1. The Origins of Theatre.
The Theory of Ritual Origin.
Performance Elements and Functions.
Other Theories of Origin.
Ancient Egypt and the Near East.

2. Theatre and Drama in Ancient Greece.
The Origin of Tragedy.
The City Dionysia in the Sixth Century.
Tragedy in the Fifth Century.
The Satyr Play.
Greek Comedy in the Fifth Century.
The Dramatic Festivals of the Fifth Century.
Play Selection and Financing.
Actors and Acting.
The Chorus.
Music and Dance.
Costumes and Masks.
Theatre Architecture.
Auditorium and Audience.
Greek Drama After the Fifth Century.
The Athenian Theatre in the Fourth Century.
The Hellenistic Theatre.
Greek Mimes.

3. Roman and Byzantine Theatre and Drama.
Etruscan Antecedents.
The Roman Context.
Roman Festivals.
Drama Under the Romans.
Other Entertainments.
Production Arrangements.
The Roman Theatre Structure.
Other Structures for Entertainments.
Scenery.
Actors and Acting.
Masks and Costumes.
Music.
The Decline of the Theatre in Rome.
Theatre in the Eastern Empire.
The Byzantine Theatre.
The Rise of Islam.

4. European Theatre and Drama in the Middle Ages.
The Theatre, 500 and 900 A.D.
The Liturgical Drama.
The Staging of Liturgical Drama.
The Feast of Fools.
The Late Middle Ages.
Performances Outside the Church.
The Vernacular Religious Drama.
Production Arrangements.
The Director.
Actors and Acting.
Costumes.
The Stages.
Scenery.
Special Effects and Machinery.
Music.
Audiences and Auditoriums.
Secular Dramatic Forms.
Farce.
The Morality Play.
Chambers of Rhetoric.
Interludes.
Tournaments, Mummings, and Disguisings.
Royal Entries and Street Pageants.
The End of Medieval Drama.

5. Italian Theatre and Drama, 1400-1700.
Renaissance Drama.
Beginnings of the Baroque Era.
The Neoclassical Ideal.
Intermezzi and Opera.
The Development of New Scenic Practices.
Development of Theatre Architecture.
Machinery and Special Effects.
Music and Dance.
The Festival Context.
Stage Lighting.
Commedia dell'Arte.
The Decline of Italy.

6. English Theatre from the Middle Ages to 1642.
Early Tudor Drama.
The University Wits.
Shakespeare and His Contemporaries.
Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists.
Government Regulation of the Theatre.
Acting Troupes.
The Public Theatres.
The Private Theatres.
Scenery, Properties, Special Effects, and Music.
Costumes.
Audiences.
The Stuart Court Masques.

7. The Spanish Theatre to 1700.
The Religious Drama.
The Beginnings of a Secular Drama.
The Early Professional Theatre in Spain.
Lope de Vega and His Contemporaries.
Calderón and His Contemporaries.
The Corrales.
Acting Companies.
Actors and Acting.
Costumes.
The Stage and Scenery.
Court Entertainments.

8. The Theatre in France, 1500-1700.
Theatre at Court and in the Schools Prior to 1600.
The Public Theatre in Paris Before 1595.
The Public Theatre, 1595-1629.
The Triumph of the Neoclassical Ideal.
Acting Companies, 1629-1660.
The Public Theatres, 1629-1660.
Scenic Practices in the Public Theaters, 1629-1660.
The Triumph of the Italian Ideal in Scenery, 1640-1660.
The Naturalization of the Italian Ideal, 1660-1700.
French Drama, 1660-1700.
Acting Companies, 1660-1700.
The Organization of French Acting Companies.
Theatre Architecture and Scenic Practices, 1660-1700.
The Close of the Seventeenth Century.

9. The British Theatre, 1642-1800.
Theatrical Activity, 1642-1660.
The Reestablishment of the Theatre.
Acting Companies, 1660-1700.
English Drama, 1660-1700.
English Drama, 1700-1750.
Governmental Regulation of the Theatre.
English Drama, 1750-1800.
The Playwright.
Financial Policies.
Theatre Architecture.
Scenic Practices.
Costume Practices.
Actors and Acting, 1660-1800.
Audiences and Performances.
The Provincial Theatre.
Theatre of Colonial North America.

10. Italy and France in the Eighteenth Century.
The Evolution of Italian Scenic Design.
Italian Drama of the Eighteenth Century.
French Drama of the Eighteenth Century.
Parisian Acting Troupes.
The Dramatist.
Actors and Acting.
Theatre Architecture.
Scenic Practices.
Costume Practices.

