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Béjart

(Encyclopedia)Béjart or Béjard both: bāzhärˈ [key], French family of actors associated with Molière, who joined their amateur company, Les Enfants de Famille. Their professional debut in Paris (1643) was as t...

Wilson, Lanford

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Lanford, 1937–2011, American playwright, b. Lebanon, Mo. An important figure in modern drama, he was a master of earthy, realistic dialogue in which monologue, conversation, and direct addre...

Watteau, Jean-Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Watteau, Jean-Antoine wätōˈ, Fr. zhäNˈ-äNtwäNˈ vätōˈ [key], 1684–1721, French painter of Flemish descent, b. Valenciennes. Until 1704 poverty forced him to work in the shops of mediocre a...

Reinhardt, Max

(Encyclopedia)Reinhardt, Max, 1873–1943, Austrian theatrical producer and director, originally named Max Goldmann. After acting under Otto Brahm at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, he managed (1902–5) his own t...

Ansbach

(Encyclopedia)Ansbach änsˈbäkh [key], city, capital of Middle Franconia, Bavaria, S Germany, on the Rezat River. A rail and road junction, Ansbach has diversified industries, includi...

Kloster-Zeven, Convention of

(Encyclopedia)Kloster-Zeven, Convention of klôsˈtər-tsāˈfən [key], 1757. Early in the Seven Years War the English army, under the command of the duke of Cumberland, son of George II, was defeated by the Frenc...

Vendôme

(Encyclopedia)Vendôme, town (1990 pop. 18,359), Loir-et-Cher dept., N central France, in Orléanais. It is a manufacturing town with food processing, computer, and metal and electrical industries. The town develop...

Bec

(Encyclopedia)Bec bĕk [key], former Benedictine abbey, near the village of Bec-Hellouin, Eure dept., N France, in Normandy. Founded in the 11th cent. by Lanfranc, and later directed by Anselm, who became (1078) th...

Schwäbisch Hall

(Encyclopedia)Schwäbisch Hall shvĕbˈĭsh häl [key] or Hall, city (1994 pop. 33,892), Baden-Württemberg, S Germany, on the Kocher River. It is a rail junction and has manufactures in building materials, textile...

directing

(Encyclopedia)directing, the art of leading dramatic performances on the stage or in films. The modern theatrical director is in complete charge of all the artistic aspects of a dramatic presentation. It is the dir...