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Plisetskaya, Maya

(Encyclopedia)Plisetskaya, Maya mäˈyä plēsĕtsˈkäyä [key], 1925–2015, Russian dancer. Pliesetskaya became a soloist with the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on graduating from its school in 1943. She soon gained...

puppet

(Encyclopedia)puppet, human or animal figure, generally of a small size and performing on a miniature stage, manipulated by an unseen operator who usually speaks the dialogue. A distinction is made between marionet...

Martínez Sierra, Gregorio

(Encyclopedia)Martínez Sierra, Gregorio grāgōˈrēō märtēˈnĕth syāˈrä [key], 1881–1947, Spanish dramatist, novelist, and poet. His masterpiece is Canción de cuna (1911, tr. The Cradle Song, 1917), but...

overture

(Encyclopedia)overture, instrumental musical composition written as an introduction to an opera, ballet, oratorio, musical, or play. The earliest Italian opera overtures were simply pieces of orchestral music and w...

Szymanowski, Karol

(Encyclopedia)Szymanowski, Karol käˈrôl shĭmänôfˈskē [key], 1882–1937, Polish composer; studied in Berlin and Warsaw. His early works show marked German, French, and Russian influences, but in his later c...

Deburau, Jean Gaspard

(Encyclopedia)Deburau or Debureau, Jean Gaspard both: zhäN gäspärˈ dəbürōˈ [key], 1796–1846, French pantomime performer, whose original name was Jan Kaspar Dvorjak, b. Bohemia. He became famous for his in...

Artaud, Antonin

(Encyclopedia)Artaud, Antonin äNtônăNˈ ärtōˈ [key], 1896–1948, French poet, actor, and director. During the 1920s and 30s he was associated with various experimental theater groups in Paris, and he cofound...

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley

(Encyclopedia)Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751–1816, English dramatist and politician, b. Dublin. His father, Thomas Sheridan, was an actor and teacher of elocution and his mother, Frances Sheridan, published two...

Hare, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Hare, Sir David, 1947–, British playwright. Hare is a prominent member of the British theatrical left. A founder of the Portable Theatre and the Joint Stock, he became resident dramatist at the Roya...

Byrd, William, 1674–1744, American colonial writer, planter, and government official

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, William, 1674–1744, American colonial writer, planter, and government official; son of William Byrd (1652–1704). After being educated in England, he became active in the politics of colonial...