The interior of the Comédie-Française, Paris, showing the stage, boxes, galleries and orchestra sections of the house. From an 18th-century watercolor painting

A theater or theatre (also a playhouse) is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance (as in environmental theater or street theater), a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces. The facility is traditionally organized to provide support areas for performers, the technical crew and the audience members.

There are as many types of theaters as there are types of performance. Theaters may be built specifically for a certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as a theater. They may range from open-air amphitheaters to ornate, cathedral-like structures to simple, undecorated rooms or black box theaters. Some theaters may have a fixed acting area (in most theaters this is known as the stage), while some theaters such as black box theaters, may not, allowing the director and designers to construct an acting area suitable for the production.

In Australia and New Zealand a small and simple theater, particularly one contained within a larger venue, is called a theatrette. The word originated in 1920s London, for a small-scale music venue.

Basic elements of a theater structure[link]

All theater structures, regardless of type, contain certain basic elements.

National Theater and Concert Hall, Taipei

On and off stage[link]

The most important of these areas is the acting space generally known as the stage. In some theaters, specifically proscenium theaters, arena theaters and amphitheaters, this area is permanent part of the structure. In a blackbox theater the acting area is undefined so that each theater may adapt specifically to a production.

In addition to these acting spaces, there may be offstage spaces as well. These include wings on either side of a proscenium stage (called "backstage" or "offstage") where props, sets and scenery may be stored as well as a place for actors awaiting an entrance. A Prompter's box may be found backstage. In an amphitheater, an area behind the stage may be designated for such uses while a blackbox theater may have spaces outside of the actual theater designated for such uses.

Often a theater will incorporate other spaces intended for the performers and other personnel. A booth facing the stage may be incorporated into the house where lighting and sound personnel may view the show and run their respective instruments. Other rooms in the building may be used for dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, spaces for constructing sets, props and costumes, as well as storage.

Seating and audience[link]

All theaters provide a space for an audience. The audience is usually separated from the performers by the proscenium arch. In proscenium theaters and amphitheaters, the proscenium arch, like the stage, is a permanent feature of the structure. This area is known as the auditorium or the house. Like the stage in a blackbox theater, this area is also defined by the production.

Chester Fritz Auditorium: stalls, Dress (grand) Circle and Upper Circle ('Gods')

Garnier Opera House, Paris: stalls, boxes and multi-level balconies

The seating areas can include some or all of the following:

• Stalls or arena: the lower flat area, usually below or at the same level as the stage. The word parterre (occasionally, parquet) is sometimes used to refer to a particular subset of this area. In North American usage this is usually the rear seating block beneath the gallery in the orchestra stalls whereas Britain it can mean either the area immediately in front of the orchestra, or the whole of the stalls seating area.^[1][2] The term can also refer to the side stalls in some usages. Derived from the gardening term parterre, the usage refers to the sectioned pattern of both the seats of an auditorium and of the planted beds seen in garden construction. Throughout the eighteenth century the term was also used to refer to the theater audience who occupied the parterre.
• Balconies or galleries: one or more raised seating platforms towards the rear of the auditorium. In larger theaters, multiple levels are stacked vertically above or behind the stalls. The first level is usually called the dress circle or grand circle. The next level may be the loge, from the French version of loggia. A second tier inserted beneath the main balcony may be the mezzanine. The highest platform, or upper circle is sometimes known as the gods, especially in large opera houses, where the seats can be very high and a long distance from the stage.
• Boxes (state box or stage box): typically placed immediately to the front, side and above the level of the stage. They are often separate rooms with an open viewing area which typically seat five people or fewer. These seats are typically considered the most prestigious of the house. A state box or royal box is sometimes provided for dignitaries.

In addition, many theaters may provide areas specifically designated for the comfort of the audience. These areas include a lobby where tickets and concessions may be sold at the box office, restrooms, and other areas where the audience may promenade and relax before, in between or after performances. These areas may be known collectively as the "Front of House" or FOH.

History of theater construction[link]

The ancient theater at Delphi, Greece

Ancient Greece[link]

Greek theater buildings were called a theatron ('seeing place'). The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three principal elements: the orchestra, the skene, and the audience.

The centerpiece of the theater was the orchestra, or "dancing place", a large circular or rectangular area. The orchestra was the site the choral performances, the religious rites, and, possibly, the acting. An altar was located in the middle of the orchestra; in Athens, the altar was dedicated to Dionysus.

Behind the orchestra was a large rectangular building called the skene (meaning "tent" or "hut"). It was used as a "backstage" area where actors could change their costumes and masks, but also served to represent the location of the plays, which were usually set in front of a palace or house. Typically, there were two or three doors in the skene that led out onto orchestra, and from which actors could enter and exit. At first, the skene was literally a tent or hut, put up for the religious festival and taken down when it was finished. Later, the skene became a permanent stone structure. These structures were sometimes painted to serve as backdrops, hence the English word scenery.

In front of the skene there may have been a raised acting area called the proskenion, the ancestor of the modern proscenium stage. It is possible that the actors (as opposed to the chorus) acted entirely on the proskenion, but this is not certain.

Rising from the circle of the orchestra was the audience. The audience sat on tiers of benches built up on the side of a hill. Greek theaters, then, could only be built on hills that were correctly shaped. A typical theater was enormous, able to seat around 15,000 viewers.

Roman Theater, Orange, France

Greek theaters were not enclosed; the audience could see each other and the surrounding countryside as well as the actors and chorus.

See also: Theatre of Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome[link]

The Romans copied the Greek style of building, but tended not to be so concerned about the location, being prepared to build walls and terraces instead of looking for a naturally-occurring site. (See Roman theater for more.)

Elizabethan England[link]

1596 illustration of Swan Theatre, Southwark, London, showing round structure

During the Elizabethan era in England, theaters were constructed of wooden framing, infilled with wattle and daub and roofed with thatch. They consisted of several floors of covered galleries surrounding a courtyard which was open to the elements. A large portion of the audience would stand in the yard, directly in front of the stage. This layout is said to derive from the practice of holding plays in the yard of an inn. Archaeological excavations of The Rose theater at London's Bankside, built 1587, have shown that it had en external diameter of 72 feet (22 metres). The nearby Globe Theatre (1599) was larger, at 100 feet (30 metres). Other evidence for the round shape is a line in Shakespeare's Henry V which calls the building "this wooden O", and several rough woodcut illustrations of the city of London.

Recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London

Around this time, the green room, a place for actors to wait until required on stage, became common terminology in English theaters.

The Globe has now been rebuilt as a fully working and producing theater near its original site (largely thanks to the efforts of film director Sam Wanamaker) to give modern audiences an idea of the environment for which Shakespeare and other playwrights of the period were writing.

Enclosed theaters[link]

During Italian Renaissance were built the first modern enclosed theaters. Their structure was similar to that of Ancient theaters, with a cavea and an architectural scenery, representing a city street. The oldest surviving examples of this style are the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza (1580) and the Teatro all'antica in Sabbioneta (1590).

At the beginning of XVIIth century theaters had moved indoors and began to resemble the arrangement we see most frequently today, with a stage separated from the audience by a proscenium arch. This coincided with a growing interest in scenic elements painted in perspective, such as those created by Inigo Jones, Nicola Sabbatini and the Galli da Bibiena family. The perspective of these elements could only be viewed properly from the center back of the auditorium, in the so-called "duke's chair." The higher one's status, the closer they would be seated to this vantage point, and the more the accurately they would be able to see the perspective elements.

