The Cambridge Guide to World Theatre History

Steve Tillis is the author of The Challenge of World Theatre History (2020), Rethinking Folk Drama (1999), and Toward an Aesthetics of the Puppet (1992). He has taught theatre at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, and currently teaches at Saint Mary's College of California.

• Introduction; Part I. The Deep History of Theatre (starting c. 50,000 BCE): 1. The wellspring of theatre; 2. The social uses of theatre; Part II. The Eurasian Breakthroughs (starting c. 500 BCE): 3. Inventing literary theatre; 4. Silences and successes; Part III. The Eurasian Convergence (starting c. 900 CE): 5. The engine of convergence; 6. Along the sea route; 7. On the margins of eurasia; Part IV. The Eurasian Resurgence (starting c. 1500 CE): 8. Okuni's crucifix; 9. Islamic empires; 10. Across the South China Sea; 11. Erasmus's prophecy; Part V. The Global Transformation (starting c. 1800 CE): 12. The dynamo of transformation; 13. The neo-europes; 14. Colonial experiences; 15. Pacific lands; Conclusion.

'Steve Tillis provides a crucial antidote to the Standard Western Approach teaching of theatre history in this book. Unraveling the global scope of the historiographical processes underlying theatre's evolution is a significant achievement. Tillis does so with care and candor about his specific historical location and blind spots. This should be an essential text for graduate students, the future educators in our field.' Arnab Banerji, Associate Professor of Theatre History, Dramatic Literature, and Dramaturgy, Loyola Marymount University, Tovaangar