Genre

Drama

Dramatic Genres

The specific mode of fiction represented in performance, a play staged before an audience by actors on a theatre stage rather than narrated on the page. Western drama originates in classical Greece, where the theatrical culture of Athens formally staged competitions in three genres, tragedy, comedy and the satyr play, as part of the festivals honoring Dionysus. The dramatic mode has been distinguished from the epic and lyric modes since Aristotle's Poetics: a drama's words arise from the underlying structure of incident and character enacted before an audience, rather than standing as a composition in the verbal medium alone.

Facts
Place of Origin
Classical Greece, where Western drama originates; the theatrical culture of Athens produced tragedy, comedy and the satyr play, institutionalised in competitions from the 5th century BC honoring Dionysus. 1
Notable Example
Aeschylus's The Persians (472 BCE), the oldest surviving drama, staged at the City Dionysia competition in Athens. 1
Defining Trait
Enacted in performance by actors before an audience rather than narrated on the page; Aristotle's Poetics distinguishes drama from the epic and lyric modes on exactly this ground. 1
Defining Trait
Performance Tradition 1
Drama
Filter Results6 entries
FAQs

What is the oldest surviving drama?

The Persians by Aeschylus, which won first prize at the City Dionysia in 472 BC.

Aeschylus's historical tragedy The Persians is the oldest surviving drama. It won first prize at the City Dionysia competition in Athens in 472 BC, although by then Aeschylus had already been writing plays for more than 25 years, so it is the oldest play that survives rather than the first ever written.
Connections

Associated With

Comedy, Genres

Comedy is one of classical Athenian drama's three formally competed genres; Drama is the broader category this atlas's genre vocabulary previously lacked.

Source Drama (Wikipedia)
Tragedy, Genres

Tragedy is one of classical Athenian drama's three formally competed genres.

Source Drama (Wikipedia)
Tragicomedy, Genres

Tragicomedy blends tragedy and comedy, the two other classical dramatic subgenres, and is itself staged drama.

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Dominant In Movements

Source Theatre of the Absurd (Wikipedia)

Encompasses Form

Ankia Naat, Genres
Bhagavata Mela, Genres
Bhavai, Genres
Bunraku, Genres
Closet Drama, Genres
History Play, Genres
Jatra, Genres
Kabuki, Genres
Kathakali, Genres
Koothu, Genres
Krishnanattam, Genres
Melodrama, Genres
Morality Play, Genres
Mystery Play, Genres
Nautanki, Genres
Noh, Genres
Ottan Thullal, Genres
Pansori, Genres
Peking Opera, Genres
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Ramlila, Genres
Sanskrit Drama, Genres
Tamasha, Genres
Source Play (theatre) (Wikipedia)
Yakshagana, Genres
Zaju, Genres

Features Author

A Doll's House, Works
Source A Doll's House (Wikipedia)
A. A. Milne, Authors
Source Wikipedia: A. A. Milne
Source Wikipedia: Shakuntala (play)
Source Adam de la Halle (Wikipedia)
Source Adam Mickiewicz (Wikipedia)
Aeschylus, Authors
Source Aeschylus (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Alessandro Manzoni
Source Wikipedia: Alexander Pushkin
Source Wikipedia: Alexandre Dumas
Alfred Jarry, Authors
Source Alfred Jarry (Wikipedia)
Anthony Hope, Authors
Source Wikipedia: Anthony Hope
Antigone, Works
Source Wikipedia: Antigone (Sophocles play)
Anton Chekhov, Authors
Source Wikipedia: Anton Chekhov
Aristophanes, Authors
Source Wikipedia: Aristophanes
Arthur Miller, Authors
Source Wikipedia: Arthur Miller
Source Arthur Schnitzler (Wikipedia)
Source Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (Wikipedia)
Source Bertolt Brecht (Wikipedia)
Source Brigitte Fontaine (Wikipedia)
Source Chatursen Shastri (Wikipedia)
Source Christopher Marlowe (Wikipedia)
Source Cyrano de Bergerac (play, Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Dorothy L. Sayers
Source Edmond Rostand (Wikipedia)
Émile Zola, Authors
Source Wikipedia: Émile Zola
Source Wikipedia: Eugène Ionesco
Source Eugene O'Neill (Wikipedia)
Euripides, Authors
Source Euripides (Wikipedia)
Everyman, Works
Source Everyman (Wikipedia)
Faust, Works
Source Goethe's Faust (Wikipedia)
Source Federico Garcia Lorca (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Ferenc Molnár
Source Friedrich Schiller (Wikipedia)
Fuenteovejuna, Works
Source Wikipedia: Fuenteovejuna
Source Wikipedia: Georg Büchner
Source Gerhart Hauptmann - Biographical (NobelPrize.org)
Guan Hanqing, Authors
Source Guan Hanqing (Wikipedia)
Günter Grass, Authors
Source Wikipedia: Günter Grass
Source Wikipedia: Halldór Laxness
Source Wikipedia: Hans Christian Andersen
Source Heinrich von Kleist (Wikipedia)
Henrik Ibsen, Authors

