Drama is a type of storytelling shown through performances such as plays, operas, mimes, and ballets. These performances take place in theaters, on radio, or on television. As a form of poetry, drama has been compared to other types, such as epic and lyrical styles, since ancient times, as noted in Aristotle’s Poetics (around 335 BC), the first known work about drama.

The word "drama" comes from a Greek word meaning "deed" or "act" (δρᾶμα, drâma), which is based on the Greek word "I do" (δράω, dráō). The two masks linked to drama represent the traditional difference between comedy and tragedy.

In English, the word "play" was commonly used for dramas until the time of William Shakespeare. At that time, people called him a "play-maker" and his performance space a "play-house" instead of a "theater."

The term "drama" began to be used more narrowly in modern times to describe a type of play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedy, such as Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin (1873) or Anton Chekhov’s Ivanov (1887). This narrower meaning is now used in film, television, and film studies to describe a genre of stories. The term "radio drama" has been used in both the original and modern senses, as it was first performed live on radio and may also refer to serious radio plays.

Drama performed in theaters involves actors on a stage performing for an audience. This requires teamwork among creators and shared experiences among the audience. Unlike other types of writing, dramatic texts are shaped by this teamwork and shared experience.

Mime is a form of drama where the story is told only through body movements. Drama can include music, such as in operas, where the story is sung throughout, or in ballets, where dance expresses emotions and tells a story. Musicals mix spoken dialogue and songs, while some dramas use background music to support the story (like melodrama or Japanese Nō). Closet drama is written to be read, not performed. Improvisation is a type of drama where the story is created during the performance by the actors.

History of Western drama

Western drama began in classical Greece. The city-state of Athens developed three types of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. These forms were first organized in competitions during festivals honoring the god Dionysus by the 5th century BC. Historians know the names of many ancient Greek dramatists, including Thespis, who introduced the idea of an actor ("hypokrites") who speaks and acts as a character instead of singing or speaking in their own voice. This actor interacts with the chorus and its leader ("coryphaeus"), who were part of performances of non-dramatic poetry like dithyrambic, lyric, and epic works.

Only a small amount of work by five dramatists has survived. We have some complete plays by the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and by the comic writers Aristophanes and Menander. Aeschylus’ tragedy The Persians is the oldest surviving drama. It won a prize in 472 BC, but Aeschylus had already written plays for over 25 years. Tragedy competitions may have started as early as 534 BC. Official records ("didaskaliai") began in 501 BC, when the satyr play was added to competitions. Tragic dramatists had to present a group of four plays (a tetralogy), usually three tragedies and one satyr play, though exceptions occurred. Comedy was first given a prize in competitions from 487 to 486 BC.

Five comic dramatists competed at the City Dionysia, though this number may have dropped to three during the Peloponnesian War. Each dramatist performed one comedy. Ancient Greek comedy is divided into three types: "old comedy" (5th century BC), "middle comedy" (4th century BC), and "new comedy" (late 4th century to 2nd century BC).

As the Roman Republic expanded into Greek territories between 270 and 240 BC, Rome encountered Greek drama. Through the Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD), theatre spread across Europe, the Mediterranean, and to England. Roman theatre was more varied and complex than any before it.

Greek drama continued to be performed in Rome, but regular Roman drama began in 240 BC. However, during the Roman Empire, interest in full-length plays declined in favor of other forms of entertainment. The first important Roman plays were written by Livius Andronicus and Gnaeus Naevius, though none of their works survive. Andronicus was known for tragedies, while Naevius was known for comedies. Their successors specialized in one genre, leading to separate developments in tragedy and comedy.

By the early 2nd century BC, drama was well established in Rome, and a group of writers (collegium poetarum) was formed. Surviving Roman comedies are all fabula palliata (based on Greek stories) and come from Plautus and Terence. These playwrights removed the chorus from their plays and added music to their dialogue. Scenes in their plays usually take place on a street, and plots often involve eavesdropping.

