Theater: Act One, Scene I, Lights Up

Google the words’ history of theater,’ and you’ll get a timeline that begins in ancient Greece, circa the 6th century BCE, and high-kicks forward through time to Broadway and London’s West End. 

And that’s accurate. But it’s also missing the dramatic developments in storytelling techniques happening in other parts of the world — Japan, China, Indonesia, India — at the same time. While European peasants learned to walk the straight and narrow via morality plays, Asian theater-goers explored mythology via shadow puppets, dance, and dramatic masks.

In this episode, we travel the world (and through time) for a make-believe theater festival that takes us from Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London to the lights of Broadway, then to South America and Indonesia. We drop in on the premier of Fiddler on the Roof, learn about an avant-garde approach to theater meant to build empathy, and are dazzled by puppets that bring kings and demons to life.

Then we recommend five great books that took us straight to our seats in the theater, including a novel about a very bad actor making his Broadway debut, a lively retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a peek inside the creative minds behind beloved musicals, historical fiction about Bram Stoker’s time at London’s legendary Lyceum Theatre, and an unputdownable slice of dark academia with tender theater kids at its heart.

Here are the books about theater we recommend on the show:

• Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor
• Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
• A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke
• Audiobook: A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke
• The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built by Jack Viertel
• If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
• Audiobook: If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.

Transcript of Theater: Act One, Scene I, Lights Up.

Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices