The history of theatre has often been written as a history of great writers, actors, or directors. This book takes a different approach: The contributors examine the history of performance from the perspective of theatre spaces and stage technologies. Art, literature, religion, law, urbanism, architecture, technology - this interdisciplinary book discusses how these fields relate to theatre and performance. Geographically, it covers a significant portion of the globe; chronologically, it ranges from ancient times to the present. This book provides a timely attempt to combine cultural and global history.

Yuji Nawata, born in 1964, studied German literature at the University of Tokyo, where he completed his PhD in 1994. He was habilitated in culture science at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2011. Since 2002, he has been a professor at the Department of German Studies of Chuo University in Tokyo. Hans Joachim Dethlefs, born in 1952, received his doctorate from Philipps-Universität Marburg and works as a professor at the Department of German Studies at Chuo University, Tokyo. Publications, among others, include the following: 'Der Wohlstand der Kunst: Ökonomische, sozialethische und eudämonistische Sinnperspektiven im frühneuzeitlichen Umgang mit dem Schönen' (Tokyo 2010). His research focuses on the evolution of Northern European art terminologies following Italian art theory.