Plautus, the more popular of the two, wrote between 205 and 184 BC, and 20 of his comedies survive. His farces are well known for their witty dialogue and use of poetic meters. Terence wrote six comedies between 166 and 160 BC, all of which survive. His plots were complex, combining Greek stories, and his use of double plots showed contrasting human behavior. No early Roman tragedies survive, though three early tragedians—Quintus Ennius, Marcus Pacuvius, and Lucius Accius—are known.

During the Roman Empire, only two tragedians’ works survive. One is unknown, and the other is Seneca, a Stoic philosopher. Nine of Seneca’s tragedies remain, all adapted from Greek plays. His Phaedra, for example, is based on Euripides’ Hippolytus. The only surviving fabula praetexta (a tragedy about Roman subjects), Octavia, is attributed to an unknown author, though it was once mistakenly linked to Seneca.

In the early Middle Ages, churches performed dramatized versions of biblical events called liturgical dramas. The earliest example, Whom do you Seek? (c. 925), involved two groups singing in Latin. By the 11th century, these plays spread across Europe.

In the 10th century, Hrosvitha wrote six plays in Latin modeled on Terence’s comedies but with religious themes. These are the first known plays by a female dramatist and the first Western drama

Opera

Western opera is a type of dramatic art that started during the Renaissance. It was created to bring back the style of ancient Greek plays, which used dialogue, dance, and music together. Opera is closely connected to Western classical music. Over the past 400 years, it has changed a lot and remains an important part of theatre today. It is important to note that the German composer Richard Wagner in the 1800s had a big influence on opera. He believed that in his time, music was more important than the story and acting in operas, which was not a good balance. To bring back the connection with ancient Greek plays, Wagner completely changed the operatic form to show that both music and drama are equally important. He called these works "music dramas." Chinese opera has changed more slowly over a longer time.

Pantomime

Pantomime, also called "panto," is a type of musical comedy performed on stage for families. It originated in England and is commonly shown in the United Kingdom during the Christmas and New Year holidays. It is also performed in some other English-speaking countries, though less often. Modern pantomime includes songs, funny moments, slapstick comedy, and dancing. It uses actors who play characters of the opposite gender and mixes humor about current events with a story based on a well-known fairy tale, fable, or folk tale. Audience members are encouraged to sing along with parts of the music and shout phrases to the performers. A popular aspect of amateur pantomime is seeing familiar local people perform on stage.

These stories follow the traditions of fables and folk tales. They usually include a lesson and show the hero or heroine saving the day with the help of the audience. This type of play uses characters that appear in older theatrical traditions, such as masque and commedia dell'arte. These characters include the villain (called the doctore), the clown or servant (like Arlechino, Harlequin, or buttons), and the lovers. These plays focus on moral choices, and good always wins over evil. They are also very entertaining, making them a popular way to share stories with many people.

Pantomime has a long history in Western theater, beginning in classical times. It developed from the 16th-century Italian tradition of commedia dell'arte and other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques and music halls. Until the late 19th century, a part of pantomime called the harlequinade was important. Outside of Britain, the word "pantomime" usually refers to miming, not the theatrical form described here.

Mime

Mime is a type of theater where stories are told through body movements, without using words. Mime performances began in Ancient Greece, and the word "mime" comes from a single masked dancer called Pantomimus. These early performances were not always silent. In Medieval Europe, early forms of mime, such as mummer plays and later dumbshows, developed. In the early 1800s in Paris, Jean-Gaspard Deburau helped shape the features of modern mime, including the use of a silent character with whiteface makeup.

Jacques Copeau was influenced by Commedia dell'arte and Japanese Noh theater, and he used masks to train actors. Étienne Decroux, a student of Copeau, explored new ways to use mime and transformed it into a more structured and artistic form, moving beyond realistic movements. Jacques Lecoq made important contributions to mime and physical theater by creating training methods that helped actors develop their skills.

Ballet

Some ballets focus on the lines and patterns of movement, while dramatic dance shows emotions, characters, and stories through movement. These types of ballet are stage performances that include characters and tell stories. In ballet, movements are often similar to everyday actions, which gives dancing a natural expressive quality that helps show both actions and feelings. Mime is also used in these performances. Examples include Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, which tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse; Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, based on Shakespeare's famous play; and Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky, which follows the loves and jealousies of three puppets.