The first enclosed theaters were court theaters, open only to the sovereigns and the nobility. The first opera house open to the public was the Teatro San Cassiano (1637) in Venice. The Italian opera houses were the model for the subsequent theaters throughout Europe.

German Operatic influence[link]

Richard Wagner placed great importance on "mood setting" elements, such as a darkened theater, sound effects, and seating arrangements (lowering the orchestra pit) which focused the attention of audience on the stage, completely immersing them in the imaginary world of the music drama. These concepts were revolutionary at the time, but they have since come to be taken for granted in the modern operatic environment as well as many other types of theatrical endeavors.

Contemporary theaters[link]

Contemporary theaters are often non-traditional, such as very adaptable spaces, or theaters where audience and performers are not separated. A major example of this is the modular theater, (see for example the Walt Disney Modular Theater). This large theater has floors and walls divided into small movable sections, with the floor sections on adjustable hydraulic pylons, so that the space may be adjusted into any configuration for each individual play. As new styles of theater performance have evolved, so has the desire to improve or recreate performance venues. This applies equally to artistic and presentation techniques, such as stage lighting.

The Alley Theatre, home to the Alley Theatre Company, Houston, Texas

Queen's Theatre (Ganta, Liberia)

Specific designs of contemporary live theaters include proscenium, thrust, black box theater, theater in the round, amphitheater, and arena. In the classical Indian dance, Natya Shastra defines three stage types. In Australia and New Zealand a small and simple theater, particularly one contained within a larger venue, is a theatrette.^[3] The word originated in 1920s London, for a small-scale music venue.^[4]

Theatrical performances can also take place in venues adapted from other purposes, such as train carriages. In recent years the Edinburgh Fringe has seen performances in a lift (elevator) and a taxi.

See also[link]

• Auditorium
• List of fictional theaters
• Parterre (theater audience)
• The Theatre of Small Convenience, the smallest theater in the world

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Theatre buildings

• Carthalia - Theatres on Postcards (pictures of theatres)
• Music Hall and Theatre History Contains archive material on hundreds of British Theatre buildings.

Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet, in 1899

Theatre (in American English usually theater^[1]) is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance. Elements of design and stagecraft are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience.^[2] The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”) and θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”).

Modern Western theatre derives in large measure from ancient Greek drama, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre scholar Patrice Pavis defines theatricality, theatrical language, stage writing, and the specificity of theatre as synonymous expressions that differentiate theatre from the other performing arts, literature, and the arts in general.^[3]

Theatre today includes performances of plays and musicals. Although it can be defined broadly to include opera and ballet, those art forms are outside the scope of this article.

History[link]

Classical and Hellenistic Greece[link]

A master (right) and his slave (left) in a phlyax play, circa 350/340 BCE.

The city-state of Athens is where western theatre originated.^[4] It was part of a broader culture of theatricality and performance in classical Greece that included festivals, religious rituals, politics, law, athletics and gymnastics, music, poetry, weddings, funerals, and symposia.^[5] Participation in the city-state's many festivals—and attendance at the City Dionysia as an audience member (or even as a participant in the theatrical productions) in particular—was an important part of citizenship.^[6] Civic participation also involved the evaluation of the rhetoric of orators evidenced in performances in the law-court or political assembly, both of which were understood as analogous to the theatre and increasingly came to absorb its dramatic vocabulary.^[7] The Greeks also developed the concepts of dramatic criticism, acting as a career, and theatre architecture.^[8] The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three types of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play.^[9]

Athenian tragedy—the oldest surviving form of tragedy—is a type of dance-drama that formed an important part of the theatrical culture of the city-state.^[10] Having emerged sometime during the 6th century BCE, it flowered during the 5th century BCE (from the end of which it began to spread throughout the Greek world), and continued to be popular until the beginning of the Hellenistic period.^[11] No tragedies from the 6th century BCE and only 32 of the more than a thousand that were performed in during the 5th century BCE have survived.^[12] We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.^[13] The origins of tragedy remain obscure, though by the 5th century BCE it was institutionalised in competitions (agon) held as part of festivities celebrating Dionysos (the god of wine and fertility).^[14] As contestants in the City Dionysia's competition (the most prestigious of the festivals to stage drama) playwrights were required to present a tetralogy of plays (though the individual works were not necessarily connected by story or theme), which usually consisted of three tragedies and one satyr play.^[15] The performance of tragedies at the City Dionysia may have begun as early as 534 BCE; official records (didaskaliai) begin from 501 BCE, when the satyr play was introduced.^[16] Most Athenian tragedies dramatise events from Greek mythology, though The Persians—which stages the Persian response to news of their military defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE—is the notable exception in the surviving drama.^[17] When Aeschylus won first prize for it at the City Dionysia in 472 BCE, he had been writing tragedies for more than 25 years, yet its tragic treatment of recent history is the earliest example of drama to survive.^[18] More than 130 years later, the philosopher Aristotle analysed 5th-century Athenian tragedy in the oldest surviving work of dramatic theory—his Poetics (c. 335 BCE).

Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods, "Old Comedy", "Middle Comedy", and "New Comedy". Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes, while Middle Comedy is largely lost (preserved only in relatively short fragments in authors such as Athenaeus of Naucratis). New Comedy is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of Menander. Aristotle defined comedy as a representation of laughable people that involves some kind of blunder or ugliness that does not cause pain or disaster.^[19]

Roman theatre[link]

Mosaic depicting masked actors in a play: two women consult a "witch".

Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans. The Roman historian Livy wrote that the Romans first experienced theatre in the 4th century BCE, with a performance by Etruscan actors.^[20] Beacham argues that they had been familiar with "pre-theatrical practices" for some time before that recorded contact.^[21] The theatre of ancient Rome was a thriving and diverse art form, ranging from festival performances of street theatre, nude dancing, and acrobatics, to the staging of Plautus's broadly appealing situation comedies, to the high-style, verbally elaborate tragedies of Seneca. Although Rome had a native tradition of performance, the Hellenization of Roman culture in the 3rd century BCE had a profound and energizing effect on Roman theatre and encouraged the development of Latin literature of the highest quality for the stage.

Post-classical theatre in the West[link]

Theatre took on many alternate forms in the West between the 15th and 19th centuries, including commedia dell'arte and melodrama. The general trend was away from the poetic drama of the Greeks and the Renaissance and toward a more naturalistic prose style of dialogue, especially following the Industrial Revolution.^[22]

Through the 19th century, the popular theatrical forms of Romanticism, melodrama, Victorian burlesque and the well-made plays of Scribe and Sardou gave way to the problem plays of Naturalism and Realism; the farces of Feydeau; Wagner's operatic Gesamtkunstwerk; musical theatre (including Gilbert and Sullivan's operas); F. C. Burnand's, W. S. Gilbert's and Wilde's drawing-room comedies; Symbolism; proto-Expressionism in the late works of August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen;^[23] and Edwardian musical comedy.

These trends continued through the 20th century in the realism of Stanislavski and Lee Strasberg, the political theatre of Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht, the so-called Theatre of the Absurd of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco, American and British musicals, the collective creations of companies of actors and directors such as Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, experimental and postmodern theatre of Robert Wilson and Robert Lepage, the postcolonial theatre of August Wilson or Tomson Highway, and Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed.

Eastern theatrical traditions[link]

Rakshasa or the demon as depicted in Yakshagana, a form of musical dance-drama from India.

