1. Introduction -- Theatre and its origin -- Insert: Masks in the theatre -- Theatre and society -- The study of theatre history --

2. Classical Athens -- Social ideas -- Insert: Dionysus -- Arts ideas -- Greek theatre -- Dramatic literature -- A global perspective: Early drama: the Egyptian evidence -- Connections

3. Rome -- Social ideas -- Insert: The theatre and the Christian church -- Arts ideas -- Roman theatre -- A trip to the Roman theatre -- Dramatic literature -- Insert: Mime and pantomime -- A global perspective: Sanskrit drama in India -- Connections --

4. The Medieval era -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- Medieval theatre -- A global perspective: The minstrel tradition in Russia -- Insert: Chambers of rhetoric -- Dramatic literature -- Insert: Hrosvit of Gandersheim -- Connections --

5. Visual spectacle in the Italian Renaissance -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- Italian Renaissance theatre -- A trip to the Renaissance theatre -- Dramatic literature -- A global perspective: Javanese shadow puppets -- Connections --

6. Elizabethan theatre in the English Renaissance -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- Elizabethan theatre -- A trip to the Globe Theatre -- Dramatic literature -- A global perspective: Yoruban Egungun festivals -- Insert: The life of Shakespeare -- Connections --

7. The Golden Age of Renaissance Spain -- Social ideas -- Insert: The Moorish influence in Spain -- Art ideas -- Spanish Golden Age theatre -- A trip to the theatre during the Golden Age -- Dramatic literature -- Insert: Court theatre under Felipe IV -- A global perspective: Sor Juana Innes de la Cruz -- Connections --

8. Classicism in the French Renaissance -- Social Ideas -- Arts ideas -- French Classic theatre -- A global perspective: Tibetan mystery plays -- A trip to the Palais-Royale, 1670 -- Dramatic literature -- Insert: The life of Molière -- Connections --

9. The traditional theatres of Japan -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- The Noh theatre -- The Kabuki theatre -- Dramatic literature -- Insert: Bunraku -- Connections --

10. English theatre, 1660-1800 -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- The Restoration theatre -- 18th-century theatre -- Insert: Philippe de Loutherbourg -- Insert: David Garrick -- Dramatic literature -- A trip to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane -- Insert: Aphra Behn -- Connections --

The 18th Century in Europe -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- European theatre of the 18th century -- Insert: Early theatre developments in Germany -- Insert: Carolina Neuber -- A global perspective: Court theatre in Sweden -- Insert: the paradox of acting: reason versus emotionality -- Dramatic literature -- Connections --

12. Romanticism, 1780-1850 -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- Theatre and Romanticism -- Dramatic literature -- Connections --

13. The 19th Century: the growth of popular theatre -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- 19th-Century theatre -- Insert: Dion Boucicault -- Insert: Ira Aldridge: international star -- A global perspective: Latin American theatre in the 19th century -- Dramatic literature -- A trip to the Adelphi Theatre, 1860 -- Insert: Anna Cora Mowatt -- Insert: Uncle Tom's cabin -- Connections --

14. The traditional theatres of China / Denise Chuk -- Cultural ideas -- Development of the dramatic form -- Dramatic literature -- Connections --

15. In search of a new theatre, 1880-1920 -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- Theatre history -- Insert: Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen -- Insert: Terry, Duse, and Bernhardt -- Dramatic literature -- A global perspective: The Yiddish theatre -- A trip to the Théâtre Libre, 1890 -- Connections --

16. Theatre in transition, 1920-1945 -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- Theatre history -- Insert: The Federal Theatre Project -- Insert: Bertolt Brecht -- Dramatic literature -- A global perspective: Improvised comedy in the 20th-century Middle East -- Connections --

17. Reaction and recovery, 1945-1968 -- Social ideas -- A trip to the theatre in Paris, 1953 -- Arts ideas -- Theatre history -- Insert: Grotowski's Polish Laboratory Theatre -- A global perspective: Yoruba Traveling Theatre -- Dramatic literature -- Connections --

18. In search of a future, post-1968 -- Social ideas -- Arts ideas -- Theatre history -- Dramatic literature -- A trip to the theatre in New York, 1975 -- Connections.