3,335 articles
Iranian playwrights
Iranian playwrights are dramatists writing for the stage in Persian, from Mirza Fath Ali Akhundzadeh's 1859 comedies to the modernist generation of the 1960s and 1970s.
Iraqi theatre
Iraqi theater (المسرح العراقي) is the Arabic-language theatrical tradition of Iraq, which emerged in Mosul in the late nineteenth century and developed into state-supported national drama.
Irish dance
Irish dance: traditional Irish dance forms (step, céilí, set, sean-nós) with rigid upper body and rapid footwork; codified by the Gaelic League from 1893, governed by CLRG since 1932, globalized by Riverdance in 1994.
Irish National Theatre Society
The Irish National Theatre Society was a Dublin theater company founded in 1903 by W.B. Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory; it became the Abbey Theatre, Ireland's national theater.
Irwin Corey
Irwin Corey (1914-2017), born Irwin Eli Cohen, American comedian billed as "Professor" Irwin Corey, the World's Foremost Authority, known for double-talk routines, the 1974 Pynchon National Book Award stunt, and a 70-plus-year career.
Isaac Babel (Исаак Эммануилович Бабель)
Isaac Babel (Исаак Эммануилович Бабель, real surname Bobel; pseudonyms K. Lyutov, Bab-El), 1894–1940, Russian-language Jewish writer from Odessa, author of Red Cavalry and Odessa Stories, translated into over 20 languages, executed in 1940 and rehabilitated in 1954.
Isabella Boylston
Isabella Boylston (born Hildur Isabella, 1986) is an American ballet dancer, principal with American Ballet Theatre since 2014; Sun Valley, Idaho native, YAGP gold medalist, Red Sparrow dance double for Jennifer Lawrence.
Isabella Esler
Isabella Esler, Colombian-American actress and singer from San Jose, made her debut as Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice's first national tour, then Broadway, Life After in Toronto, and Heathers Off-Broadway.
Isadora (ballet)
Isadora is the title of two full-length ballets about the American dancer Isadora Duncan: Kenneth MacMillan's 1981 Royal Ballet work and Maurice Béjart's 1976 ballet for Maya Plisetskaya.
Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), American dancer born in San Francisco, called the Mother of Modern Dance; performed barefoot in free-flowing tunics inspired by ancient Greece, rejected ballet, and died in Nice when her scarf caught in a car wheel.
Isha Sharvani
Isha Sharvani (born 1984, Gujarat) is an Indian-born Australian contemporary dancer and actress, principal dancer of the Daksha Sheth Dance Company with 3,000+ shows in 30 countries, known for Kathak, Kalaripayattu, Mallakhamb, and aerial fusion, films Kisna and Luck by Chance, and the 2024 work KiN.
Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, founded in 1911 by actress Italia Conti, is a British performing arts school in Woking, Surrey, training actors, dancers and musical theatre performers; the world's oldest theatre arts training school per its agency, known for triple-threat training and alumni such as Naomi Campbell.
Italian tragedy
Italian tragedy (tragedia italiana) is the tradition of neoclassical tragic drama written in Italian, beginning with Trissino's Sofonisba in 1514–1515 and renewed by Vittorio Alfieri in the 18th century.
Ithe Oshalala Mrityu
Ithe Oshalala Mrityu (इथे ओशाळला मृत्यू) is a 1968 Marathi historical play by Vasant Kanetkar dramatizing the capture and defiant death of Chhatrapati Sambhaji under Aurangzeb.
Ivan Karpenko-Kary
Ivan Karpenko-Kary (1845–1907), pen name of Ivan Karpovych Tobilevych, was a Ukrainian playwright, actor, and theater organizer who helped found professional Ukrainian theater and realist drama.
Ivanov
Ivanov (Иванов) is a four-act play by Anton Chekhov, first staged at Korsh's theater in Moscow in November 1887, the first of his plays ever produced.
Ivo Graham
Ivo Charles Graham, born 1990 in Tokyo, is an English stand-up comedian; youngest-ever winner of So You Think You're Funny? (2009, aged 18), Eton and Oxford educated, Edinburgh Fringe shows including Orange Crush, Taskmaster series 15, and the book Yardsticks For Failure (2025).
Izumo no Okuni
Izumo no Okuni (出雲の阿国) was a Japanese entertainer of the early Edo period credited with originating kabuki through her kabuki dance in Kyoto in 1603.
J. B. Priestley
J. B. Priestley (John Boynton Priestley, 1894–1984), English novelist, dramatist, and broadcaster from Bradford; author of The Good Companions, English Journey, and An Inspector Calls, wartime BBC Postscripts broadcaster, CND co-founder.
J. B. Smoove
J. B. Smoove (Jerry Angelo Brooks, born 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and writer, also Jerry Brooks, Emmy winner for Mapleworth Murders, best known as Leon Black on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2007–2024) and as the voice of Frank the Plant in Harley Quinn.
J. M. Synge
J. M. Synge (1871–1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, and travel writer, a leading figure of the Irish Literary Revival and co-director of Dublin's Abbey Theatre.
Jabbawockeez
Jabbawockeez, an American hip-hop dance crew founded in San Diego in 2003 by Kevin Brewer and Joe Larot, won the first season of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew in 2008 and became the first dance crew to headline a Las Vegas show.
Jaboukie Young-White
Jaboukie Young-White (born 1994), also known mononymously as Jaboukie, is an American comedian, actor, and writer from Harvey, Illinois; Daily Show correspondent 2018-2021, writer on Big Mouth, and Interscope debut album All who can't hear must feel (2023).
Jack Ansett
Jack Ansett is a New Zealand comedian and writer based in Auckland, known for community-group prank comedy, television appearances, and the Sydney Comedy Festival’s 2025 Best Newcomer Award.
Jack Benny
Jack Benny (Benjamin Kubelsky, 1894-1974), American comedian and violinist whose The Jack Benny Program ran on radio 1932-1955 and TV 1950-1965, pioneering the sitcom with his stingy, eternally 39 persona.
Jack Buchanan
Jack Buchanan, also known as Walter John Buchanan, was a British musical-comedy star who dominated the interwar period. He was best known for his role in The Band Wagon (1953).
Jack Burns
Jack Burns (John Francis Burns, 1933-2020), American comedian, actor, writer: comedy partner of George Carlin then Avery Schreiber, Deputy Warren Ferguson on The Andy Griffith Show, first head writer of The Muppet Show, co-writer of The Muppet Movie.
Jack Carroll (comedian)
Jack Carroll (born 1998) is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer with cerebral palsy, runner-up on Britain's Got Talent 2013 at 14; known for Trollied, Eaten By Lions, the BAFTA-winning BBC short Mobility, and Coronation Street's Bobby.
Jack Carter (comedian)
Jack Carter (born Jack Chakrin) was an American comedian and actor whose brash stand-up style made him a star of early television, from 1948 until 2015.
Jack Dee
Jack Dee (James Andrew Innes Dee, born 1962, Bromley) is an English deadpan stand-up comedian, Lead Balloon star, and chairman of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue since 2009; 1991 British Comedy Award winner touring Jack's Joke Show in 2027.