The earliest form of Indian theatre was the Sanskrit theatre.^[24] It began after the development of Greek and Roman theatre and before the development of theatre in other parts of Asia.^[24] It emerged sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 1st century CE and flourished between the 1st century CE and the 10th, which was a period of relative peace in the history of India during which hundreds of plays were written.^[25] Japanese forms of Kabuki, Nō, and Kyōgen developed in the 17th century CE.^[26] Theatre in the medieval Islamic world included puppet theatre (which included hand puppets, shadow plays and marionette productions) and live passion plays known as ta'ziya, where actors re-enact episodes from Muslim history. In particular, Shia Islamic plays revolved around the shaheed (martyrdom) of Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali. Secular plays were known as akhraja, recorded in medieval adab literature, though they were less common than puppetry and ta'ziya theatre.^[27]

Types[link]

Drama[link]

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance.^[28] The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action", which is derived from "to do". The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception.^[29] The early modern tragedy Hamlet (1601) by Shakespeare and the classical Athenian tragedy Oedipus the King (c. 429 BCE) by Sophocles are among the masterpieces of the art of drama.^[30] A modern example is Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill (1956).^[31]

Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's Poetics (c. 335 BCE)—the earliest work of dramatic theory.^[32] The use of "drama" in the narrow sense to designate a specific type of play dates from the 19th century. Drama in this sense refers to a play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedy—for example, Zola's Thérèse Raquin (1873) or Chekhov's Ivanov (1887).

Drama is often combined with music and dance: the drama in opera is generally sung throughout; musicals generally include both spoken dialogue and songs; and some forms of drama have incidental music or musical accompaniment underscoring the dialogue (melodrama and Japanese Nō, for example).^[33] In certain periods of history (the ancient Roman and modern Romantic) some dramas have been written to be read rather than performed.^[34] In improvisation, the drama does not pre-exist the moment of performance; performers devise a dramatic script spontaneously before an audience.^[35]

Musical theatre[link]

Music and theatre have had a close relationship since ancient times—Athenian tragedy, for example, was a form of dance-drama that employed a chorus whose parts were sung (to the accompaniment of an aulos—an instrument comparable to the modern clarinet), as were some of the actors' responses and their 'solo songs' (monodies).^[36] Modern musical theatre is a form of theatre that also combines music, spoken dialogue, and dance. It emerged from comic opera (especially Gilbert and Sullivan), variety, vaudeville, and music hall genres of the late 19th and early 20th century.^[37] After the Edwardian musical comedy that began in the 1890s, the Princess Theatre musicals of the early 20th century, and comedies in the 1920s and 1930s (such as the works of Rodgers and Hammerstein), with Oklahoma! (1943), musicals moved in a more dramatic direction.^[38] Famous musicals over the subsequent decades included My Fair Lady (1956), West Side Story (1957), The Fantasticks (1960), Hair (1967), A Chorus Line (1975), Les Misérables (1980), and The Phantom of the Opera (1986).^[39]

Musical theatre may be produced on an intimate scale Off-Broadway, in regional theatres, and elsewhere, but it often includes spectacle. For instance, Broadway and West End musicals often include lavish costumes and sets supported by multi-million dollar budgets.

Comedy[link]

Theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy. Mosaic, Roman artwork, 2nd century CE.

Theatre productions that use humour as a vehicle to tell a story qualify as comedies. This may include a modern farce such as Boeing Boeing or a classical play such as As You Like It. Theatre expressing bleak, controversial or taboo subject matter in a deliberately humorous way is referred to as black comedy.

Tragedy[link]

Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude;

in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play;

in the form of action, not of narrative;

through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.

—Aristotle, Poetics^[40]

Tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilisation.^[41] That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it.^[42] From its obscure origins in the theatres of Athens 2,500 years ago, from which there survives only a fraction of the work of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, through its singular articulations in the works of Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Racine, and Schiller, to the more recent naturalistic tragedy of Strindberg, Beckett's modernist meditations on death, loss and suffering, and Müller's postmodernist reworkings of the tragic canon, tragedy has remained an important site of cultural experimentation, negotiation, struggle, and change.^[43] In the wake of Aristotle's Poetics (335 BCE), tragedy has been used to make genre distinctions, whether at the scale of poetry in general (where the tragic divides against epic and lyric) or at the scale of the drama (where tragedy is opposed to comedy). In the modern era, tragedy has also been defined against drama, melodrama, the tragicomic, and epic theatre.^[44]

Theories of theatre[link]

Village feast with theatre performance circa 1600.

Having been an important part of human culture for more than 2,500 years, theatre has evolved a wide range of different theories and practices. Some are related to political or spiritual ideologies, while others are based purely on "artistic" concerns. Some processes focus on a story, some on theatre as event, and some on theatre as catalyst for social change. The classical Greek philosopher Aristotle's Poetics (c. 335 BCE) is the earliest-surviving example and its arguments have influenced theories of theatre ever since.^[45] In it, he offers an account of what he calls "poetry" (a term which in Greek literally means "making" and in this context includes drama—comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play—as well as lyric poetry, epic poetry, and the dithyramb). He examines its "first principles" and identifies its genres and basic elements; his analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the discussion.^[46] He argues that tragedy consists of six qualitative parts, which are (in order of importance) mythos or "plot", ethos or "character", dianoia or "thought", lexis or "diction", melos or "song", and opsis or "spectacle".^[47] "Although Aristotle's Poetics is universally acknowledged in the Western critical tradition," Marvin Carlson explains, "almost every detail about his seminal work has aroused divergent opinions."^[48] Important theatre practitioners of the 20th century include Konstantin Stanislavski, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Edward Gordon Craig, Bertolt Brecht, Antonin Artaud, Luís de Sttau Monteiro, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski, Augusto Boal, and Dario Fo.

Stanislavski treated the theatre as an art-form that is autonomous from literature and one in which the playwright's contribution should be respected as that of only one of an ensemble of creative artists.^[49] His innovative contribution to modern acting theory has remained at the core of mainstream western performance training for much of the last century.^[50] That many of the precepts of his 'system' of actor training seem to be common sense and self-evident testifies to its hegemonic success.^[51] Actors frequently employ his basic concepts without knowing they do so.^[51] Thanks to its promotion and elaboration by acting teachers who were former students and the many translations of his theoretical writings, Stanislavski's 'system' acquired an unprecedented ability to cross cultural boundaries and developed an international reach, dominating debates about acting in Europe and America.^[52] Many actors routinely equate his 'system' with the American Method, although the latter's exclusively psychological techniques contrast sharply with Stanislavski's multivariant, holistic and psychophysical approach, which explores character and action both from the 'inside out' and the 'outside in' and treats the actor's mind and body as parts of a continuum.^[53]

Technical aspects of theatre[link]

Theatre presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception.^[29] The production of plays usually involves contributions from a playwright, director, a cast of actors, and a technical production team that includes a scenic or set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, sound designer, stage manager, and production manager. Depending on the production, this team may also include a composer, dramaturg, video designer or fight director.

The technical aspects of theatrical production are described collectively as "stagecraft". This includes, but is not limited to, the construction and rigging of scenery, the hanging and focusing of lighting, the design and procurement of costumes, make-up, sourcing of props, stage management, and recording and mixing of sound. Stagecraft is considered a technical rather than an artistic field, and it relates primarily to the practical implementation of a designer's artistic vision. This distinguishes it from the more recent, wider discipline of scenography.

Stagecraft may be implemented by any number of workers, from a single person (who arranges all scenery, costumes, lighting, sound, and organizes the cast) to hundreds of skilled carpenters, painters, electricians, stagehands, stitchers, wigmakers, and the like. This modern form of stagecraft is highly technical and specialized: it comprises many sub-disciplines and encompasses a vast trove of history and tradition. Regional theatres and larger community theatres will generally have a technical director and a complement of designers, each of whom has a direct hand in their respective designs.

