Theatre: This lively introduction to theatre offers equal measures of appreciation of theatrical arts, history of performance, and descriptions of the collaborative theatrical crafts. The author's enthusiasm for and knowledge of the current theatre, highlighted by contemporary production shots from around the world, put the students in the front row. The text includes extensive excerpts from seven plays: "Prometheus Bound, Oedipus Tyrannos, The York Cycle, Romeo and Juliet, The Bourgeois Gentleman, The Three Sisters," and "Happy Days."

Robert Cohen (born 1938) is an American university professor, theatre director, playwright, and drama critic. He has written many books on theatre, two dramatic anthologies and many plays, among other works. Cohen has conducted advanced teaching residencies in numerous countries and much of the United States. He has been a professor of Drama at the University of California, Irvine since 1965 and now holds the position of Claire Trevor Professor of Drama at that institution. He has been called a Master Teacher by the Voice and Speech Trainers Association,[1] has been praised as a "walking theatre directory and encyclopedia" by fellow teachers,[2] The Association for Theatre in Higher Education awarded Cohen the Career Achievement Award in 1999.