Sign-In
Cart
The Theatre Three Thousand Years
Hardcover
Literary CriticismTheater History
ISBN13: 9781026032718
Publisher: Tradd Street Press
Published: Feb 14 2026
Pages: 674
Weight: 2.45
Height: 1.44 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
The Theatre Three Thousand Years is a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the evolution of the dramatic arts, written by the influential art and theatre critic Sheldon Cheney. This sweeping narrative traces the development of performance from its ritualistic origins in ancient civilizations through the grandeur of Greek and Roman stages, the mystery plays of the Middle Ages, and the artistic heights of the Renaissance. Cheney meticulously examines the changing nature of the stage, the role of the actor, and the structural shifts in playwriting across several millennia.
The work offers a deep exploration of how theatre has both reflected and shaped human culture, documenting the rise of various movements and the impact of visionary practitioners. By examining the physical theatre buildings alongside the literary and performative aspects of the craft, the author provides a holistic view of the medium's progress. The Theatre Three Thousand Years serves as an essential resource for students of drama, historians, and anyone fascinated by the enduring power of live performance. It remains a foundational text for understanding the historical context and artistic milestones that have defined the theatrical world from antiquity to the early 20th century.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Cheney, Sheldon
Conversations With Sheldon Cheney: Oral History Transcript / and Related Material, 1974-1977
Cheney, Sheldon
Paperback
Conversations With Sheldon Cheney: Oral History Transcript / and Related Material, 1974-1977
Cheney, Sheldon
Hardcover
Also in
Theater History
History Hiding Around Broadway: Backstage Lore, Secrets & Surprises from New York's Famed Theater District
Dvornik, Teale
Hardcover
The Dream Factory: London's First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare
Swift, Daniel
Hardcover
Shakespeare's Margaret: The Dramatic Life of a Warrior Queen
O'Malley, Charles
Stern, Scott W.
Hardcover
Houdini's Library: Inside the Spellbinding Collections of the Great Illusionist
Colleary, Eric
Hardcover
The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition
Landau, Tina
Bogart, Anne
Paperback
Champions for the Arts: Lessons and Successful Strategies for Engaging Diverse Audiences
Walker-Kuhne, Donna
Paperback
Shakespeare's World: Seeing the Plays Through Elizabethan Eyes
Goodheart, Rebecca
Krausnick, Dennis
Lubarr, Josh
Paperback
Staging Blackface in Canada: Public Amusements, Variety Shows, and Racial Acts in an Age of Imitation, 1898-1919
Thompson, Cheryl
Paperback
Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George
Lapine, James
Paperback
Currencies of Cruelty: Slavery, Freak Shows, and the Performance Archive
Bainbridge, Danielle
Paperback
The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War
Shapiro, James
Hardcover
Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Gefter, Philip
Paperback
The Bird Cage Theater: The Curtain Rises on Tombstone, Arizona's National Treasure
Mihaljevich, Michael Paul
Hardcover
Free for All: Joe Papp, the Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Every Told
Turan, Kenneth
Papp, Joseph
Paperback
Playhouse to Powerhouse: Locating Black Power Women and their Movement in the Black Theatre
Goldmann, Kerry
Paperback
Playing to the Gods: Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, and the Rivalry That Changed Acting Forever
Rader, Peter
Paperback
Undesirability and Her Sisters: Black Women's Visual Work and the Ethics of Representation
Barber, Tiffany E.
Paperback
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Nineteenth-Century America: Discourse and Criticism
Rowland, Herbert
Hardcover
Playhouse to Powerhouse: Locating Black Power Women and their Movement in the Black Theatre
Goldmann, Kerry
Hardcover
Theatre/Theory/Theatre: The Major Critical Texts from Aristotle and Zeami to Soyinka and Havel
Gerould, Daniel
Paperback
Kissing the Mask: Beauty, Understatement and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater
Vollmann, William T.
Paperback
Mediatic Shakespeare: The Dynamics of Orality, Script and Print in the Plays and Poems
Cavell, Richard
Hardcover
Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Gefter, Philip
Hardcover
Collaboration in Theatre: A Practical Guide for Designers and Directors
Roznowski, Rob
Domer, K.