Drama carried zero live author edges before this lane.

Source Wikipedia: Henrik Ibsen
Source Honore de Balzac (Wikipedia)
Source Horacio Quiroga (Wikipedia)
J. M. Barrie, Authors
Source J. M. Barrie (Wikipedia)
James Baldwin, Authors
Source Wikipedia: James Baldwin

No Exit is already filed under the genre Drama; this link connects the author himself.

Source Wikipedia: Jean-Paul Sartre
Source Jerome K. Jerome (Wikipedia)
John Lyly, Authors
Source Wikipedia: John Lyly

Showing 1 to 50 of 107 in Features Author, page 1 of 3.

Subgenres

Khon, Genres
Source Khon (Wikipedia)
Morality Play, Genres
Source Morality Play (Wikipedia)
Noh, Genres
Source Noh (Wikipedia)
Problem Play, Genres
Source Problem play - Wikipedia
Tragedy, Genres
Source Tragedy (Wikipedia)
Source Verse drama and dramatic verse, Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases

Originated In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Source Drama (Wikipedia)tier 2
Sources
1. Drama (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)
  • lead section
    the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.
  • Notes section, on Aristotle's Poetics
    the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's Poetics
  • Classical Greek drama section
    Aeschylus' historical tragedy The Persians is the oldest surviving drama, although when it won first prize at the City Dionysia competition in 472 BC, he had been writing plays for more than 25 years.
  • History of Western drama section
    Western drama originates in classical Greece. The theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Their origins remain obscure, though by the 5th century BC, they were institutionalised in competitions held as part of festivities celebrating the god Dionysus.
  • Lead paragraph, defining sentence
    Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.
  • Associated With: Comedy, Historical origins section
    The theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play.
  • Associated With: Tragedy, Historical origins section
    The theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play.
  • In Group: Broad Dramatic Modes and Popular Stage Forms, Lead
    Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.
View the Source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
  • Associated With: Tragicomedy, s.v. Tragicomedy, opening definition
    wants deaths, which is enough to make it no tragedy, yet brings some neere it, which is enough to make it no comedie
  • Encompasses Form: Qu (Chinese Verse Drama Form)
View the Source
No Exit (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: No Exit, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: No Exit, Lead section
No Exit (French: Huis clos) is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Henrik Ibsen
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Henrik Ibsen, Lead section (father of modern drama claim)
Quote, Features Author: Henrik Ibsen, Lead section (father of modern drama claim)
He is considered one of the world's pre-eminent writers of the 19th century and is often referred to as the father of modern drama.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Jean-Paul Sartre
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)
  • Features Author: Jean-Paul Sartre, Writing section
    His plays are richly symbolic and serve as a means of conveying his philosophy.
  • Features Author: Jean-Paul Sartre, World War II section, first theatrical piece
    he wrote his first theatrical piece, Bariona, ou le fils du tonnerre, a drama concerning Christmas
View the Source
A Doll's House (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: A Doll's House, Lead section, play genre
Quote, Features Author: A Doll's House, Lead section, play genre
A Doll's House...is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
View the Source
Mother Courage and Her Children (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Mother Courage and Her Children, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: Mother Courage and Her Children, Lead section, genre
a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht
View the Source
William Tell (play) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: William Tell, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: William Tell, Lead section, genre
William Tell...is a drama written by the German playwright and philosopher Friedrich Schiller in 1804.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Langston Hughes
WikipediaFeatures Author: Langston Hughes, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Langston Hughes, Lead paragraph
was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist
View the Source
Wikipedia: Émile Zola
WikipediaFeatures Author: Émile Zola, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Émile Zola, Lead paragraph
was a French novelist, journalist, playwright
View the Source
Honore de Balzac (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Honoré de Balzac, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Honoré de Balzac, Lead paragraph
was a French novelist and playwright
View the Source
Federico Garcia Lorca (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Federico García Lorca, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Federico García Lorca, Lead paragraph
was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director
View the Source
Adam Mickiewicz (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Author: Adam Mickiewicz, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Adam Mickiewicz, Lead paragraph
was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist
View the Source
Wikipedia: Günter Grass
Features Author: Günter Grass, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Günter Grass, Lead paragraph
was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor
View the Source
