Theatre of Fact or documentary theatre Movement to bring social issues to the stage by emphasizing factual information over aes¬ thetic considerations. An outgrowth of the Living Newspaper technique employed in the 1930s by the WPA Federal Theatre Project in the U.S., the form became popular in the 1960s. In Germany Rolf Hochhuth’s The Representative (1963), Peter Weiss’s The Investigation (1965), and Heinar Kipphardt’s In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer (1964) examined recent historical events through authentic documentary sources such as trial transcripts and statistics. The movement influenced later political drama in Europe and the U.S.
Theatre of the Absurd Body of dramatic works of the 1950s and ’60s that expressed the existentialist philosophy of meaninglessness and the absurdity of life. Playwrights such as Arthur Adamov, Edward Albee, Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco, and Harold Pinter created Absurdist plays without traditional plots and with characters who engaged in circular, purposeless conversations. Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1953), in which two tramps wait for a mysterious man who never arrives, is a classic of the genre.
theatricalism Twentieth-century theatrical movement that emphasized artifice in reaction to 19th-century naturalism. Marked by stylized acting, a stage projecting into the audience, and frank scenic artifices and con¬ ventions, it did not strive to create the illusion of reality but rather to remind the audience of their role as viewers and critics of the artwork in progress before them. Theatricalism was found in the Expressionist, Dadaist, and Surrealist drama of the early 20th century and has contin¬ ued as a current in the modern theatre.
Thebes \'thebz\ biblical No Ancient city, Egypt. Its remains are located on the Banks of the Nile River. In early times it also included Karnak and Luxor; the Valley of the Kings is situated nearby. The earliest monuments in the city itself date from the 11th dynasty (c. 21st century bc), when the rulers of Thebes united Egypt and made Thebes the capital of Upper Egypt. It remained the capital until the end of the Middle Kingdom (c. 18th century bc). It was obscured for two centuries under the rule of vari¬ ous foreign invaders, after which the kings of Thebes restored Egyptian rule in the 16th century bc and again made it the capital. It flourished as Egypt’s political and religious centre throughout the New Kingdom period and was well known for achievements in sculpture and architecture. It began to decline in the 12th century bc and was sacked by Assyrians in the mid-7th century bc, by Persians in the 6th-4th centuries bc, and by Romans c. 30 bc. Its ruins include great temples and tombs, including the Temple of Amon at Karnak (c. 20th century bc), the tomb of Tutankha¬ men in the Valley of the Kings, and the great mortuary temples of Ramses II and Hatshepsut. The region’s antiquities were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
Thebes Greek Thivai \'the-ve\ Ancient city, Boeotia, east-central Greece, one of the chief Greek city-states. Traditionally said to have been
founded by Cadmus, it was the seat of the legendary Oedipus and the set¬ ting for many classic Greek tragedies. The building of its celebrated seven-gated wall is usually attributed to Amphion. It was a centre of Myce¬ naean power in the Bronze Age (c. 1500-1200 bc). Hostility to Athens led it to side with the Persians in the Persian Wars and with Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Thebes and Sparta subsequently clashed, and the vic¬ torious Spartans occupied it. It revolted c. 380 bc and defeated Sparta at the battles of Tegyra (375 bc) and Leuctra (371 bc). For the next 10 years it was the chief military power in Greece. It joined Athens against Philip II of Macedon and shared the defeat at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 bc. It was sacked by Alexander the Great in 336 and eventually fell to Rome in the 1st century bc. Among the few ancient remains are remnants of the city walls, the Mycenaean palace (c. 1450-1350 bc), and a temple of Apollo.
theft In law, the crime of taking the property or services of another with¬ out consent. Under most statutes, theft encompasses the crimes of larceny, robbery, and burglary. Larceny is the crime of taking and carrying away the goods of another with intent to steal. Grand larceny, or larceny of property of substantial value, is a felony, whereas petty larceny, or lar¬ ceny of less valuable property, is a misdemeanour. The same principle applies to grand theft and petty theft, which need not necessarily involve the “carrying away” of property and may include the theft of services. Robbery is an aggravated form of larceny involving violence or the threat of violence directed against the victim in his presence. Burglary is defined as the breaking and entering of the premises of another with an intent to commit a felony within. Two offenses usually distinguished from theft are EMBEZZLEMENT and FRAUD.
theism View that all observable phenomena are dependent on but dis¬ tinct from one supreme being. The view usually entails the idea that God is beyond human comprehension, perfect and self-sustained, but also peculiarly involved in the world and its events. Theists seek support for their view in rational argument and appeals to experience. Arguments for God’s existence are of four principal types: cosmological, ontological, teleological, or moral. A central issue for theism is reconciling God, usu¬ ally understood as omnipotent and perfect, with the existence of evil. See also AGNOSTICISM, ATHEISM, DEISM, MONOTHEISM, POLYTHEISM, THEODICY.
Themistocles Uhe-'mis-to-.klezN (b. c. 524—d. c. 460 bc) Athenian politician and naval strategist. As archon (493) he built defensible har¬ bours at Piraeus. In 483 he persuaded the assembly to increase the navy, believing it represented Athens’s best chance of warding off Persian invaders. When the invasion of Xerxes I did come, a Greek naval force at first yielded to Persia at Artemisium, but Themistocles lured Xerxes’ remaining ships to their destruction at the Battle of Salamis. Despite his victory, Athens later ostracized the strongly democratic Themistocles (472) as the city’s politics turned reactionary. When Sparta later accused him of complicity with Persia, he fled the Peloponnese and, until his death, served as governor of some Asian Greek cities still under Persian rule.
theocracy \the-'a-kr9-se\ Government by divine guidance or by offi¬ cials who are regarded as divinely guided. In many theocracies, govern¬ ment leaders are members of the clergy, and the state’s legal system is based on religious law. Theocratic rule was typical of early civilizations. The Enlightenment marked the end of theocracy in most Western coun¬ tries. Contemporary examples of theocracies include Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Vatican. See also church and state; divine kingship.
Theocritus Uhe-'a-kro-tosV (b. c. 300, Syracuse, Sicily—d. 260 bc) Greek poet. Little is known of his life. His surviving poems consist of bucolics and mimes, set in the country, and epics, lyrics, and epigrams, set in towns. The bucolics, his most characteristic and influential works, introduced the pastoral convention into poetry and were the sources of Virgil’s Eclogues and much Renaissance poetry and drama. Theocritus’s best-known idylls include Thyrsis, a lament for Daphnis, the shepherd poet of mythology, and Thalysia (“Harvest Festival”), which presents the poet’s friends and rivals in the guise of rustics.
theodicy \the-'a-d3-se\ Argument for the justification of God, concerned with reconciling God’s goodness and justice with the observable facts of evil and suffering in the world. Most such arguments are a necessary component of theism. Under polytheism, the problem is solved by attribut¬ ing evil to a conflict of wills between deities. The solution is less simple in monotheism, and it can take several forms. In some approaches, the per¬ fect world created by God was spoiled by human disobedience or sin. In others, God withdrew after creating the world, which then fell into decay.