Creative drama

Creative drama involves dramatic activities and games mainly used in schools with children. It originated in the United States during the early 1900s. Winifred Ward is known as the founder of creative drama in education. She started the first use of drama in schools in Evanston, Illinois.

Asian drama

The earliest form of Indian drama was Sanskrit drama. From the 1st century AD to the 10th century, India had a time of peace during which many plays were written. However, with Islamic conquests starting in the 10th and 11th centuries, theatre was stopped or banned completely. Later, to support local traditions, village theatre was encouraged across India. This developed in different regional languages from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The Bhakti movement influenced performances in many regions. In Assam, Vaishnavite drama grew using a special language called Brajavali. A unique type of one-act play called Ankia Naat was created by Sankardev, with one version named Bhaona. Modern Indian theatre began during British rule from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century.

The oldest surviving parts of Sanskrit drama date back to the 1st century AD. Earlier evidence from archaeological sites does not show theatre existed before this time. Ancient Vedas, written between 1500 and 1000 BC, do not mention theatre, though some include dialogue. Vedic rituals also did not lead to theatre. The Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali, written in 140 BC, is the earliest reference to the beginnings of Sanskrit drama.

The main source of information about Sanskrit theatre is the Nātyaśāstra, a book whose author is believed to be Bharata Muni. Its exact date is unknown, but it is estimated to be between 200 BC and 200 AD. This work is the most complete ancient guide to theatre, covering acting, dance, music, playwriting, stage design, costumes, makeup, props, company organization, audiences, and competitions. It also includes a myth about how theatre began.

Sanskrit drama is considered the greatest achievement of Sanskrit literature. It used common characters like the hero, heroine, and clown. Actors often specialized in certain roles. Kings and village groups supported these plays. Famous early playwrights include Bhasa, Kalidasa (known for plays like Urvashi and The Recognition of Shakuntala), Śudraka (The Little Clay Cart), Asvaghosa, Daṇḍin, and Emperor Harsha (Nagananda). Śakuntalā influenced Goethe’s Faust.

A unique form of Indian theatre involves traveling troupes that perform plays in different places using temporary stages. This tradition began in Bengal with Jatra, linked to the Vaishnavite movement of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In Assam, Vaishnavite plays like Ankia Naat and Bhaona were developed by Srimanta Sankardeva. These, along with Western influences, inspired modern mobile theatre in Assam called Bhramyoman. Bhramyoman stages plays about Hindu stories, Western classics, and Hollywood movies, using modern effects like live visuals. This industry is worth about 100 million. Because the entire stage and equipment are carried by the performers, shows can be held in remote villages. Pioneers of this industry include Achyut Lahkar and Brajanath Sarma.

Rabindranath Tagore was a modern playwright who explored themes like nationalism, identity, and materialism in his Bengali plays. His works include Chitra (1892), The King of the Dark Chamber (1910), The Post Office (1913), and Red Oleander (1924). Girish Karnad wrote plays using history and mythology to discuss modern issues. His notable works are Tughlaq, Hayavadana, and Taledanda. Vijay Tendulkar and Mahesh Dattani were important 20th-century playwrights. Mohan Rakesh and Danish Iqbal are considered founders of new-age drama in Hindi and Urdu, respectively. Their works, Aadhe Adhoore and Dara Shikoh, are modern classics.

Chinese theatre has a long history. Today, it is often called Chinese opera, which usually refers to Beijing opera and Kunqu. Other forms of theatre, like zaju, also existed.

Japanese Nō drama is a serious form of theatre that combines drama, music, and dance. It developed in the 14th and 15th centuries and uses special instruments and techniques passed down through families. Performers were usually male, though some women also perform. The government, especially the military, supported Nō drama, and some commanders performed themselves. Nō drama is still performed in Japan today.

Kyōgen is the comedic version of Nō drama, focusing more on dialogue than music. Kabuki, developed in the 17th century, is another comedic form that includes dance.

Modern theatre in Japan includes forms like shingeki and the Takarazuka Revue.