Theatre studies is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psycho-biological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also encompasses the study of theatrical aesthetics

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...

 and semiotics

Semiotics

Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...

. A late 20th century development in the area has been the ethnographic

Ethnography

Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...

 theory of theatre, pioneered by the Russian scholar Larisa Ivleva (1944-1995) who studied the influence of folk culture on the development of Russian theatre.

List of theatrologists

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the field, those who have been described as theatrologists can vary widely in terms of the primary focus of their activities.

• Emil František Burian
  Emil František Burian
  Emil František Burian was a Czech poet, journalist, singer, actor, musician, composer, dramatic adviser, playwright and director. He was also active in Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politics.- Life :...
  
  writer, singer, actor, musician, composer, playwright and director
• Jovan Ćirilov
  Jovan Ćirilov
  Jovan Ćirilov is a Serbian theater expert, philosopher, writer, theatre selector, poet, and significant contributor to Serbian culture.- Biography :After finishing school in Kikinda, he enrolled and graduated philosophy at the University of Belgrade in 1955...
  
  philosopher, dramaturge
  Dramaturgy
  Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. Dramaturgy is a distinct practice separate from play writing and directing, although a single individual may perform any combination of the three. Some dramatists combine writing and...
  
  , and writer
• François Delsarte
  François Delsarte
  François Alexandre Nicolas Chéri Delsarte was a French musician and teacher.Delsarte was born in Solesmes, Nord. He was a pupil of the Paris Conservatory, was for a time tenor singer in the Opéra Comique, and composed a few songs. However, he is chiefly known as a teacher in singing and...
  
  teacher of acting and singing
• Joseph Gregor
  Joseph Gregor
  Joseph Gregor was an Austrian theatre historian and librettist.Originally recommended by Stefan Zweig, he wrote three librettos for Richard Strauss: Friedenstag , Daphne and Die Liebe der Danae , as well as contributing to the texts of Capriccio and the posthumous school opera Des Esels...
  
  theatre historian and opera librettist
  Libretto
  A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
  
  
• John Heilpern
  John Heilpern
  John Heilpern, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and longtime drama critic for the New York Observer,Heilpern, the son of a bookmaker, was born in Manchester, England, and educated at Oxford University...
  
  theatre critic and essayist
• Antoine Vitez
  Antoine Vitez
  Antoine Vitez was a French actor, director, and poet.He was born in Paris, France and became an actor at the age of 19. He was director of the Théâtre national de Chaillot for seven years before being named to head the Comedie Francaise, a French theater company.-References:...
  
  actor, director, and poet
• Phillip Zarrilli
  Phillip Zarrilli
  Phillip Zarrilli is a British practitioner of the Indian martial arts of Kalarippayattu and Marma Adi. Zarrilli has also trained in variations of Yoga, the Wu style of T'ai chi ch'uan, and is one of the notable Western authorities on the subject of Indian martial arts.Zarrilli trained with Gurukkal...
  
  practitioner and scholar of Indian martial arts and Indian classical dance