3,335 articles
Downstate (play)
Downstate is a 2018 Bruce Norris play about four convicted sex offenders in an Illinois group home, premiered at Steppenwolf, later at the National Theatre, Playwrights Horizons (award-winning 2022), and Broadway's Booth Theatre in 2026.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical is a stage adaptation of Seuss's 1957 book, book and lyrics Timothy Mason, music Mel Marvin, premiered 1994 at Children's Theatre Company, Broadway 2006-2007, annual tours and NBC's 2020 Matthew Morrison broadcast.
Drag king
Drag king: a performer of any sex or gender identity who stages masculinity in drag shows, distinct from male impersonators; term first printed 1972, US scene common from the 1990s, less visible than drag queens.
Drag queen
Drag queen: performer, usually male-identified, in an exaggerated female persona who lip-syncs or sings for audiences. Also called female impersonation. Traced to William Dorsey Swann's 1880s Washington drag balls; mainstreamed by RuPaul's Drag Race (2009).
Dragon Beard Ditch
Dragon Beard Ditch (Longxugou) is a 1951 play by Lao She about the cleanup of a notorious open sewer in Beijing and the poor families living beside it.
Drama
Drama (Greek δρᾶν, "to act") is art that represents action through performers; it spans ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, and satyr play, later genres like melodrama, and scripts for theatre.
Drama Gong
Drama Gong is a form of Balinese popular theater combining spoken drama, dance, and gamelan gong kebyar accompaniment, first staged at Gianyar in 1966 and performed largely in Balinese.
Dramat absurd
Dramat absurd, or teatr absurdu, is a Polish term for absurd drama, named by critic Martin Esslin, whose main works include Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Ionesco's The Bald Soprano.
Dramatists Guild of America
The Dramatists Guild of America is the professional trade association for American playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists, founded in 1919 to protect dramatists' artistic and economic rights.
Dramatists Play Service
Dramatists Play Service is an American play-licensing house and publisher of acting editions, founded in New York in 1936 and acquired by Broadway Licensing in 2021.
Dramaturgy
Dramaturgy: the theory and practice of dramatic composition and theatre-making, and the work of the dramaturg. Founded with Lessing's 1767 Hamburg appointment and Hamburgische Dramaturgie; distinct German, English, and American traditions.
Dream on Monkey Mountain
Dream on Monkey Mountain is a 1967 play by Saint Lucian poet Derek Walcott, published in 1970, about an old charcoal burner named Makak who dreams of African kingship.
Druid Theatre Company
Druid Theatre Company is a professional touring theater company founded in Galway, Ireland, in 1975 by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen, and Mick Lally, the first professional Irish theater company outside Dublin.
Dubravka
Dubravka is a pastoral drama with allegorical meaning by the Dubrovnik Baroque poet Ivan Gundulić, first performed in 1628 and counted among the greatest achievements of Croatian literature.
Duckie (group)
Duckie (group), founded November 1995 at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London, is a queer performance collective known for its 27-year Saturday club night, Olivier-winning C'est Duckie!, Lullaby, Gay Shame, and community projects like The Posh Club.
Dui Purush
Dui Purush (দুই পুরুষ, "Two Men") is a Bengali play by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, adapted from his own story, first staged in Kolkata in 1942, and filmed in 1945 and 1972.
Duncan Trussell
Duncan Trussell (born 1974, Asheville, NC) is an American comedian, actor, and podcaster, host of The Duncan Trussell Family Hour and co-creator and voice of Clancy in Netflix's The Midnight Gospel with Pendleton Ward.
Dustin Nickerson
Dustin Nickerson, American stand-up comedian and author of How to Be Married (To Melissa); Seattle native in Southern California; specials Overwhelmed (2020) and Runs in the Family (2023); hosts Don't Make Me Come Back There podcast. Not the Dustin comic strip.
Dylan Moran
Dylan Moran (born 1971, Navan, Ireland) is an Irish stand-up comedian, writer, and actor, Perrier Award winner 1996, co-creator and star of Black Books as Bernard Black, and actor in Shaun of the Dead and Calvary.
Ed Byrne (comedian)
Ed Byrne, Irish stand-up comedian born 1972 in Swords, Dublin; Perrier-nominated at the 1998 Edinburgh Fringe, Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You panellist, known for observational comedy and the 2025 show Tragedy Plus Time.
Ed Gamble
Ed Gamble (Edward Stephenson Jamison Gamble, b. 1986, Hammersmith) is an English comedian, Durham University alumnus, Taskmaster series 9 champion, co-host of the Off Menu podcast with James Acaster, and Radio X presenter.
Ed Mirvish
Ed Mirvish, also known as Yehuda Edwin Mirvish, was a Canadian entrepreneur and theater impresario. He founded Honest Ed's and built Mirvish Productions, Canada's largest commercial theater company.
Ed Sullivan Theater
Ed Sullivan Theater, originally Hammerstein's Theater (1927), is a landmarked 13-story Broadway building at 1697-1699 Broadway, Manhattan; CBS-TV Studio 50, home of The Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles' 1964 US TV debut, and The Late Show until 2026.
Eddie Foy
Eddie Foy (Edwin Fitzgerald, 1856–1928), American vaudeville comedian and song-and-dance man, star of New York musical comedies and, with his seven surviving children, Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys; known for staying to calm the crowd in the deadly 1903 Iroquois Theater fire.
Eddie Griffin
Eddie Griffin (born 1968, Kansas City, Missouri) is an American stand-up comedian and actor, star of Malcolm & Eddie and Undercover Brother, a Def Comedy Jam alum with a Las Vegas residency.
Eddie Izzard
Suzy Eddie Izzard (Edward John Izzard), English comedian, actor, and activist born 1962 in Aden, Yemen; surreal rambling stand-up, Dress to Kill Emmys, marathons, transgender she/her identity.
Eddie Large
Eddie Large (Edward Hugh McGinnis, 1941-2020), British comedian, comic half of the double act Little and Large with Syd Little; won Opportunity Knocks 1971, BBC show 1978-91, up to 18 million viewers; died of Covid-19 after heart transplant.
Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy (Edward Regan Murphy, born 1961, Brooklyn) is an American comedian and actor who joined SNL at 19, starred in 48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop, and Shrek, recorded Delirious and Raw, and won an Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, and the AFI Life Achievement Award.
Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen (Edgar John Berggren, 1903-1978), American ventriloquist whose dummy Charlie McCarthy made him a radio superstar on The Chase and Sanborn Hour from 1937; honorary wooden Oscar 1938, three Walk of Fame stars.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Edinburgh Fringe): open-access performing arts festival held each August in Edinburgh since 1947, when eight uninvited companies played alongside the first Edinburgh International Festival; now the world's largest arts festival, run by the Fringe Society charity.