Wikipedia: Marguerite Duras
Features Author: Marguerite Duras, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Marguerite Duras, Lead paragraph
was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker
View the Source
Wikipedia: Halldór Laxness
WikipediaFeatures Author: Halldór Laxness, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Halldór Laxness, Lead paragraph
He wrote novels, poetry, newspaper articles, essays, plays, travelogues and short stories.
View the Source
Takeda Izumo II (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Takeda Izumo II, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Takeda Izumo II, Lead paragraph
was a Japanese playwright
View the Source
Everyman (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Everyman, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Everyman, Lead paragraph
is a late 15th-century or early 16th-century morality play
View the Source
Wikipedia: The Dybbuk
Wikipedia
  • Features Author: The Dybbuk, Lead paragraph
    is a play by S. An-sky
  • Features Author: The Dybbuk, Infobox, genre field
    Genre: Drama
View the Source
Eugene O'Neill (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Eugene O'Neill, Lead section [in-genre]
Quote, Features Author: Eugene O'Neill, Lead section [in-genre]
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill Sr. (October 16, 1888, November 27, 1953) was an American playwright.
View the Source
Alfred Jarry (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Alfred Jarry, Lead, first sentence
Quote, Features Author: Alfred Jarry, Lead, first sentence
best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896)
View the Source
Brigitte Fontaine (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Brigitte Fontaine, Lead, second paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Brigitte Fontaine, Lead, second paragraph
She is also a novelist, playwright, poet, and actress.
View the Source
Adam de la Halle (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Adam de la Halle, Wikipedia, Lead
Quote, Features Author: Adam de la Halle, Wikipedia, Lead
which is considered the earliest surviving secular French play with music
View the Source
Chatursen Shastri (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Chatursen Shastri, Wikipedia, Writings
Quote, Features Author: Chatursen Shastri, Wikipedia, Writings
8 historical novels, 10 dramas
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Guan Hanqing (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Guan Hanqing, Lead
Quote, Features Author: Guan Hanqing, Lead
was a Chinese dramatist, playwright, and poet of the Yuan dynasty
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Rainald Goetz (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Rainald Goetz, Lead sentence
Quote, Features Author: Rainald Goetz, Lead sentence
is a German author, playwright and essayist
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Wikipedia: Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
Features Author: Junichiro Tanizaki, Infobox: genre
Quote, Features Author: Junichiro Tanizaki, Infobox: genre
Fiction, drama, essays, silent film scenarios
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Wikipedia (Japanese): 並木千柳
Wikipedia (Japanese)Features Author: Namiki Senryu, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Namiki Senryu, Lead section
歌舞伎 狂言作者の 名跡
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Peter Handke - Facts (NobelPrize.org)
Features Author: Peter Handke, Facts, Work
Quote, Features Author: Peter Handke, Facts, Work
novels, essays, note books, dramatic works and screenplays
View the Source
Gerhart Hauptmann - Biographical (NobelPrize.org)
Features Author: Gerhart Hauptmann, Biographical note
Quote, Features Author: Gerhart Hauptmann, Biographical note
the beginning of naturalistic drama in Germany
View the Source
Maxim Gorky (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Maxim Gorky, Lead, principal works
Quote, Features Author: Maxim Gorky, Lead, principal works
the play The Lower Depths (1902)
View the Source
Thomas Bernhard (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Thomas Bernhard, Lead, first sentence
Quote, Features Author: Thomas Bernhard, Lead, first sentence
novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist
View the Source
Heinrich von Kleist (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Heinrich von Kleist, Lead, best known works
Quote, Features Author: Heinrich von Kleist, Lead, best known works
His best known works are the theatre plays
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Václav Havel (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Václav Havel, Lead, writing
Quote, Features Author: Václav Havel, Lead, writing
he is known for his plays, essays and memoirs
View the Source
Theatre of the Absurd (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Dominant In Movements: Theatre of the Absurd, Lead paragraph
Quote, Dominant In Movements: Theatre of the Absurd, Lead paragraph
particular plays of absurdist fiction
View the Source
Problem play - Wikipedia
Subgenres: Problem Play, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Problem Play, Lead paragraph
is a form of drama
View the Source
Christopher Marlowe (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine, first English blank verse play
Quote, Features Author: Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine, first English blank verse play
Tamburlaine was the first English play written in blank verse
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Maurice Maeterlinck (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Maurice Maeterlinck, Career, symbolist plays
Quote, Features Author: Maurice Maeterlinck, Career, symbolist plays
he wrote a series of symbolist plays characterized by fatalism and mysticism
View the Source
William Golding (Wikipedia)