11. Theatre in Northern and Eastern Europe during the Eighteenth Century.
The Court Theatres of Germany.
The Jesuit Theatre.
The Early Public Theatre in Germany.
The Reforms of Gottsched and Neuber.
Acting Troupes, 1740-1770.
German Drama, 1740-1787.
The Establishment of National Theatres, 1770-1800.
Evolution of Staging in the Eighteenth Century.
F.L. Schröder.
Iffland and Kotzebue.
Goethe, Schiller, and Weimar Classicism.
Theatre and Drama in Other Countries of Northern Europe.
Theatre in Russia to 1800.

12. Theatre in Europe and the United States during the Early Nineteenth Century.
Theoretical Foundations of Romanticism.
Romantic Drama in Germany.
Postromantic German-Language Drama.
Theatrical Conditions in German-Language Theatres.
The French Theatre, 1789-1815.
French Drama, 1800-1850.
Theatrical Conditions in France, 1800-1850.
Directing and Acting in France, 1800-1850.
Scenery, Costume, and Lighting in France, 1800-1850.
Russian Drama and Theatre, 1800-1850.
Trends in English Theatre, 1800-1843.
English Drama, 1800-1850.
English Theatrical Conditions, 1800-1843.
Macready and Vestris.
Theatre in North America, 1782-1815.
The Expanding American Theatre, 1815-1850.

13. Theatre and Drama in Europe and the United States during the Late Nineteenth Century.
The Beginnings of Realism.
French Drama, 1850-1900.
Theatrical Conditions in France, 1850-1900.
English Drama, 1850-1900.
English Theatrical Conditions, 1843-1860.
English Theatrical Conditions, 1860-1880.
English Theatrical Conditions, 1880-1900.
Theatre in the United States, 1850-1870.
Theatre in the United States, 1870-1895.
The Theatre in Italy and Spain, 1850-1900.
Russian Theatre and Drama, 1850-1900.
German and Austrian Theatre, 1850-1900.

14. The Beginnings of the Modern Theatre, 1875-1915.
Wagner and Saxe-Meiningen.
Ibsen.
Zola and the French Naturalists.
Antoine and the Théâtre Libre.
The Freie Bühne and German Realism.
The Independent Theatre and Realism in England.
The Continuing Tradition in England, 1900-1914.
The Moscow Art Theatre and Realism in Russia.
Nonrealism in France.
Appia and Craig.
Strindberg and Freud.
Nonrealistic Theatre and Drama in Germany.
Nonrealistic Theatre in England.
The Irish Renaissance.
Russian Modernism.
The Revival of Idealism in France.
The Theatre in Italy and Spain, 1875-1915.
Theatre in the United States, 1895-1915.
Major Technical Innovations, 1875-1915.

15. The Theatre in Europe and the United States between the Wars.
German Theatre and Drama, 1915-1940.
Theatre and Drama in France, 1915-1940.
Italian Theatre and Drama, 1915-1940.
Theatre and Drama in Spain, 1915-1940.
Theatre and Drama in Soviet Union, 1917-1940.
English Theatre and Drama, 1915-1940.
Theatre and Drama in the United States, 1915-1940.

16. Theatre in Europe and the United States, 1940-1968.
French Theatre and Drama, 1940-1968.
German-Language Theatre and Drama, 1940-1968.
Theatre and Drama in the United States, 1940-1968.
English Theatre and Drama, 1940-1968.
Theatre and Drama in Italy, 1940-1968.
Soviet Theatre and Drama, 1940-1968.
Theatre and Drama in Czechoslovakia, 1940-1968.
International Developments.

17. Theatre and Drama after 1968.
Theatre and Drama in Italy after 1968.
Soviet and Russian Theatre after 1968.
Theatre in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
German Theatre and Drama after 1968.
Theatre in France after 1968.
British Theatre after 1968.
Theatre in the United States after 1968.
Postscript.

18. The Theatre of Asia.
India.
Sanskrit Drama.
Sanskrit Performance.
Modern India.
China.
The Development of Chinese Literary Drama.
Beijing Opera.
Twentieth Century Developments in Chinese Theatre.
Japan.
Noh Theatre.
Bunraku.
Kabuki.
Modern Japanese Theatre and Drama.
Other Asian Countries.

19. The Theatre of Africa.
Some Basic Issues and Problems.
Nigeria.
Ghana.
Sierra Leone.
Kenya.
Uganda.
Tanzania.
Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.
Mozambique Guinea-Bissau, San Tomé and Principe, and Cape Verde.
Senegal.
The Ivory Coast.
Mali and Cameroon.
The Congo Popular Republic and Congo (Zaire).
South Africa.
North Africa.

Appendix.
The Nature and Scope of Theatre History.
Topics and Evidence.
Evaluation and Use of Evidence.
Communicating the Results of Historical Research.

Bibliography.

Index.