Theatre

Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of <a href="/facts/Performing_art/997Eb6IL">performing art</a> that uses live performers, usually <a href="/facts/Actors/JlSNxot8">actors</a> to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a <a href="/facts/Stage_(theatre)/yyaKHKnP">stage</a>. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of <a href="/facts/Gesture/fs7HV1Y6">gesture</a>, speech, song, <a href="/facts/Music/wvCBQYQ3">music</a>, and <a href="/facts/Dance/s9SeYNR9">dance</a>. It is the oldest form of <a href="/facts/Drama/RPcDLppc">drama</a>, though live theatre has now been joined by modern recorded forms. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and <a href="/facts/Stagecraft/pMqgz0C4">stagecraft</a> such as <a href="/facts/Lighting/Gk54r8xE">lighting</a> are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. Places, normally buildings, where performances regularly take place are also called "theatres" (or "theaters"), as derived from the <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a> θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe").
Modern Western theatre comes, in large measure, from the <a href="/facts/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece/g79S9GHG">theatre of ancient Greece</a>, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into <a href="/facts/Genre/ow1Po53X">genres</a>, and many of its <a href="/facts/Theme_(narrative)/fdhwHVdd">themes</a>, <a href="/facts/Stock_character/q3RfFQSs">stock characters</a>, and plot elements. Theatre artist <a href="/facts/Patrice_Pavis/bGlYLuWW">Patrice Pavis</a> defines theatricality, <a href="/facts/Theatre_language/GRewW8V0">theatrical language</a>, stage writing and the <a href="/facts/Medium_specificity/aKv5AKnw">specificity</a> of theatre as synonymous expressions that differentiate theatre from the other <a href="/facts/Performing_arts/997Eb6IL">performing arts</a>, <a href="/facts/Literature/CmUDxokU">literature</a> and the arts in general.
A theatre company is an organisation that produces theatrical performances, as distinct from a <a href="/facts/Theatre_troupe/fwMdpjSp">theatre troupe</a> (or acting company), which is a group of theatrical performers working together.
Modern theatre includes performances of <a href="/facts/Play_(theatre)/8AuSQf2q">plays</a> and <a href="/facts/Musical_theatre/KQ2Y35SQ">musical theatre</a>. The art forms of <a href="/facts/Ballet/pumKP1WJ">ballet</a> and <a href="/facts/Opera/dp0n0ggo">opera</a> are also theatre and use many conventions such as <a href="/facts/Acting/YEX0jSJv">acting</a>, costumes and staging. They were influential in the development of <a href="/facts/Musical_theatre/KQ2Y35SQ">musical theatre</a>.

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Theatre