This is a brief edition of the most successful theatre history book on the market today providing a trimmer, less expensive, and more accessible paperback version. provides the same full coverage of world theatre as the original. The histories of African and Asian theatre are given their own units, ensuring their unique developments will not be obscured within the coverage of Western theatre. Chapters have been trimmed to make them easier to cover but have also been revised to provide up-to-date and accurate information that is hallmark. This paperback edition is extensively illustrated.