istoryworld
Theatre timeline
William Shakespeare dies at New Place, his home in Stratford-upon-Avon, and is buried in Holy Trinity Church
The Teatro Farnese in Parma is the first to have a proscenium arch, framing perspective scenery painted on flat wings
A Passion play is performed for the first time at Oberammergau, in the spirit of the Counter-Reformation
Pierre Corneille's play Le Cid, popular with Paris audiences, hinges on the conflict between duty and love
French dramatist Jean Racine's first great success, Andromaque, finds tragic drama in a quadrangle of love
Molière falls fatally ill when acting in his own play Le Malade Imaginaire
Italian dramatist Carlo Goldoni makes a success of plays in the ancient commedia dell'arte tradition
Venice's new theatre, the Teatro Novissimo, has machinery which can change the scenes in the blink of an eye
A new theatre opens in Richmond, with a prologue written for the occasion by David Garrick
Oliver Goldsmith's play She Stoops to Conquer is produced in London's Covent Garden theatre
Goethe's play Götz von Berlichingen, a definitive work of Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), has its premiere in Berlin
Figaro makes his first appearance on stage in Beaumarchais' The Barber of Seville
Richard Brinsley Sheridan's second play, The School for Scandal, is an immediate success in London's Drury Lane theatre
Friedrich von Schiller's youthful and anarchic play The Robbers causes a sensation when performed in Mannheim
The English actress Sarah Siddons, already well known in the province, causes a sensation when she appears in London at Drury Lane
US painter and author William Dunlap has great success with his comedy The Father; or, American Shandyism
Mozart's opera Così fan Tutte has its premiere in Vienna, in the court theatre of Joseph II
Mozart's opera The Magic Flute has its premiere in Vienna in a popular theatre run by the librettist, Emanuel Shikaneder
Goethe and Schiller become friends, and together create the movement known as Weimar classicism
The destruction of Drury Lane Theatre lights up the night sky
Today's Drury Lane Theatre opens
Edmund Kean gives his snuff box to an admirer, as a souvenir of his Richard III
Victor Hugo's romantic drama Hernani provokes a riot in the Paris audience on the first night
Edmund Kean takes a lease on the theatre and acts here until his death in 1833