Features Author: William Golding, Lead, occupations
Quote, Features Author: William Golding, Lead, occupations
was a British novelist, playwright, and poet
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Tragedy (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationSubgenres: Tragedy, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Tragedy, Lead paragraph
A tragedy is a genre of drama
View the Source
Morality Play (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Subgenres: Morality Play, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Morality Play, Lead paragraph
is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama
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Noh (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Subgenres: Noh, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Noh, Lead paragraph
classical Japanese dance-drama
View the Source
Verse drama and dramatic verse, Wikipedia
Subgenres: Verse Drama and Dramatic Verse, Lead
Quote, Subgenres: Verse Drama and Dramatic Verse, Lead
For a very long period, verse drama was the dominant form of drama in Europe (and was also important in non-European cultures).
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Play (theatre) (Wikipedia)
Encompasses Form: The Play (Dramatic Form), Lead
Quote, Encompasses Form: The Play (Dramatic Form), Lead
A play is any instance of theatre primarily characterized by scripted speech
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Arthur Schnitzler (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Arthur Schnitzler, Lead
Quote, Features Author: Arthur Schnitzler, Lead
Schnitzler's works, which include psychological dramas and narratives
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Khon (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Subgenres: Khon, Lead sentence
Quote, Subgenres: Khon, Lead sentence
is a dance drama genre from Thailand
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Oscar Milosz (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Oscar Milosz, Lead, genre drama
Quote, Features Author: Oscar Milosz, Lead, genre drama
French language poet, playwright
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Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Writings, drama
Quote, Features Author: Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Writings, drama
the drama Axël (1890)
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Horacio Quiroga (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Horacio Quiroga, Lead, playwright
Quote, Features Author: Horacio Quiroga, Lead, playwright
was a Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer
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Cyrano de Bergerac (play, Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Cyrano de Bergerac (play), Lead
Quote, Features Author: Cyrano de Bergerac (play), Lead
is a French play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand
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Peter Pan (play and novel) (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Peter Pan (play and novel), Lead
Quote, Features Author: Peter Pan (play and novel), Lead
in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel titled Peter and Wendy
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Edmond Rostand (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Edmond Rostand, Lead
Quote, Features Author: Edmond Rostand, Lead
was a French poet and dramatist
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J. M. Barrie (Wikipedia)
Features Author: J. M. Barrie, Lead, playwright
Quote, Features Author: J. M. Barrie, Lead, playwright
was a Scottish novelist and playwright
View the Source
Jerome K. Jerome (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Jerome K. Jerome, Infobox, genre field
Quote, Features Author: Jerome K. Jerome, Infobox, genre field
Genre: Fiction; drama
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Wikipedia: Paulo Coelho
Features Author: Paulo Coelho, Infobox, genre field
Quote, Features Author: Paulo Coelho, Infobox, genre field
Genre: Drama, romance
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Wikipedia: Wilkie Collins
Features Author: Wilkie Collins, Infobox, genre field
Quote, Features Author: Wilkie Collins, Infobox, genre field
Genre: Fiction, drama
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Tom Stoppard (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Tom Stoppard, Lead
Quote, Features Author: Tom Stoppard, Lead
Sir Tom Stoppard (; born Tomáš Sträussler; 3 July 1937-29 November 2025) was a British playwright and screenwriter.
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Wikipedia: Rabindranath Tagore
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Rabindranath Tagore, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Rabindranath Tagore, Lead section
Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali: [ˈrobind̪ɾonat̪ʰ ˈʈʰakuɾ] ; 7 May 1861-7 August 1941) was a Bengali poet, author, playwright, musician, composer, philosopher, social reformer, painter, and one of the foremost figures of the Bengal Renaissance.
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Wikipedia: Hans Christian Andersen
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Hans Christian Andersen, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Hans Christian Andersen, Lead section
A prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is also best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
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Wikipedia: Maya Angelou
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Maya Angelou, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Maya Angelou, Lead section
She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than 50 years.
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Wikipedia: Alexander Pushkin
