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Jan 1, 1025
Aeschylus becomes the "Father of Tragedy" (525 B.C.)
525-456 B.C. -
Jan 1, 1034
Thespis acts in 534 B.C.
He was the first person to act on stage as an actor. (event has been moved to 1034 A.D. for the sake of space.) -
Period: Jan 1, 1050 to Dec 31, 1150
Greek/Roman Theatre (pre- A.D.)
Greek and Roman theatre used masks as their main item in costuming. These were used to show the audience the characters that were being played in an easily viewable manner. Stages were in the open air, using the sun as their light source. -
Sep 16, 1475
Sebastiano Serlio born
Serlio was an Italian architect who helped to canonize the Classical style of building. He died in 1554. -
Jan 1, 1525
Leone di Somi born
"He is now most remembered for having written the first ever treatise on the art of stage direction, which defines a precise methodology of play production, from the selection of a text through its performance.This work is entitled Four Dialogues on Scenic Representation ." - wikipedia.com -
Period: Jan 1, 1558 to
Elizabethan era
During the Elizabethan era, shows were costumed according to social status, and women were not allowed to act. Because of this, men were more likely to have costumes made for them. -
Jul 15, 1573
Inigo Jones born
Inigo Jones was imperative in the development of the proscenium arch and moveable scenery. He died on the twenty-first of June in 1652. -
Joseph Furstenbach born
" In three of his books he wrote expositions on scenery and lighting for the theatre. He is only second to Nicola Sabbatini as one of the most extensive accounts of backstage practices during the Renaissance." - wikipedia.com -
Moliere born
Moliere, a French playwright known as the father of comedy, is known for works such as The Misanthrope, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Miser. -
De Loutherberg born
An English artist who found his calling in painting elaborate scenery and creating mechanical sets for the theatre. He died on March 11 of 1812. -
Argand Lamp invented
Aime Argand (July 5, 1750- October 14, 1803), a Swiss physicist and chemist, invents and patents the traditional oil lamp. This is the first lamp used in theatre. -
The Chestnut Street Theatre uses the first gas light.
This theatre is in Philadelphia. -
Period: to
Limelight invented and developed
Goldsworthy Gurney began developing limelight. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and candoluminescence. -
Henry Irving born
An English stage actor, Henry Irving was the first actor to be knighted by the Queen. His all-encompassing direction of every aspect of his productions (including acting, directing, and technical work) inspired many, including Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. Irving died on October 13, 1905. -
Alexander Graham Bell born
Bell was imperative in the development of recorded sound. He died in August of 1922. -
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree born
"Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the rebuilding, and became manager, of His Majesty's Theatre." - wikipedia.com -
Adolphia Appia born
A Swiss architect who theorized stage lighting and decor, Appia's design theories and conceptualizations of Wagner’s opera’s have helped to shape modern views of the relationship between the performance space and lighting. He worked during a period where electrical lighting was just developing, further stressing the intensity of his knowledge. -
Maude Adams born
Adams was the first female lighting desginer. -
Loudspeaker used in theatre
Ernst Siemens invents the first loudspeaker used in theatre. -
First successful lightbulb invented
Thomas Edison invents and demonstrates the first successful lightbulb in Menlo Park. -
Norman Bel Geddes born
An American theatrical designer who focused on aerodynamics, Bel Geddes is best known for his exciting designs and futuristic thinking. -
Period: to
Kliegl Brothers Stage Lighting Company grows to be the largest stage light manufacturer in the world.
The Kliegl brothers invented the Klieg light, which is an intense carbon arc lamp used in filmmaking. -
Abe Feder born
Abe Feder, known as the master of light, lived until 1997. He was known for the amazing things that he did with lighting in the theatre. -
Jean Rosenthal born
Rosenthal helped integrate the act of lighting design into the standard crew behind a performance. She died on May 1, 1969. -
Loud speaker conceptualized
C.G. Hensley theorizes and desgins the first loud speaker. -
Lucinda Bellard wins the first Tony award for costume design
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Mary Pickford born
Mary Pickford was the first "modern" celebrity. Her contract demands helped to shape the demand etiquette of celebrities today. She died -
Tenessee Williams born
He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948 and for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955. He died on February 25, 1983. -
Robert Edmond Jones born
"An American scenic, lighting, and costume designer, he is credited with incorporating the new stagecraft into the American drama. His designs sought to integrate the scenic elements into the storytelling instead of having them stand separate and indifferent from the play’s action. His visual style, often referred to as simplified realism, combined bold vivid use of color and simple, yet dramatic, lighting." - wikipedia.com
