ABSTRACT
Suitable definitions of theatre are as elusive as for anything else – but dramatic art may serve. The Concise Oxford Dictionary has drama as a ‘set of events having the unity and progress of a play and leading to catastrophe or consummation’. Many think of it as being building based, but often it is not. It is thought to have its roots in prehistory and religious or spiritual ritual. Through the ages and across the world, theatre has been performed at the poles, in hospitals, in prisons, in concentration camps and the gulag. Specialist forms of drama have been developed for therapeutic purposes (Røine, 1997). Insights into the human condition, art, therapy and entertainment – all are there. Drama takes many forms including state – subsidised theatre, professional for profit theatre, political theatre and theatre in the open air, touring and repertory companies, amateur, school and youth theatre.