Theatre organization and administration[link]

There are many modern theatre movements which go about producing theatre in a variety of ways.

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London circa 1821

Theatrical enterprise varies enormously in sophistication and purpose. People who are involved vary from professionals to hobbyists to spontaneous novices. Theatre can be performed with no money at all or on a grand scale with multi-million dollar budgets. This diversity manifests in the abundance of theatre sub-categories, which include:

• Broadway theatre and West End theatre
• Community theatre
• Dinner theatre
• Fringe theatre
• Off-Broadway and Off West End
• Off-Off-Broadway
• Regional theatre
• Summer stock theatre

"West End theatre" is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre that is staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End.^[54] Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London.^[33] Total attendances first surpassed 12 million in 2002 and 13 million in 2007, setting a new record for the West End.^[55] Since the late 1990s there has been an increase in the number of famous screen actors on the London stage.

Repertory companies[link]

While most modern theatre companies rehearse one piece of theatre at a time, perform that piece for a set "run", retire the piece, and begin rehearsing a new show, repertory companies rehearse multiple shows at one time. These companies are able to perform these various pieces upon request and often perform works for years before retiring them. Most dance companies operate on this repertory system. The Royal National Theatre in London performs on a repertory system.

Repertory theatre generally involves a group of similarly accomplished actors, and relies more on the reputation of the group than on an individual star actor. It also typically relies less on strict control by a director and less on adherence to theatrical conventions, since actors who have worked together in multiple productions can respond to each other without relying as much on convention or external direction.^[56]

Producing vs. presenting[link]

In order to put on a piece of theatre, both a theatre company and a theatre venue are needed. When a theatre company is the sole company in residence at a theatre venue, this theatre (and its corresponding theatre company) are called a resident theatre or a producing theatre, because the venue produces its own work. Other theatre companies, as well as dance companies, do not have their own theatre venue. These companies perform at rental theatres or at presenting theatres. Both rental and presenting theatres have no full time resident companies. They do, however, sometimes have one or more part time resident companies, in addition to other independent partner companies who arrange to use the space when available. A rental theatre allows the independent companies to seek out the space, while a presenting theatre seeks out the independent companies to support their work by presenting them on their stage.

Some performance groups perform in non-theatrical spaces. Such performances can take place outside or inside, in a non-traditional performance space, and include street theatre, and site specific theatre. Non-traditional venues can be used to create more immersive or meaningful environments for audiences. They can sometimes be modified more heavily than traditional theatre venues, or can accommodate different kinds of equipment, lighting and sets.^[57]

A touring company is an independent theatre or dance company that travels, often internationally, being presented at a different theatre in each city.

Unions[link]

There are many theatre unions including Actors Equity Association (for actors and stage managers), the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE, for designers and technicians). Many theatres require that their staff be members of these organizations.

See also[link]

Theatre portal

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

External links[link]

Look up actor, actress, or player in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Theatre

Wikiversity has learning materials about Collaborative play writing

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of History of Western Theatre: Greeks to Elizabethans

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of History of Western Theatre: 17th Century to Now

• Theatre Archive Project (UK) British Library & University of Sheffield.
• Theater Wikia – An editable database dedicated to all aspects of theatre.
• University of Bristol Theatre Collection
• Music Hall and Theatre History of Britain and Ireland

Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society. From a child's verbal description of a snowflake, to the detailed scientific analysis of the properties of magnetic fields, the concept of structure is now often an essential foundation of nearly every mode of inquiry and discovery in science, philosophy, and art.^[1] In early 20th-century and earlier thought, form^{[disambiguation needed ]} often plays a role comparable to that of structure in contemporary thought. The neo-Kantianism of Ernst Cassirer (cf. his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, completed in 1929 and published in English translation in the 1950s) is sometimes regarded as a precursor of the later shift to structuralism and poststructuralism.^[2]

The description of structure implicitly offers an account of what a system is made of: a configuration of items, a collection of inter-related components or services. A structure may be a hierarchy (a cascade of one-to-many relationships), a network featuring many-to-many links, or a lattice featuring connections between components that are neighbors in space.

Types of structure[link]

Physical structure[link]

In engineering and architecture, a structure is a body or assemblage of bodies in space to form a system capable of supporting loads. Physical structures include man-made and natural arrangements. Buildings, aircraft, soap films, skeletons, anthills, beaver dams and salt domes are all examples of physical structures. The effects of loads on physical structures are determined through structural analysis. Structural engineering refers to engineering of physical structures.

Built structures are a subset of physical structures resulting from construction. These are divided into buildings and nonbuilding structures, and make up the infrastructure of a human society. Built structures are composed of structural elements such as columns, beams and trusses. Built structures are broadly divided by their varying design approaches and standards, into categories including Building structures, Architectural structures, Civil engineering structures and Mechanical structures.

Biological structure[link]

In biology, structures exist at all levels of organization, ranging hierarchically from the atomic and molecular to the cellular, tissue, organ, organismic, population and ecosystem level. Usually, a higher-level structure is composed of multiple copies of a lower-level structure.

Chemical structure[link]

Chemistry is the science treating matter at the atomic to macromolecular scale, the reactions, transformations and aggregations of matter, as well as accompanying energy and entropy changes during these processes. The chemical structure refers to both molecular geometry and to electronic structure. The structural formula of a chemical compound is a graphical representation of the molecular structure showing how the atoms are arranged. A protein structure is the three dimensional coordinates of the atoms within (macro) molecules made of protein.

Musical composition[link]

Music is an art form consisting of sound and silence expressed through time. The term musical form, a type of structure, refers to two related concepts:

• the type of composition (for example, a musical work can have the form of a symphony, a concerto, or other generic type)
• the structure of a particular piece (for example, a piece can be written in binary form, sonata form, as a fugue, etc.)

Social structure[link]

A social structure is a pattern of relations. They are social organizations of individuals in various life situations. Structures are applicable to people in how a society is as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships. This is known as the social organization of the group. Sociologists have studied the changing structure of these groups. Structure and agency are two confronted theories about human behaviour. The debate surrounding the influence of structure and agency on human thought is one of the central issues in sociology. In this context "agency" refers to the capacity of individual humans to act independently and to make their own free choices. "Structure" here refers to those factors such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, customs etc. which seem to limit or influence the opportunities that individuals have.

Data structure[link]

In computer science, a data structure is a way of storing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently. Often a carefully chosen data structure will allow the most efficient algorithm to be used. The choice of the data structure often begins from the choice of an abstract data type. A well-designed data structure allows a variety of critical operations to be performed, using as few resources, both execution time and memory space, as possible. Data structures are implemented in a programming language as data types and the references (e.g. relationships, links and pointers) and operations that are possible with them. For structure tables and structure functions, see data structure.

See also[link]

• Crystal structure
• Data structure
• Mathematical structure
• Building
• Nonbuilding structure
• Structural analysis
• Structural engineering
• Structural geology
• Protein structure
• Biomolecular structure
  • Primary structure
  • Secondary structure
  • Tertiary structure
  • Quaternary structure

References[link]

Mario Maurer
Mario Maurer (มาริโอ้ เมาเร่อ)
Born	Mario Maurer (1988-12-04) 4 December 1988 (age 23) Thailand
Other names	Nuttavut Maurer
Occupation	Actor, model, singer
Years active	2004–present
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website
http://www.ohohmario.com/

Mario Maurer (Thai: มาริโอ้ เมาเร่อ, born December 4, 1988 in Thailand) is a Thai model and actor. He is best known for his lead roles in the 2007 film, The Love of Siam and the 2010 sleeper hit, First Love (A Little Thing Called Love).

