vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Hamlet
Hamlet is often played with contemporary political overtones . Leopold Jessner 's 1926 production at the Berlin Staatstheater portrayed Claudius 's court as a parody of the corrupt and fawning court of Kaiser Wilhelm . In Poland , the number of productions of Hamlet has tended to increase at times of political unrest , since its political themes ( suspected crimes , coups , surveillance ) can be used to comment on a contemporary situation . Similarly , Czech directors have used the play at times of occupation : a 1941 Vinohrady Theatre production `` emphasised , with due caution , the helpless situation of an intellectual attempting to endure in a ruthless environment '' . In China , performances of Hamlet often have political significance : Gu Wuwei 's 1916 The Usurper of State Power , an amalgam of Hamlet and Macbeth , was an attack on Yuan Shikai 's attempt to overthrow the republic . In 1942 , Jiao Juyin directed the play in a Confucian temple in Sichuan Province , to which the government had retreated from the advancing Japanese . In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the protests at Tiananmen Square , Lin Zhaohua staged a 1990 Hamlet in which the prince was an ordinary individual tortured by a loss of meaning . In this production , the actors playing Hamlet , Claudius and Polonius exchanged roles at crucial moments in the performance , including the moment of Claudius 's death , at which point the actor mainly associated with Hamlet fell to the ground . Mignon
Prince Hamlet
However , a case has been made that at an early stage in Hamlet -- with its apparent history of multiple revisions -- Hamlet was presented as a sixteen - year - old . Several pieces of evidence support this view . Hamlet attends the University of Wittenberg , and members of the royalty and nobility ( Elizabethan or medieval Danish ) did not attend university at age 30 . Additionally , a 30 - year - old Prince Hamlet would clearly have been of ruling age . Given his great popularity ( mentioned by Claudius ) , this would raise the question of why it was not he , rather than his uncle , who was elected to succeed to the throne upon the death of King Hamlet .
Romeo and Juliet
The most famous musical theatre adaptation is West Side Story with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim . It débuted on Broadway in 1957 and in the West End in 1958 and became a popular film in 1961 . This version updated the setting to mid-20th - century New York City and the warring families to ethnic gangs . Other musical adaptations include Terrence Mann 's 1999 rock musical William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet , co-written with Jerome Korman , Gérard Presgurvic 's 2001 Roméo et Juliette , de la Haine à l'Amour and Riccardo Cocciante 's 2007 Giulietta & Romeo .
Theatre director
In medieval times , the complexity of vernacular religious drama , with its large scale mystery plays that often included crowd scenes , processions and elaborate effects , gave the role of director ( or stage manager or pageant master ) considerable importance . A miniature by Jean Fouquet from 1460 ( pictured ) bears one of the earliest depictions of a director at work . Holding a prompt book , the central figure directs , with the aid of a long stick , the proceedings of the staging of a dramatization of the Martyrdom of Saint Apollonia . According to Fouquet , the director 's tasks included overseeing the erecting of a stage and scenery ( there were no permanent , purpose - built theatre structures at this time , and performances of vernacular drama mostly took place in the open air ) , casting and directing the actors ( which included fining them for those that infringed rules ) , and addressing the audience at the beginning of each performance and after each intermission .