Paperback
Something Wonderful Right Away: The Birth of Second City--America's Greatest Comedy Theater
Sweet, Jeffrey
Paperback
Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project's Process of Devising Theater
Kaufman, Moises
Pitts McAdams, Barbara
Paperback
Making Pagans: Theatrical Practice and Comparative Religion in Early Modern England
Kuhn, John
Hardcover
Chasing the Sun: Staging Black Life and Belonging in California's Bay Area
Thompson, Wendy M.
Paperback
Listening for America: Inside the Great American Songbook from Gershwin to Sondheim
Kapilow, Rob
Hardcover
The Second City: The Essentially Accurate History
Kozak, Liz
City, The Second
Patinkin, Sheldon
Hardcover
Les Misérables: The Story So Far of the World's Longest Running Musical
Wolf, Matt
Palmer, Martyn
Nightingale, Benedict
Hardcover
Artistic Collaboration, Exile, and Brecht: A New Intellectual History, 1900-1950
Hollander, Katherine
Hardcover
The Untold Stories of Broadway: Tales from the World's Most Famous Theaters
Tepper, Jennifer Ashley
Paperback
The Long Revolution: Sixty Years on the Frontlines of a New American Theater
Fichandler, Zelda
Paperback
Japanese No Masks: With 300 Illustrations of Authentic Historical Examples
Perzynski, Friedrich
Paperback
Sistren Theatre Collective and the Politics of Space in Jamaica: Woman Talawa
Smith, Karina
Hardcover
Harold Pinter, Fascism, and Outrage: Aesthetic and Moral Implications
Russell, Dennis Eugene
Hardcover
Currencies of Cruelty: Slavery, Freak Shows, and the Performance Archive
Bainbridge, Danielle
Hardcover
A Revolution in Three Acts: The Radical Vaudeville of Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, and Julian Eltinge
Hajdu, David
Carey, John
Paperback
Waltzing in the Dark: African American Vaudeville and Race Politics in the Swing Era
Na, Na
Paperback
A History of Leadville Theater: Opera Houses, Variety Acts and Burlesque Shows
Scanlon, Gretchen
Hardcover
New York Theatre Walks: Seven Historical Tours from Times Square to Greenwich Village and Beyond
Kissel, Howard
Paperback
Beyond the Sewol: Activist Theatre and Performance in South Korea and the Diaspora
Jeong, Areum
Paperback
The Dream Factory: London's First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare
Swift, Daniel
Paperback
The Stage of Her Life: Conversations with Actress Lea Koenig on Theater and Her Life
Goldberg, Yaniv Shimon
Paperback
100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theater
Ruhl, Sarah
Paperback
¡A Teatro Camaradas!: Dramaturgia militante y política de masas en Colombia (1965-1975)
Parra Salazar, Mayra Natalia
Paperback
Shakespeare's Compassion: Emotion and the Classics on the Early Modern Stage
Refskou, Anne Sophie
Hardcover
Pioneering Theatre-in-the-Round: The Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, 1962-1986
Walker, Rachel
Hardcover
An Actor's Tale: Theater, Culture, and Everyday Life in the Nineteenth-Century United States
Hughes, Amy E.
Paperback
Theatre Work: Reimagining the Labor of Theatrical Production
Clements Cotton, Brídín
Robin, Natalie
Paperback
F*ck the Army!: How Soldiers and Civilians Staged the GI Movement to End the Vietnam War
Goss, Lindsay
Paperback
New Directions in Tarot: Decoding the Tarot Illustrations of Pamela Colman Smith
Martin, Scott
Hardcover
Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth-Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts
Horowitz, Joseph
Paperback
Theatergeschichte Osterreichs / Theatergeschichte Vorarlbergs. Von Den Anfangen Bis Zum Beginn Des 20. Jahrhunderts
Fuhrich, Fritz
Paperback
Up Your Ass: Or from the Cradle to the Boat or the Big Suck or Up from the Slime
Solanas, Valerie
Paperback