Biography[link]

Mario Maurer was born in Bangkok, Thailand. He is of Thai-Chinese and German descent^[1] He attended school at St. Dominic Catholic School in Bangkok and now is studying in Ramkhamhaeng University, majoring in Communication Arts. Mario Maurer is a Roman Catholic.^{[citation needed]} At the age of 16, Maurer became a model doing photo shoots, commercials and music videos. In 2007, he made his feature film debut in a leading role in The Love of Siam, written and directed by Chukiat Sakweerakul.^[2] The role "Tong" brought him many accolades and instant fame far beyond Thailand's borders. Commenting on his new-found fame, "I didn't want to do it, Acting wasn't on my list to do." He decided to do the movie because he trusted the director "Chukiat" and the movie would give him many opportunities. He'd be making money to help his family. He became famous in this film because of his gay role.^[3]

His other work as a model.

The film's promotion did not play up its homosexual romance. Nonetheless, most critics have given extremely positive reviews.^[4] When asked about his kissing scenes with Witwisit Hirunwongkul in The Love of Siam, Maurer said, "I was nervous. I've never kissed a man and kissing is not something you do every day."^[5] Maurer has been nominated for an Asian Film Awards in the category of Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Love of Siam, but lost to Sun Hong-Lei for Mongol.^[6] He won the Best Actor award in Southeast Asian film category at the 10th Cinemanila International Film Festival. His performance was described as "Mature acting choices within a wide range of situations. Beneath a calm and placid external demeanor his performance he displayed a rich inner struggle dealing with emotional burdens, with family, friends, his social circle and his romantic and sexual awakening."^[7]

He won the Best Actor award in Starpics Thai Films Awards and also nominated in Bangkok Critics Assembly and Star Entertainment Awards.^[8]

Director Bhandit Rittakol had approached Maurer for Boonchu 9, but he was tied up with other projects.^[9] He has been cast in the 2008 film by Chatchai Naksuriya, Friendship. The film is set around 1983. Maurer starring opposite Apinya Sakuljaroensuk,^[10] as 12th grade student. That same year he appeared in a segment of the four-story anthology 4 Romance (segment "Joob" or Kiss) directed by Rashane Limtrakul^[11] Maurer's projects after 2008 include a comedy-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak, Rahtree Reborn, scheduled for release in April 2009, in which he starred opposite Chermarn Boonyasak.^[12]

Maurer gained popularity after he starred in the 2010 film First Love (A Little Thing Called Love).

Other work[link]

Maurer (right) with his brother and his mother

His brother Marco, teamed up in a hip-hop duo "PsyCho & Lil’Mario" with Mario. They have released their debut PsyCho & Lil’Mario: Dem Crazy Boyz on October 31, 2007.^[13] He worked as a hypeman in this album. But Maurer later described "It was just for fun. I know myself – I'm not a singer. That's not my dream."^[3]n

Maurer participated in endorsements for the first time for Exit Rollon and other popular brands such as The Pizza Company, Sugus, Foremost and now he acted as the presenter for Honda Jazz,^[14] Pepsi, Dutchmill and Sony Ericsson. In July 2011, he was signed to become an endorser for the Philippine clothing brand, Penshoppe ^[15] He also signed a one movie picture contract with Star Cinema, a Philippine film production company. He will be paired with Erich Gonzales in the film that is due to release in 2012.^[16][16] On October 28, 2011, Maurer had a Press and Fan Conference in Philippine International Convention Center with thousands of fans in attendance, as a part of his official launch as a Penshoppe endorser.^[17] On October 29, he hit the runway at the Philippine Fashion Week held at SMX Convention Center.^[18][19]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mario Maurer

• Official website
• Mario Maurer on Twitter
• Mario Maurer at the Internet Movie Database

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza in-action in her second round singles match at the 2011 French Open
Country	India
Residence	Hyderabad, India
Born	(1986-11-15) 15 November 1986 (age 25) Bombay, India (now Mumbai)
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb; 9 st 0 lb)
College	St. Mary's College
Turned pro	3 February 2003
Retired	Active
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US$ 2,478,417
Official web site	http://www.saniamirza.com/
Singles
Career record	W-L / 267–159
Career titles	1 WTA, 14 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 27 (27 August 2007)
Current ranking	No. 184 (16 April 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2005, 2008)
French Open	2R (2007, 2011)
Wimbledon	2R (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009)
US Open	4R (2005)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (2008)
Doubles
Career record	226-118
Career titles	14 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 7 (30 January 2012)
Current ranking	No. 9 (16 April 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2012)
French Open	F (2011)
Wimbledon	SF (2011)
US Open	QF (2007)
Other Doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2008)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	1
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	W (2009)
French Open	2R (2007)
Wimbledon	QF (2011)
US Open	QF (2007)
Last updated on: 13 February 2012.

Medal record
Women's Tennis
Competitor for  India
Afro-Asian Games
Gold	2003 Hyderabad	Singles
Gold	2003 Hyderabad	Women's Doubles
Gold	2003 Hyderabad	Mixed Doubles
Gold	2003 Hyderabad	Team
Asian Games
Gold	2006 Doha	Mixed Doubles
Silver	2006 Doha	Singles
Silver	2006 Doha	Team
Silver	2010 Guangzhou	Mixed Doubles
Bronze	2010 Guangzhou	Singles
Bronze	2002 Busan	Mixed Doubles
Commonwealth Games
Silver	2010 Delhi	Singles
Bronze	2010 Delhi	Women's Doubles

Sania Mirza (Hindi: सानिया मिर्जा, Telugu: సానియా మీర్జా, Urdu: ثانیہ مرزا ) (born 15 November 1986, in Bombay) is a professional Indian tennis player. She began her tennis career in 2003 and is well known for her powerful forehand ground strokes. She is the first ever Indian to break into the top 30 WTA rankings in singles and top 10 in doubles. Mirza has defeated many top players, including Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli and Former World No. 1's Martina Hingis & Dinara Safina.

Mirza has won one WTA singles title so far, at Hyderabad in 2005. She has won one Grand Slam title: the mixed doubles event at the 2009 Australian Open. She was also the runner-up on two other Grand Slam occasions: the mixed doubles event at 2008 Australian Open and the women's doubles event at Roland Garros 2011.

In 2004 she was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian Government. In 2006, Mirza was awarded a Padma Shri, India's fourth highest honour for her achievements as a tennis player.^[1] In March 2010, The Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the "33 women who made India proud".^[2] Mirza was also the most searched Indian sportsperson on Google in 2009. In addition, Mirza was one named one of the '50 heroes of Asia' by the Time Magazine (2005).

Early life[link]

Mirza was born to Imran Mirza, a sports journalist, and his wife Nasima in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She was brought up in Hyderabad in a religious family.^[3][4][5] Mirza began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father. She attended NASR school in Hyderabad and later graduated from St. Mary's College. She is married to the Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.^[6][7]

Mirza received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai on 2008-12-11.^[8] Her niece, Sonia Baig Mirza, studies there.

Career[link]

Mirza is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 7 in doubles. She is the third Indian woman to be featuring at a Grand Slam tournament (the first one being Nirupama Vaidyanathan at the 1998 Australian Open and the second being Shikha Uberoi at the 2004 US Open.) She is the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament and the first Indian woman to win a WTA title.