Classical period (music)
In the intervening years , the social world of music had seen dramatic changes . International publication and touring had grown explosively , and concert societies formed . Notation became more specific , more descriptive -- and schematics for works had been simplified ( yet became more varied in their exact working out ) . In 1790 , just before Mozart 's death , with his reputation spreading rapidly , Haydn was poised for a series of successes , notably his late oratorios and `` London '' symphonies . Composers in Paris , Rome , and all over Germany turned to Haydn and Mozart for their ideas on form . Portrait
Theatre of ancient Greece
Greek tragedy as we know it was created in Athens around the time of 532 BC , when Thespis was the earliest recorded actor . Being a winner of the first theatrical contest held in Athens , he was the exarchon , or leader , of the dithyrambs performed in and around Attica , especially at the rural Dionysia . By Thespis ' time , the dithyramb had evolved far away from its cult roots . Under the influence of heroic epic , Doric choral lyric and the innovations of the poet Arion , it had become a narrative , ballad - like genre . Because of these , Thespis is often called the `` Father of Tragedy '' ; however , his importance is disputed , and Thespis is sometimes listed as late as 16th in the chronological order of Greek tragedians ; the statesman Solon , for example , is credited with creating poems in which characters speak with their own voice , and spoken performances of Homer 's epics by rhapsodes were popular in festivals prior to 534 BC . Thus , Thespis 's true contribution to drama is unclear at best , but his name has been given a longer life , in English , as a common term for performer -- i.e. , a `` thespian . ''
Richard III (play)
BBC Two aired a new adaptation of Richard III in 2016 as part of The Hollow Crown series , with Benedict Cumberbatch playing the king . Executive producer Pippa Harris commented , `` By filming the Henry VI plays as well as Richard III , we will allow viewers to fully appreciate how such a monstrous tyrant could find his way to power , bringing even more weight and depth to this iconic character . ''
History of tennis
Real tennis is mentioned in literature by William Shakespeare who mentions `` tennis balles '' in Henry V ( 1599 ) , when a basket of them is given to King Henry as a mockery of his youth and playfulness ; the incident is also mentioned in some earlier chronicles and ballads . One of the most striking early references appears in a painting by Giambattista Tiepolo entitled The Death of Hyacinth ( 1752 -- 1753 ) in which a strung racquet and three tennis balls are depicted . The painting 's theme is the mythological story of Apollo and Hyacinth , written by Ovid . Giovanni Andrea dell'Anguillara translated it into Italian in 1561 and replaced the ancient game of discus , in the original text with pallacorda or tennis , which had achieved a high status at the courts in the middle of the 16th century . Tiepolo 's painting , displayed at the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza in Madrid , was ordered in 1752 by German count Wilhelm Friedrich Schaumburg Lippe , who was an avid tennis player .
Richard III (play)
Each scene in Act I is book - ended by Richard directly addressing the audience . This action on Richard 's part not only keeps him in control of the dramatic action of the play , but also of how the audience sees him : in a somewhat positive light , or as the protagonist . Richard actually embodies the dramatic character of `` Vice '' from medieval morality plays -- with which Shakespeare was very familiar from his time -- with his `` impish - to - fiendish humour '' . Like Vice , Richard is able to render what is ugly and evil -- his thoughts and aims , his view of other characters -- into what is charming and amusing for the audience .
Prince Hamlet
Johnston Forbes - Robertson immortalized scenes from his performance in a highly truncated silent film made in 1913 . Danish actress Asta Nielsen portrayed Hamlet in a loose 1921 adaptation which re-imagines Hamlet as a woman . Laurence Olivier directed himself as Hamlet in a 1948 film . Richard Burton portrayed Hamlet in a 1964 filmed version of the stage play . Innokenty Smoktunovsky played Hamlet in a 1964 Russian film , directed by Grigori Kozintsev . Nicol Williamson portrayed Hamlet in Tony Richardson 's 1969 version . Mel Gibson played Hamlet in Franco Zeffirelli 's 1990 version . Iain Glen portrayed Hamlet in the 1990 film Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead , directed by Tom Stoppard and based on his play . Kenneth Branagh directed himself as Hamlet in a 1996 film version , which is the only full length version of the play on film . Ethan Hawke played Hamlet in an adaptation released in 2000 . Richard Pyros played Hamlet in Hamlet released in 2007 at the Melbourne International Film Festival . Shahid Kapoor played Haider ( Hamlet ) in a 2014 film adaptation by Vishal Bharadwaj .
Actor
In Japan , onnagata , men taking on female roles , were used in kabuki theatre when women were banned from performing on stage during the Edo period . This convention continues . By contrast , some forms of Chinese drama involve women playing all roles .
