Aristotle could be considered the first popular literary critic. Unlike Plato, who all but condemned written verse, Aristotle breaks it down and analyses it so as to separate the good from the bad. He studies in great detail what components make a decent epic or tragedy. The main sections he com...

Twenty-five hundred years ago, Western theatre was born in Athens, Greece. Between 600 and 200 BC, the ancient Athenians created a theatre culture that has influenced theatre through history. They created plays that are still considered among the greatest works of world drama. Their achievement ...

THE EVIDENCEWHEN the first performance of Hamlet ended, a column of people streamed into Maiden Lane and then dispersed, radially through the fields and thoroughfares of Southwark, eastward to London Bridge, northward along Horseshoe Alley to the fleet of wherries waiting on the Thames. A litter of ...