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Alexander Pushkin, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Alexander Pushkin, Lead section
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (6 June [O.S. 26 May] 1799-10 February [O.S. 29 January] 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.
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Wikipedia: Anton Chekhov
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Anton Chekhov, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Anton Chekhov, Lead section
29 January [O.S. 17 January] 1860-15 July [O.S. 2 July] 1904) was a Russian playwright and short story writer.
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Euripides (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Euripides, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Euripides, Lead section
Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three authors of Greek tragedy whose name is ascribed to surviving plays.
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Aeschylus (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Aeschylus, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Aeschylus, Lead section
Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays.
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Nikolai Gogol (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Nikolai Gogol, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Nikolai Gogol, Lead section
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1809-4 March [O.S. 21 February] 1852) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin.
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Friedrich Schiller (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Friedrich Schiller, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Friedrich Schiller, Lead section
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪstɔf ˈfʁiːdʁɪç fɔn ˈʃɪlɐ], short: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈʃɪlɐ] ; 10 November 1759-9 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian.
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Mikhail Bulgakov (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Mikhail Bulgakov, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Mikhail Bulgakov, Lead section
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( buul-GAH-kof; Russian: Михаи́л Афана́сьевич Булга́ков, IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf] 15 May [O.S. 3 May] 1891-10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright.
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Wikipedia: Alessandro Manzoni
Features Author: Alessandro Manzoni, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Alessandro Manzoni, Lead section
Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni (UK: , US: , Italian: [alesˈsandro manˈdzoːni]; 7 March 1785-22 May 1873) was an Italian philosopher, poet, playwright, and novelist.
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Wikipedia: Antigone (Sophocles play)
Features Author: Antigone, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Antigone, Lead section
It is thought to be the second-oldest surviving play of Sophocles, preceded by Ajax, which was written around the same period.
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Wikipedia: Othello
WikipediaFeatures Author: Othello, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Othello, Lead section
Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulated by his ensign, Iago, into suspecting his wife Desdemona of infidelity.
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Wikipedia: Shakuntala (play)
Features Author: Abhijnanasakuntalam, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Abhijnanasakuntalam, Lead section
Abhijnanashakuntalam (Devanagari: अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तलम्, IAST: Abhijñānaśākuntalam), also known as Shakuntala, The Recognition of Shakuntala, The Sign of Shakuntala, is a Sanskrit play by the ancient Indian poet Kalidasa, dramatising the story of Shakuntala told in the epic Mahabharata and regarded as the best of Kalidasa's works.
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Wikipedia: Lysistrata
WikipediaFeatures Author: Lysistrata, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Lysistrata, Lead section
The play is a comic account of a woman's, Lysistrata's, mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city states by denying sex to all the men of the warring parties and occupying the Acropolis of Athens.
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Wikipedia: The Peony Pavilion
WikipediaFeatures Author: The Peony Pavilion, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: The Peony Pavilion, Lead section
The Peony Pavilion (Chinese: 牡丹亭; pinyin: Mǔdān tíng; Wade-Giles: Mu-tan t'ing), also named The Return of Soul at the Peony Pavilion, is a romantic tragicomedy play written by dramatist Tang Xianzu in 1598.
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Kanadehon Chūshingura (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Kanadehon Chushingura, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Kanadehon Chushingura, Lead section
The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (仮名手本忠臣蔵, Kanadehon Chūshingura; Japanese pronunciation: [ka.na.deꜜ.hoɲ (|) tɕɯː.ɕiŋ.ɡɯ.ɾa, -ŋɯ.ɾa]) is an 11-act bunraku puppet play composed in 1748.
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Wikipedia: Life Is a Dream
WikipediaFeatures Author: Life Is a Dream, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Life Is a Dream, Lead section
Life Is a Dream (Spanish: La vida es sueño [la ˈβiða es ˈsweɲo]) is a Spanish-language play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.
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Wikipedia: Six Characters in Search of an Author