Junior career[link]

Mirza won 10 singles and 13 doubles titles in her Junior career. She also won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, partnering Alisa Kleybanova. She also reached the semifinals of the 2003 French Open Girls' Doubles, with Sanaa Bhambri, and the quarterfinals of the 2002 US Open Girls' Doubles, with Isha Lakhani.

2001[link]

On 16 April 2001, Mirza made her debut at an ITF $10,000 event in Chandigarh, as a wildcard receiver. She crushed Geeta Manohar, in the first round, 6–0, 6–1 before falling to Karen Paterson in the second round, 6–3, 6–4. The following week, She played at an another ITF $10,000 event in Pune, where she beat Kamini Murugaboopathy and Jyotsna Vasisht before falling to Sai-Jayalakshmy Jayaram 6–0, 6–4 in the quarterfinals.

On only her third (and her last event of 2001), Mirza reached the semifinals of a ITF $10,000 event in New Delhi without dropping a set, by defeating Radhika Mandke, Geeta Manohar and Isha Lakhani, before losing to eventual champion Rushmi Chakravarthi, 6–7(1), 6–2, 6–3.

2002[link]

In February 2002, Mirza played at an ITF $10,000 event in Mumbai but lost the First Round to eventual finalist American Sunitha Rao. Her next tournament was the qualifying draw of an ITF $25,000 event in New Delhi. She defeated Archana Venkataraman and Sai-Jayalakshmy Jayaram before falling to Chinese Liu Jing-Jing.

In February on only her fifth tournament, Mirza won her first ITF singles title at her hometown Hyderabad, beating Akgul Amanmuradova 6–1, 6–2  in the final of the $10,000 event.

In November, Mirza also won the titles of her next two tournaments in Manila, beating Wang I-Ting and Amanmuradova, respectively. Mirza also won the bronze medal at the 2002 Busan Asian Games in mixed doubles, partnering Leander Paes.

In December, Mirza played at a $25,000 event in Mumbai, falling to Dominika Luzarová. Next, at a $10,000 event in Pune, she lost to Jennifer Schmidt.

2003[link]

In February, Mirza was given a wildcard to play in her first WTA tournament, at the AP Tourism Hyderabad Open, in her hometown. She lost in the first round to Evie Dominikovic, 6–2, 1–6, 2–6. The following week, at the Qatar Ladies Open, she fell to Olga Blahotova in the first qualifying round. Next up, she won two $10,000 titles in Benin City, Nigeria, defeating Franziska Etzel and Anca Anastasiu in each final.

In April, Mirza played for the India Fed Cup team, winning all three singles matches. 

In September, Mirza played at a $25,000 event in Peachtree City, United States, where she lost to Marta Domachowska in the second qualifying round.   In October, Mirza won her sixth ITF singles title, defeating Rushmi Chakravarthi in the finals of a $10,000 event in Jakarta. She also reached the semifinals of a $10,000 event, also in Jakarta, with wins over Yuan Meng, Eny Sulistyowati and Wilawan Choptang, before losing to Montinee Tangphong.

In November, Mirza participated at a $25,000 event in Mumbai, where she reached the quarterfinals by defeating Liza Pereira and Sonal Phadke, before falling to Isha Lakhani.

Mirza also picked up 4 gold medals at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games- in singles, women's doubles, mixed doubles and team.

2004[link]

At her hometown event, the 2004 AP Tourism Hyderabad Open, Mirza was a wildcard receiver. She put up a good fight against the fourth seed and eventual champion Nicole Pratt in round one, but lost 6–4, 3–6, 2–6. But she won her first WTA doubles title here, partnering Liezel Huber. 

She also got a wildcard to  play at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Casablanca, Morocco, but suffered a first round deficit to eventual champion Émilie Loit.

Mirza also had a runner-up showing at the Palm Beach Gardens Challenger, where she fell to Sessil Karatantcheva.

In addition, Mirza won 6 ITF singles titles in 2004.

2005[link]

Mirza started her year off as a wildcard receiver at the Moorilla Hobart International in Hobart. She fell to Cara Black in the second qualifying round.

Mirza defeated Cindy Watson and Petra Mandula at the Australian Open, before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams in the third round.

In February, Mirza became the first ever Indian women to win a WTA title, by winning her hometown event, the 2005 AP Tourism Hyderabad Open, defeating ninth seeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko in the final, 6–4, 5–7, 6–3.

Her good-form continued at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was a wildcard. Mirza, ranked No.94 then, defeated Jelena Kostanić in the first round. In the second round, Mirza upset 4th seed, reigning US Open champion and the Australian Open quarterfinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, in straight sets. Mirza was down 0–4 in the first set, but won 6 straight games and the second set to win 6–4, 6–2. This raised her ranking to No.78.

Next she lost in the first round of the Roland Garros to Gisela Dulko. At Wimbledon, she defeated Akiko Morigami to reach the second round, where she lost to Kuznetsova.

In August, she reached the third round at the Acura Classic, falling to Morigami. Next Mirza reached the final of the Forest Hills Tennis Classic, beating Shahar Pe'er, Roberta Vinci and Alexa Glatch, before falling to Lucie Šafářová in the final.

Mirza became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the U.S. Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli.

At the Japan Open, Mirza reached the semifinals with wins over Vilmarie Castellvi, Aiko Nakamura and Vera Zvonareva. She lost to Tatiana Golovin in the semis.

2006[link]

Sania Mirza at the 2006 US Open

Mirza reached the second round of the Australian Open, falling to Michaëlla Krajicek. Next she fell to Camille Pin at the Bangalore Open, but won the doubles title partnering Huber.

She played at the Dubai Tennis Championships but lost to Martina Hingis. 

At the Indian Wells Masters, she reached the third round but lost to Elena Dementieva. She also lost in the first round of the French Open Grand Slam to Anastasia Myskina.

Her next tournament was the DFS Classic, where she defeated Alona Bondarenko and Shenay Perry to reach the third round, where she was overpowered by Meilen Tu. She also reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters and the third round of the Acura Classic, falling to Patty Schnyder and Elena Dementieva, respectively.

She reached the second round of the US Open, losing to Francesca Schiavone. In September, she reached the semifinals of the Sunfeast Open, losing to eventual champion and top seed Martina Hingis. She also won the doubles title there partnering Huber. Mirza made the quarterfinals of the Hansol Korea Open and the Tashkent Open.

In December, Mirza picked up three medals at the 2006 Doha Asian Games- Gold, in mixed doubles and Silver in women's singles and team

As of September 2006, Mirza has notched up three top ten wins- against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis.

2007[link]

Sania Mirza at the 2007 Australian Open

Mirza started 2007 strongly, making it to the semifinals of Hobart, the second round of the Australian Open, semifinals in Pattaya, and the quarterfinals in Bangalore.

At the French Open, Mirza lost to the battle against Ana Ivanović in the second round. She also fell in the second round at the Wimbledon Championships to Nadia Petrova.

Mirza had had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the 2007 U.S. Open Series standings. She reached the semifinals at Cincinnati. She also reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic and won the doubles event with Shahar Pe'er, and reached the quarterfinals of the Tier 1 Acura Classic.

At the 2007 U.S. Open, she reached the third round before losing to Anna Chakvetadze for the third time in recent weeks. She fared much better in the doubles, reaching the quarterfinals in mixed with her partner Mahesh Bhupathi and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles with Bethanie Mattek, including a win over number two seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. She won four doubles titles in 2007.