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet borrows from a tradition of tragic love stories dating back to antiquity . One of these is Pyramus and Thisbe , from Ovid 's Metamorphoses , which contains parallels to Shakespeare 's story : the lovers ' parents despise each other , and Pyramus falsely believes his lover Thisbe is dead . The Ephesiaca of Xenophon of Ephesus , written in the 3rd century , also contains several similarities to the play , including the separation of the lovers , and a potion that induces a deathlike sleep .
Musical theatre
Virtually eliminated from the English - speaking stage by competition from the ubiquitous Edwardian musical comedies , operettas returned to London and Broadway in 1907 with The Merry Widow , and adaptations of continental operettas became direct competitors with musicals . Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus composed new operettas that were popular in English until World War I. In America , Victor Herbert produced a string of enduring operettas including The Fortune Teller ( 1898 ) , Babes in Toyland ( 1903 ) , Mlle . Modiste ( 1905 ) , The Red Mill ( 1906 ) and Naughty Marietta ( 1910 ) .
The Merchant of Venice
David Henry Wilson 's play Shylock 's Revenge , which was first performed by The University Players at the Audimax ( University of Hamburg ) on 9 June 1989 , can be seen as a full - length sequel to Shakespeare 's drama .
The Way of the World
One of the features of a Restoration comedy is the opposition of the witty and courtly ( and Cavalier ) rake and the dull - witted man of business or the country bumpkin , who is understood to be not only unsophisticated but often ( as , for instance , in the very popular plays of Aphra Behn in the 1670s ) either Puritan or another form of dissenter . In 1685 , the courtly and Cavalier side was in power , and Restoration comedies belittled the bland and foolish losers of the Restoration . However , by 1700 , the other side was ascendant . Therefore , The Way of the World 's recreation of the older Restoration comedy 's patterns is only one of the things that made the play unusual .
Hamlet
Hamlet is Shakespeare 's longest play . The Riverside edition constitutes 4,042 lines totaling 29,551 words , typically requiring over four hours to stage . It is rare that the play is performed without some abridgments , and only one film adaptation has used a full - text conflation : Kenneth Branagh 's 1996 version , which runs slightly more than four hours .
Medieval theatre
As the Viking invasions ceased in the middle of the 11th century A.D. , liturgical drama had spread from Russia to Scandinavia to Italy . Only in Muslim - occupied Spain were liturgical dramas not presented at all . Despite the large number of liturgical dramas that have survived from the period , many churches would have only performed one or two per year and a larger number never performed any at all .
Musical theatre
Several musicals returned to the spectacle format that was so successful in the 1980s , recalling extravaganzas that have been presented at times , throughout theatre history , since the ancient Romans staged mock sea battles . Examples include the musical adaptations of The Lord of the Rings ( 2007 ) , Gone With the Wind ( 2008 ) and Spider - Man : Turn Off the Dark ( 2011 ) . These musicals involved songwriters with little theatrical experience , and the expensive productions generally lost money . Conversely , The Drowsy Chaperone , Avenue Q , The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee , Xanadu and Fun Home , among others , have been presented in smaller - scale productions , mostly uninterrupted by an intermission , with short running times , and enjoyed financial success . In 2013 , Time magazine reported that a trend Off - Broadway has been `` immersive '' theatre , citing shows such as Natasha , Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 ( 2012 ) and Here Lies Love ( 2013 ) in which the staging takes place around and within the audience . The shows set a joint record , each receiving 11 nominations for Lucille Lortel Awards , and feature contemporary scores .
Minstrel show
Blackface soon found a home in the taverns of New York 's less respectable precincts of Lower Broadway , the Bowery , and Chatham Street . It also appeared on more respectable stages , most often as an entr'acte . Upper - class houses at first limited the number of such acts they would show , but beginning in 1841 , blackface performers frequently took to the stage at even the classy Park Theatre , much to the dismay of some patrons . Theater was a participatory activity , and the lower classes came to dominate the playhouse . They threw things at actors or orchestras who performed unpopular material , and rowdy audiences eventually prevented the Bowery Theatre from staging high drama at all . Typical blackface acts of the period were short burlesques , often with mock Shakespearean titles like `` Hamlet the Dainty '' , `` Bad Breath , the Crane of Chowder '' , `` Julius Sneezer '' or `` Dars - de-Money '' .
