Introduction: the theater of many times and places -- Greek theatre -- Roman theatre, 240 BCE/550 CE -- Early theatre of Asia, 200 BCE/1800 CE -- The European Middle Ages -- The Italian Renaissance -- The golden ages of England and Spain -- Neoclassicism: triumph and decline in France and England -- Melodrama and the rise of commercialism, 1750/1900 -- Romanticism and realism, 1750/1900 -- Theatre in Africa -- Reactions to commercialism and realism, 1900/1950 -- Musical theatre -- Eclecticism: US theatre from 1950 -- European theatre after 1950 -- Theatre in Asia from 1800 -- Globalization of theatre.