The 18th century was called the Age of Enlightenment, due to the great development achieved by human thought in all branches of knowledge during that period.

During the first half of the century, the figure of Benito Jerónimo Feijoo, a relevant writer, stood out in Spanish theater.

French theater in the 18th century featured three fundamental genres: tragedy, comedy, and bourgeois drama, also known as serious drama or tearful comedy, a genre that emerged during this period. One of the century’s most brilliant thinkers was Denis Diderot, the creator of bourgeois drama.

Large theaters were built with several floors of boxes and galleries, and they also featured successive sets that were changed with each act. Transformations were made, such as changing the arrangement of actors on stage due to the concept of symmetry; and candlelight was replaced by oil lamps.

Around this time, Guilbert de Pixérécourt created and perfected melodrama, a theatrical genre that has transcended the ages. It featured a plot filled with coincidences and contrasting values, with positive values ​​triumphing. Each character in the play had a musical theme, featuring a prominent instrument. This theme provided the characters with a distinctive identity.

Melodrama was written in prose; it addressed contemporary themes, situations, and characters from a social perspective. This genre spread throughout Europe until the first three decades of the 19th century, due to its great success.

In the 18th century, other theatrical genres also emerged, such as comic opera and vaudeville. The latter featured fixed characters (the wife, the cuckolded husband, the lover, and the servant); it wasn’t until a century later that it achieved its peak.

In the Old Continent, several actors stood out, among them Francis Joseph Talma, one of the great French actors of the 1950s, as he implemented significant reforms, including in the field of costumes. Also notable was the Englishman David Garrick, who designed costumes for his company members and created his own versions of Shakespeare’s plays.

German theater was represented by playwrights Friedrich Schiller, whose plays The Robbers and William Tell are considered classics of world literature; and Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who pioneered table readings, the study of text and characters before stage rehearsals.

It is at this stage that we begin to see how important the stage director’s work is in the performances.

In Italy, the commedia dell’arte was modified by Carlo Goldoni. Initially, Goldoni wrote librettos with only outlined situations to exploit the actor’s improvisational skills. Eventually, he produced comedies with elaborate dialogue, employing literary language and reflecting the reality of the time. Among his comedies are The Fan and The Uproar.

The greatest exponent of tragedy in Italy was Count Vittorio Alfieri. In his plays, which were performed in various venues, he addressed the struggle against injustice and national unity. Some of them are titled Brutus, Saul, and Antigone.

In England, puppet companies abounded, and in France, live puppet theaters. Shadow puppets emerged in the late 18th century.

The theater of the 18th century, in general, was characterized by being a theater of actors, because plays were written tailored to the style of the performers.