Restoration (England)
Historian Roger Baker argues that the Restoration and Charles ' coronation mark a reversal of the stringent Puritan morality , `` as though the pendulum ( of England 's morality ) swung from repression to licence more or less overnight '' . Theatres reopened after having been closed during the protectorship of Oliver Cromwell , Puritanism lost its momentum , and the bawdy `` Restoration comedy '' became a recognisable genre . In addition , women were allowed to perform on the commercial stage as professional actresses for the first time . In Scotland , Episcopacy was reinstated .
Three Witches
In a version of Macbeth by William Davenant ( 1606 -- 1668 ) a scene was added in which the witches tell Macduff and his wife of their future as well as several lines for the two before Macbeth 's entrance in Act 4 . Most of these lines were taken directly from Thomas Middleton 's play The Witch . David Garrick kept these added scenes in his eighteenth - century version . Horace Walpole created a parody of Macbeth in 1742 entitled The Dear Witches in response to political problems of his time . The witches in his play are played by three everyday women who manipulate political events in England through marriage and patronage , and manipulate elections to have Macbeth made Treasurer and Earl of Bath . In the final scene , the witches gather around a cauldron and chant `` Double , double , Toil and Trouble / parties burn and Nonsense bubble . '' In their concoction they throw such things as `` Judgment of a Beardless Youth '' and `` Liver of a Renegade '' . The entire play is a commentary on the political corruption and insanity surrounding the period .
Jacques-Louis David
David then began work on something that would later hound him : propaganda for the new republic . David 's painting of Brutus was shown during the play Brutus , by the famous Frenchman , Voltaire . The people responded in an uproar of approval .
Hamlet
There is the story of the woman who read Hamlet for the first time and said , `` I do n't see why people admire that play so . It is nothing but a bunch of quotations strung together . ''
Medieval theatre
From the 5th century , Western Europe was plunged into a period of general disorder that lasted ( with a brief period of stability under the Carolingian Empire in the 9th century ) until the 10th century A.D. As such , most organized theatrical activities disappeared in Western Europe . While it seems that small nomadic bands traveled around Europe throughout the period , performing wherever they could find an audience , there is no evidence that they produced anything but crude scenes .
Charles Dickens
Dickens 's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers . Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity , famous for his humour , satire , and keen observation of character and society . His novels , most published in monthly or weekly instalments , pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction , which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication . The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience 's reaction , and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback . For example , when his wife 's chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities , Dickens improved the character with positive features . His plots were carefully constructed , and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives . Masses of the illiterate poor chipped in ha'pennies to have each new monthly episode read to them , opening up and inspiring a new class of readers .
Renaissance
Johan Huizinga ( 1872 -- 1945 ) acknowledged the existence of the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change . In his book The Autumn of the Middle Ages , he argued that the Renaissance was a period of decline from the High Middle Ages , destroying much that was important . The Latin language , for instance , had evolved greatly from the classical period and was still a living language used in the church and elsewhere . The Renaissance obsession with classical purity halted its further evolution and saw Latin revert to its classical form . Robert S. Lopez has contended that it was a period of deep economic recession . Meanwhile , George Sarton and Lynn Thorndike have both argued that scientific progress was perhaps less original than has traditionally been supposed . Finally , Joan Kelly argued that the Renaissance led to greater gender dichotomy , lessening the agency women had had during the Middle Ages .
Romeo and Juliet
Stephen Orgel describes Franco Zeffirelli 's 1968 Romeo and Juliet as being `` full of beautiful young people , and the camera and the lush technicolour , make the most of their sexual energy and good looks '' . Zeffirelli 's teenage leads , Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey , had virtually no previous acting experience but performed capably and with great maturity . Zeffirelli has been particularly praised , for his presentation of the duel scene as bravado getting out - of - control . The film courted controversy by including a nude wedding - night scene while Olivia Hussey was only fifteen .
