakespeare, who famously wrote that "all the world's a stage," was doubtless influenced by the maps that flourished during his lifetime.

How Maps Shaped Shakespeare

An exhibition in Boston delves into historical maps to show how the Bard saw the wider world

What Pilgrims Heard When They Arrived in America

They came to America seeking religious freedom, but what did their prayers, and those of the local Native Americans, sound like?

An archaeologist studies remains of the Curtain theater's foundations.

Shakespeare May Have Tailored "Henry V" for a Specific Theater

Archaeological digs at the Curtain theater suggest it looked very different from the Bard’s usual venues

Marina Abramović, The Artist is Present, Performance, 3 months, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 2010

What to Make of Marina Abramović, the Godmother of Performance Art

Is her body of work art, magic, theater or masochism?

Students from Denison High School in Denison, TX perform The Addams Family.

These Were the Most-Performed High School Musicals of 2015/2016

Creepy, kooky and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Researcher Unearths a Trove of New Shakespeare Documents

Archival papers show the Bard was interested in improving his social status

King Lear was deemed too dark for its 17th century audiences.

Is There Such a Thing as a “Bad” Shakespeare Play?

More than four hundred years after the Bard’s death, the quality of his works is still a fluid scale

Illustration from Merchant of Venice

Four Hundred Years Later, Scholars Still Debate Whether Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” Is Anti-Semitic

Deconstructing what makes the Bard’s play so problematic

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2016

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, our top picks this year are all towns close to America’s natural splendors

The three volumes of the newly-discovered copy of Shakespeare's First Folio.

A New Copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio Was Found in a Scottish Library

Only a few hundred copies still survive

Three Things to Know About Judi Dench's Theater Career

The acclaimed actor's career spans decades

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