"Theater History Explained is a comprehensive account of one of humanity's greaterst achievements. Ranging from Ancient Greece to the present, all the major playwrights and practitioners are discussed--"from Aeschylus to Acykbourn, Aristotle to Artaud. Some 300 playwrights and 2,000 plays are set in context and described, and there are major sections on: Classical Theater, Medieval Drama, the Mystery Cycles, Morality Plays and Interludes, the Renaissance and European Theater, "Commedia dell'Arte, the Elizabethan Stage, Restoration Tragedy, 18th-Century Comedy of Manners, Melodrama, Naturalism, Stainslavsky, Expressionism, the American Greats, and the Contemprorary Stage. Neal Fraser is Director of Technical Training at the Royal Acdemy of Dramatic Art, where he has taught for over ten years.