Theatre of ancient Greece
In a large open - air theatre , like the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens , the classical masks were able to create a sense of dread in the audience creating large scale panic , especially since they had intensely exaggerated facial features and expressions . They enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several different roles , thus preventing the audience from identifying the actor to one specific character . Their variations help the audience to distinguish sex , age , and social status , in addition to revealing a change in a particular character 's appearance , e.g. Oedipus after blinding himself . Unique masks were also created for specific characters and events in a play , such as The Furies in Aeschylus ' Eumenides and Pentheus and Cadmus in Euripides ' The Bacchae . Worn by the chorus , the masks created a sense of unity and uniformity , while representing a multi-voiced persona or single organism and simultaneously encouraged interdependency and a heightened sensitivity between each individual of the group . Only 2 - 3 actors were allowed on the stage at one time , and masks permitted quick transitions from one character to another . There were only male actors , but masks allowed them to play female characters .
Medieval theatre
Faced with the problem of explaining a new religion to a largely illiterate population , churches in the Early Middle Ages began staging dramatized versions of particular biblical events on specific days of the year . These dramatizations were included in order to vivify annual celebrations . Symbolic objects and actions ( vestments , altars , censers , and pantomime performed by priests ) recalled the events which Christian ritual celebrates . These were extensive sets of visual signs that could be used to communicate with a largely illiterate audience . These performances developed into liturgical dramas , the earliest of which is the Whom do you Seek ( Quem - Quaeritis ) Easter trope , dating from ca . 925 . Liturgical drama was sung responsively by two groups and did not involve actors impersonating characters . However , sometime between 965 and 975 , Æthelwold of Winchester composed the Regularis Concordia ( Monastic Agreement ) which contains a playlet complete with directions for performance .
Cinema of the Philippines
During World War II , almost all actors depended only on stage shows on most major Manila movie theaters as livelihood . As a consequence , live theater began to thrive again as movie stars , directors and technicians returned to the stage .
Theatre of ancient Greece
Tragedy and comedy were viewed as completely separate genres , and no plays ever merged aspects of the two . Satyr plays dealt with the mythological subject matter of the tragedies , but in a purely comedic manner .
Brian Griffin
Brian 's latest literary attempt came in the episode `` Brian 's Play '' , where Brian writes a play entitled A Passing Fancy . The play becomes very popular in Quahog ; however , Brian is upset when he realizes that Stewie had since written a play which was better than his . Stewie 's play was eventually shown on Broadway . Brian became depressed by this , as he only wanted to be a good writer for the few years which remain of his life , and not have to be overshadowed by Stewie , who has his whole life ahead of him .
Send In the Clowns
The musical , with the song , debuted on Broadway in 1973 . The song became popular with theater audiences but had not become a pop hit . Sondheim explained how the song became a hit :
Romeo and Juliet
The play is sometimes given a historical setting , enabling audiences to reflect on the underlying conflicts . For example , adaptations have been set in the midst of the Israeli -- Palestinian conflict , in the apartheid era in South Africa , and in the aftermath of the Pueblo Revolt . Similarly , Peter Ustinov 's 1956 comic adaptation , Romanoff and Juliet , is set in a fictional mid-European country in the depths of the Cold War . A mock - Victorian revisionist version of Romeo and Juliet 's final scene ( with a happy ending , Romeo , Juliet , Mercutio , and Paris restored to life , and Benvolio revealing that he is Paris 's love , Benvolia , in disguise ) forms part of the 1980 stage - play The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby . Shakespeare 's R&J , by Joe Calarco , spins the classic in a modern tale of gay teenage awakening . A recent comedic musical adaptation was The Second City 's The Second City 's Romeo and Juliet Musical : The People vs. Friar Laurence , the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet , set in modern times .