2008[link]

Mirza reached the quarter-finals at Hobart as No. 6 seed. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in three sets. She reached the third round at the Australian Open as No.31 seed, where she lost to No.8 seed Venus Williams 7–6(0) 6–4, having led 5–3 in the first set. She was runner-up in the Australian Open mixed doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi where they lost 7–6(4), 6–4 to Sun Tiantian and Nenad Zimonjić.

She withdrew from the Pattaya Open because of a left adductor strain.

Mirza reached the 4r at Indian Wells as No.21 seed, defeating No.9 seed Shahar Pe'er en route, but lost to No.5 seed Daniela Hantuchová.

On Grass, Mirza lost in the second round of Birmingham to Marina Erakovic of New Zealand. At Wimbledon, as No.32 seed, Mirza was defeated by qualifier María José Martínez Sánchez, 6–0, 4–6, 9–7 in round two, having had several match points.

Mirza was eliminated in the first round of the 2008 Summer Olympics when she retired in her match against Iveta Benešová because of a right wrist injury. For doubles, she got a walkover through the first round with Sunitha Rao, but lost in the second round to Russian teamn of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina. 

Throughout 2008, Mirza was plagued by a slew of wrist injuries, requiring her to withdraw from several matches including those of the Roland Garros and US Open Grand Slams.

2009[link]

Sania Mirza at the 2009 US Open

Mirza started her year by playing at the Moorilla Hobart International doubles only. Partnering Francesca Schiavone, they reached the quarterfinals. At 2009 Australian Open she won her first round match against Marta Domachowska, next she fell against 10th seed Nadia Petrova. In doubles she lost in first round partnering Vania King. But in mixed doubles Mirza picked up her first Grand Slam title at the 2009 Australian Open. Partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi, they beat Nathalie Dechy & Andy Ram 6–3, 6–1 in the final.

She then entered the Pattaya Women's Open Tournament in Bangkok where she reached the finals after a string of good performances. She lost the finals to Vera Zvonareva 7–5, 6–1. She made the semis in doubles in the same tournament.

Mirza then competed in the BNP Paribas Open where she lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta. She then participated in the Miami Masters and lost to Mathilde Johansson of France in the first round. Mirza and her doubles partner Chia-jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei made the semifinals of the doubles event. Mirza lost in the first round of the MPS Group Championships but won the doubles title with Chuang. She lost in the first round at Roland Garros, losing to Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva. 

On grass, Mirza parrticipated in the 2009 AEGON Classic and reached the semifinals, losing to Magdaléna Rybáriková of Slovakia 3–6,6–0,6–3, who eventually won the title. At Wimbledon, Mirza defeated Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the first round. She then fell to No.28 Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. She then lost in the second round of the doubles (with Chuang) and mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi). 

Next Mirza went to Lexington to compete in Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships. Mirza had a good first round win, defeating María Fernanda Álvarez Terán in straight sets, and followed it up with another over Tetiana Luzhanska. In the quarterfinals, Mirza was leading 5–2 when her opponent, Lindsay Lee-Waters, retired due to injury. She beat Yuan Meng in the semifinal, and in straight sets won the title defeating top seed Julie Coin of France. 

Mirza's next two tournaments were in Canada, where she had mixed results. She managed it all the way to the final at the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open where she was beaten by Stephanie Dubois. At the Rogers Cup, she fell to Heidi El Tabakh in the second qualifying round.

Next playing in the U.S Open, she defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round but lost 6–0, 6–0 to 10th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy. She also lost in the second round of the doubles event (partnering Francesca Schiavone) to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko.

Mirza qualified for the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo but lost in the first round to Zheng Jie. Mirza won the first set but could not hold the lead, eventually losing to the Chinese player 7–5, 2–6, 3–6.

At Osaka, Mirza won her first round match against 5th seed Shahar Pe'er 3–6, 6–3, 6–4. Mirza then defeated Viktoriya Kutuzova 6–4, 6–3 and in the quarterfinal she defeated 2nd seed Marion Bartoli 6–4, 2–0 by retirement. Bartoli conceded her match and Mirza moved on to the semifinal. She lost to Francesca Schiavone of Italy.

2010[link]

Sania Mirza at the 2010 US Open

Mirza began her year at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She won her first round match against Stefanie Vögele in three sets, but was crushed by 4th seed Francesca Schiavone in the second round. Mirza then suffered two first-round losses at the Moorilla Hobart International and the Australian Open. 

In February, Mirza competed in the 2010 PTT Pattaya Open as the 6th seed, but lost to Tatjana Malek 6–3, 4–6, 3–6. She then played in the Dubai Tennis Championships but suffered a first round defeat to Anabel Medina Garrigues. Mirza was forced to withdraw from the Sony Ericcson Open and BNP Paribas Open due to a right wrist injury. This injury also caused her to pull out of the French Open. 

She returned at the AEGON Classic, where she lost in the second round to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the three sets. Mirza then fell in the qualifying at Eastbourne and also lost in the first round of Wimbledon.

Her bad form continued, as she lost in the second round of the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open and qualifying rounds of both the Cincinnati Masters and the Rogers Cup.

She then competed at the US Open where she easily beat Michelle Larcher De Brito 6–3, 6–2 in the first round. In next round she went down to 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–2, 6–4.

In September Mirza competed in the 2010 Guangzhou International Women's Open. In the first round she defeated Katie Obrien 6–3, 1–6, 6–2. Next she defeated 3rd seed Akgul Amanmuradova 6–4, 6–3 to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost fighting to Zhang Shuai 6–4, 1–6, 6–4. She then lost in the first round of the Tashkent Open and the qualifying draw of the BGL Luxembourg Open. She also lost in round one of the OEC Taipei Ladies Open to Bojana Jovanovski, but was runner-up in doubles with Hsieh Su-wei.

In October, she represented India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games as the 2nd seed. She defeated Brittany Teei (Cook Islands), Marina Erakovic (New Zealand), and Olivia Rogowska (Australia) before losing to Australia's Anastasia Rodionova in the final. In doubles, she partnered with fellow Indian Rushmi Chakravarthi, losing in the semifinals to Australians Anastasia Rodionova and Sally Peers. Mirza and Chakravarthi beat fellow Indians Poojashree Venkatesha and Nirupama Sanjeev to win the bronze medal.

In November, she represented India at the 2010 Asian Games. The unseeded Indian defeated Chan Venise Wing-yau in first round. Next she defeated 6th seed Zhang Shuai in straight sets 6–2, 6–2 to enter into quarterfinal. In quarterfinal Mirza won against 2nd seed Tamarine Tanasugarn 6–2,6–3 to move in semi final, where she went down fighting to 3rd seed Akgul Amanmuradova 7–6(7), 3–6, 4–6 and won Bronze Medal in singles. In Mixed Doubles she partnered with India's Vishnu Vardhan losing in the finals to Chan Yung-jan and Yang Tsung-hua and won Silver Medal.

In December, she went to Dubai to compete at the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge. Coming unseeded, she won the tournament, defeating 6th seed Ksenia Pervak, top seed Julia Görges & 8th seed Evgeniya Rodina en route, and 2nd seed Bojana Jovanovski in the final.

2011[link]

Sania Mirza at the 2011 Citi Open

Ranked at no.141, Mirza kicked-off her year with the ASB Classic in Auckland. She needed one more win to qualify for the tournament, but lost in three sets against Sabine Lisicki. In doubles, she partnered Renata Voráčová of Czech Republic and reached the semifinals, but lost to Katarina Srebotnik and Kveta Peschke.