WikipediaFeatures Author: Six Characters in Search of an Author, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Six Characters in Search of an Author, Lead section
Six Characters in Search of an Author (Italian: Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore [ˈsɛi persoˈnaddʒi in ˈtʃerka dauˈtoːre]) is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written and first performed in 1921.
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Wikipedia: Miss Julie
WikipediaFeatures Author: Miss Julie, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Miss Julie, Lead section
Miss Julie (Swedish: Fröken Julie) is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg.
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Wikipedia: Woyzeck
WikipediaFeatures Author: Woyzeck, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Woyzeck, Lead section
Woyzeck (German pronunciation: [ˈvɔʏtsɛk]) is a stage play written by Georg Büchner.
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Wikipedia: The Threepenny Opera
WikipediaFeatures Author: The Threepenny Opera, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: The Threepenny Opera, Lead section
The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper [diː dʁaɪˈɡʁɔʃn̩ˌʔoːpɐ]) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera The Beggar's Opera, and four ballads by François Villon, with music by Kurt Weill.
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Wikipedia: Rhinoceros (play)
Features Author: Rhinoceros, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Rhinoceros, Lead section
Rhinoceros (French: Rhinocéros) is a play by playwright Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959.
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Wikipedia: Fuenteovejuna
WikipediaFeatures Author: Fuenteovejuna, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Fuenteovejuna, Lead section
Fuenteovejuna (Spanish: [ˌfwenteoβeˈxuna]) is a play by the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega.
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Goethe's Faust (Wikipedia)
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Faust ( FOWST, German: [faʊst] ) is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two, based on the German folk legend Faust.
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The Trials of Brother Jero (Wikipedia)
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The Trials of Brother Jero is a satirical play by Nigerian playwright, poet, and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.
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Wikipedia: Anthony Hope
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Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (9 February 1863-8 July 1933), better known as Anthony Hope, was a British novelist and playwright.
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Wikipedia: Aristophanes
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Aristophanes (; Ancient Greek: Ἀριστοφάνης [aristopʰánɛːs]; c. 446, c. 386 BC) was an Ancient Greek comic playwright from Athens.
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Wikipedia: Arthur Miller
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Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915, February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist in 20th-century American theater.
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Wikipedia: Dorothy L. Sayers
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Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( SAIRZ; 13 June 1893-17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic.
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Wikipedia: Eugène Ionesco
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Eugène Ionesco (; French: [øʒɛn jɔnɛsko]; born Eugen Ionescu, Romanian: [e.uˈdʒen joˈnesku] ; 26 November 1909-28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century.
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Wikipedia: Ferenc Molnár
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Ferenc Molnár (US: FERR-ents MOHL-nar, -⁠ənts -⁠, -⁠ MAWL-, Hungarian: [ˈfɛrɛnt͡s ˈmolnaːr]; born Ferenc Neumann; January 12, 1878, April 1, 1952), often anglicized as Franz Molnar, was a Hungarian-born author, stage director, dramatist, and poet.
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Wikipedia: Georg Büchner
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Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813-19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement.
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Wikipedia: John Lyly
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John Lyly (; also spelled Lilly, Lylie, Lylly; born c. 1553/54, buried 30 November 1606) was an English writer, playwright, courtier, and parliamentarian.
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Wikipedia: Jules Verne
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Jules Gabriel Verne ( VURN; French: [ʒyl ɡabʁijɛl vɛʁn]; 8 February 1828-24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright.
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Wikipedia: Lope de Vega
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Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 1562-27 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492-1659) of Baroque literature.
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Wikipedia: Luis Vélez de Guevara
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Luis Vélez de Guevara (born Luis Vélez de Santander) (1 August 1579-10 November 1644) was a Spanish dramatist and novelist.
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Wikipedia: Nikolai Leskov
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Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (Russian: Никола́й Семёнович Леско́в; 16 February [O.S. 4 February] 1831-5 March [O.S. 21 February] 1895) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M.
