On Theatre History: Historical Study in the Theatre Curriculum

Abstract

Almost every American college or university that offers one or more degrees in theatre requires some study of theatre history as part of those degree programs. The number of courses devoted to theatre history varies from school to school, ranging from a one-quarter or one-semester survey in undergraduate programs to specialized seminars in doctoral programs. Taken all together, the number of theatre history courses offered in this country is large, although typically the number taught in any one school is small. The emphasis placed on theatre history probably reached a peak in the 1970s, after which a shift in graduate education away from the doctorate with the acceptance of the Master of Fine Arts degree as an appropriate terminal degree led many institutions to abandon their doctoral programs (in which history was a major component) while establishing M.F.A programs, preoccupied with contemporary practice with greatly reduced concern for historical context. (In the United States, there are now about 40 Ph.D. programs in Theatre as compared with hundreds of M.F.A programs.) There is now more information available about theatre history than at any time in the past, but interest in theatre history as such has declined.