Going into the Australian Open, Mirza went down fighting to former world no. 1 Justine Henin in a tight three-setter 5–7, 6–3, 6–1 in the first round. She partnerd Voracova for doubles but lost in the first round also.

She received wildcards to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open. She made the second rounds of both events, falling to Ayumi Morita and Jelena Janković, respectively. She also was the quarterfinalist in doubles at both, with Russian Elena Vesnina.

At the Premier Mandatory events in March, Mirza made the second rounds in both. In doubles, she won her first Premier Mandatory title at Indian Wells, with Vesnina, defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy.

Mirza participated at the Premier-level Family Circle Cup in Charleston. In singles, she made her first Premier quarterfinal since San Diego in August 2007. In doubles, Mirza won the title with Vesnina: the Indo-Russian duo beat Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy in the final for the second time this season. Mirza won her 11th WTA Tour Doubles Title and second of the year.

Next, she also competed at the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open, losing in the first round against doubles partner Elena Vesnina. In doubles, with Vesnina, she managed to go up to the third round. Mirza took part in the 2011 Sparta Prague Open, but had to retire in her first round match against Aleksandra Krunic due to a back injury. Next she played at the 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg, but suffered a first round lost Alize Cornet.

Mirza breezed through the first round of the French Open where she beat Kristina Barrois in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3. Then in Round 2, she lost to 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 2–6, 4–6. In doubles, Mirza had what was probabaly the greatest highlight of her career- she was the runner-up with Vesnina to Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.

At Wimbledon, Mirza made the semifinals of doubles with Vesnina and the quarterfinals in mixed doubles with Rohan Bopanna. She also made the third round of the US Open in doubles with Vesnina. At the 2011 Citi Open, Mirza won the doubles title with Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

After Roland Garros, Mirza suffered six straight main draw losses, including the Wimbledon Championships and US Open grand slams. An knee injury stopped Mirza from playing the rest of the season. She ended the year ranked at No. 104.

2012[link]

Mirza kicked-off her 2012 season ranked 104th at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. She lost a tough 6–1, 5–7, 3–6 first qualifying match against Coco Vandeweghe. As for doubles, she partnered Elena Vesnina and made it to the semifinals, losing to Julia Görges and Flavia Pennetta. Her next tournament was in Sydney where she played doubles only alongside Italian Roberta Vinci, but lost in round one.

Going into the Australian Open, Mirza was overpowered by Tsvetana Pironkova 4–6, 2–6 in the first round. In doubles, Mirza reached her third Grand Slam semifinal, partnering Vesnina, where they fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva. For the mixed doubles event, Mirza played alongside compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and reached her 4th Grand Slam semifinal.

Mirza then represented India at the Fed Cup in Shenzhen, China where they were facing Hong Kong. In singles, she defeated Zhang Ling 5–7, 6–0, 6–1. Partnering with Isha Lakhani, the pair beat Chan Wing-Yau Venise and Zhang 6–7(7), 6–1, 7–5. With this performance, India advanced to the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I for 2013. Mirza then played at the PTT Pattaya Open where she won her first WTA main draw match since Roland Garros 2011- coming from a set down to upset Ayumi Morita (ranked 47 spots higher), 3–6, 6–1, 6–2. In second round she beat Anne Keothavong 6–4, 7–5 to enter in Quarter Final, where she lost to Su-Wei Hsieh. In doubles with Australian Anastasia Rodionova she won her 13th WTA title: they defeated the Taiwanese sisters Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan 3-6, 6-1, 10-8

Mirza then went to Doha to play at the Qatar Ladies Open where she had to withdraw from the singles qualifying event, due to playing Pattaya doubles final. She lost in the second round of doubles with Vesnina. Then, in Dubai, she was beaten by Aleksandra Wozniak in the first qualifying round. In doubles, Mirza and Vesnina are were runners-up against No.1 seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. Mirza then lost a tough 2–6, 6–1, 4–6 encounter to Eleni Daniilidou in Round 1 of the BMW Malaysian Open.

Playing doubles at the Premier-line up of Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston, Mirza reached the final, lost in round one and made the quarters, respectively. She also reached round two of singles in Indian Wells. She then would begin the European Clay Court Season at the 2012 Estoril Open, where she was the semifinalist in doubles (with Anastasia Rodionova). She lost in round 2 of doubles in Madrid and also in Rome.

Mirza returned on the singles circuit in May at the 2012 Brussels Open where she won three good matches- including her first 'double bagel'- in the qualifying competition, where she beat  Lesia Tsurenko by 6–0, 6–0, who was ranked 87 spots higher than she.

Personal life[link]

Sania with husband Shoaib Malik

In 2009, Sania Mirza became engaged to childhood friend Sohrab Mirza. However the engagement was called off shortly after. Then, she dated Faizan Udyawar, who is a multimillionaire businessman, for six months. Since she wanted to marry a sportsperson, she started seeing Shoaib Malik.^[9] Mirza married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on 12 April 2010.^[10][11] The wedding was held in Hyderabad, India, followed by a ceremony in Sialkot, Pakistan and a Walima ceremony in Lahore, Pakistan. The online attention the wedding received made Mirza the most searched woman tennis player in 2010 according to Google Trends.^[12] The couple planned to settle down in Dubai. The wedding was even more controversial because Shoaib Malik was accused by another girl of already being married to him and hence he could not marry Mirza without first divorcing her. Initially for many days, Shoiab Malik refused to grant the divorce claiming he was never married. This resulted in a huge media drama leading to so much online attention as stated earlier. Finally, having no other option, Shoaib divorced the girl paving the way for his next marriage to Mirza.^[13]

Controversy[link]

The short tennis clothes she has to wear in the court has drawn criticism from some Muslim religious group.^[5] According to one report published 8 September 2005, an unnamed Muslim scholar had issued a ruling, saying that women's tennis attire is not suited to Islam.^[14] Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind rejected rumours about disrupting her game saying that they do not stop anyone from playing, although they found female tennis players' dress code objectionable. Nevertheless, Calcutta police tightened security measures to protect her.^[15] 

After Mirza spoke at a conference on safe sex in November 2005, some groups said she was detached from Islam and that she was a "corrupting influence on the youth." Mirza clarified her stance by saying that she was opposed to pre-marital sex.^[16]

In 2006, some newspapers reported that Mirza declined to play doubles with Israeli tennis player Shahar Pe'er for fear of protests from India's Muslim community.^[16] However, when she teamed up with Pe'er for the 2007 WTA Tour of Stanford, California, there was no reaction. 

Mirza was pictured resting her feet and showing the soles of her bare feet as she watched compatriot Rohan Bopanna play in the 2008 Hopman Cup, with an Indian flag in front.^[17] She faced possible prosecution under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act after a private citizen complained. Mirza protested, "I love my country, I wouldn't be playing Hopman Cup otherwise."

On 4 February 2008, Mirza said that she would stop appearing in tennis tournaments held in India, starting with the 2008 Bangalore Open the following month, citing the series of controversies and upon advice by her manager.^[18]

But Mirza chose to participate at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. This time, she faced no controversies, but instead the public was happy that she has started to play at major tournaments in India.

Career statistics[link]

Major finals[link]

Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina were one of the most victorious doubles team in 2011, by winning two Premier Level titles, reaching the Roland Garros Finals, the Wimbledon Semis and many other quarterfinals and semifinals.

Grand Slam events[link]

Women's Doubles: 1 (0-1)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
Runner-up	2011	French Open	Clay	Elena Vesnina	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	4–6, 3–6

Mixed Doubles: 2 (1-1)[link]