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Wikipedia: Pedro Calderón de la Barca
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Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Henao (UK: , US: ; Spanish: [ˈpeðɾo kaldeˈɾon de la ˈβaɾka]; 17 January 1600-25 May 1681) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, and writer.
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Wikipedia: S. An-sky
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An-sky, was a Jewish author, playwright, researcher of Jewish folklore, polemicist, and cultural and political activist.
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Wikipedia: T. S. Eliot
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Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 1888-4 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.
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Wikipedia: Tang Xianzu
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Tang Xianzu (traditional Chinese: 湯顯祖; simplified Chinese: 汤显祖; 24 September 1550-29 July 1616), courtesy name Yireng (義仍), was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty.
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Wikipedia: Tennessee Williams
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Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911, February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter.
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Wikipedia: Tsitsi Dangarembga
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Tsitsi Dangarembga (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean novelist, playwright and filmmaker.
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Wikipedia: W. Somerset Maugham
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William Somerset Maugham ( MAWM; 25 January 1874-16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels, and short stories.
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Wikipedia: Weedon Grossmith
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Walter Weedon Grossmith (9 June 1854-14 June 1919) was an English writer, actor, painter and playwright best known as co-author of The Diary of a Nobody (1892) with his brother, music hall comedian and Gilbert and Sullivan star George Grossmith.
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Wikipedia: Leonardo Sciascia
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Leonardo Sciascia (Italian: [leoˈnardo ʃˈʃaʃʃa] ; 8 January 1921-20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician.
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Wikipedia: A. A. Milne
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Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-the-Pooh overshadowed his previous work.
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Wikipedia: Leo Tolstoy
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He also wrote plays and essays concerning philosophical, moral and religious themes.
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Wikipedia: Alexandre Dumas
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Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie; 24 July 1802 - 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas pere, was a French novelist and playwright.
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Wikipedia: Victor Hugo
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Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (French: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo] ; 26 February 1802-22 May 1885) was a French Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician.
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Wikipedia: Yukio Mishima
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Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡 公威, Hiraoka Kimitake; 14 January 1925-25 November 1970), known by his pen name Yukio Mishima (三島 由紀夫, Mishima Yukio), was a Japanese novelist, playwright, short story writer, actor, martial artist, model, and the leader of an attempted coup d'état that culminated in his seppuku.
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Wikipedia: Kurt Vonnegut
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His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works over fifty years; further works have been published since his death.
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Wikipedia: James Baldwin
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James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924, December 1, 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems.
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Bertolt Brecht (Wikipedia)
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Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898-14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet.
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Sholem Aleichem (Wikipedia)
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February 18] 1859, May 13, 1916), better known under his pen name Sholem Aleichem, was a Jewish author and playwright who wrote in Yiddish and lived in the Russian Empire and in the United States.
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Wikipedia: Machado de Assis
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Quote, Features Author: Machado de Assis, Lead section
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (Portuguese: [ʒwɐˈkĩ maˈɾiɐ maˈʃadu d͡ʒ(i) aˈsis]), sometimes called Bruxo do Cosme Velho (21 June 1839-29 September 1908), was a pioneer Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer, widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature.
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