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Foote, Horton

(Encyclopedia)Foote, Horton (Albert Horton Foote, Jr.), 1916–2009, American playwright and screenwriter, b. Wharton, Tex. He studied acting and acted in California and New York, and wrote his first one-act play i...

Asian drama

(Encyclopedia)Asian drama, dramatic works produced in the East. Of the three major Asian dramas—Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese—the oldest is Sanskrit, although the dates of its origin are uncertain. See also Sansk...

Fredro, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Fredro, Alexander äˌlĕksänˈdĕr frĕˈdrô [key], 1793–1876, Polish comic dramatist. From 1809 to 1814, Fredro served in the Polish regiments of Napoleon I's army, taking part in the invasion o...

Hrotswith von Gandersheim

(Encyclopedia)Hrotswith rôsvēˈtä fən gänˈdərs-hīm [key], 10th-century German dramatist, a nun. Of a noble Saxon family, Hrotswith was well educated. Her long epic poems—one including a fragment on Empero...

nominalism

(Encyclopedia)nominalism, in philosophy, a theory of the relation between universals and particulars. Nominalism gained its name in the Middle Ages, when it was contrasted with realism. The problem arises because i...

Barrett, Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Barrett, Lawrence bârˈət [key], 1838–91, American actor, b. Paterson, N.J. An excellent romantic actor, he is best remembered for his portrayal of Cassius to the Brutus of Edwin Booth. Barrett ma...

Gosson, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Gosson, Stephen gŏsˈĭn [key], 1554–1624, English writer, b. Canterbury, grad. Oxford, 1576. He wrote three plays, all of which are lost and none of which seems to have been successful. He is best...

Fitch, Clyde

(Encyclopedia)Fitch, Clyde (William Clyde Fitch), 1865–1909, American dramatist, b. Elmira, N.Y. An extremely prolific and versatile playwright, he wrote over 36 original plays, including melodramas, farces, soci...