theatre--prophetes.ai

theatre, theater, n.
  (ˈθiːətə(r))
  Forms: 4–5 teatre, 4– theatre, 5– theater.
  [ad. (directly, or through OF.) L. theātrum, a. Gr. θέᾱτρον, a place for viewing, esp. a theatre, f. θεᾶσθαι to behold (cf. θέα sight, view, θεατής a spectator). The word was completely naturalized in L., whence It., Sp. teatro, Pg. theatro, OF. teatre, theatre (12–13th c.), whence perh. the ME. forms, mod.F. théâtre; also Ger., Du., Da. theˈater, Sw. teˈater.
  The earliest recorded Eng. forms, c 1380, are theatre and teatre; from c 1550 to 1700, or later, the prevalent spelling was theater (so in Dictionaries from Cawdrey to Kersey), but theatre in Holland, Milton, Fuller, Dryden, Addison, Pope; Bailey 1721 has both, ‘Theatre, Theater’: and between 1720 and 1750, theater was dropped in Britain, but has been retained or (?) revived in U.S. The pronunciation (θiːˈeɪtə(r)), or its accentuation, appears in Lydgate, and is still in vulgar use; ˈthēater is found as early as 1591.]
  1. a. Gr. and Rom. Antiq. A place constructed in the open air, for viewing dramatic plays or other spectacles.
  It had the form of a segment of a circle; the auditorium was usually excavated from a hill-side, the seats rising in tiers above and behind one another; the orchestra, occupied by the chorus, separated the stage from the auditorium.

c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. i. 2 (Camb. MS.) Comune strompetes of swich a place þat men clepyn the theatre. 1382 Wyclif Acts xix. 29 Thei maden a sawt with oon ynwit, or wille, in to the teatre [gloss or comune biholdyng place]. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. 5442 In compleynynge, pitously in rage, In þe theatre, with a ded visage. 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. 69 Many woulde resorte to the common houses called Theatres, and purposing some matter of philosophy, wold there dispute openly. 1591 Spenser Ruins of Time 92 High towers, faire temples, goodly theaters. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece i. viii. I. 37 Ωδειον was a Musick-Theater, Built by Pericles. 1840 Arnold Hist. Rome xxxvii. II. 477 The whole Tarentine people were assembled in the theatre.

† b. An amphitheatre. Obs.

c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1027 Swich a noble Theatre as it was, I dar wel seyn in this world ther nas. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV 2 b, Then he graunted them the battaill & assigned the place to be at the citee of Coventree..where he caused a sumpteous theatre and listes royal..to be prepared.

c. A natural formation or place suggesting such a structure.

1652 Donne's Epigr. Poems 102 O wilt thou be Diana, haunt these fields, This Theater both woods and fountains yeelds? 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 141 Shade above shade, a woodie Theatre Of stateliest view. 1697 Dryden æneid v. 377 A native theatre, which rising slow, By just degrees o'erlook'd the ground below. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 720 Mid the central depth of blackening woods, High-rais'd in solemn theatre around. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. xlviii, Girt by her theatre of hills. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. ix. 288 In Jura is a far retiring theatre of rising terraces.

† d. A circular basin of water. Obs.

1645 Evelyn Diary 5 May, A streame precipitating into a large theater of water. Ibid., In one of these theaters of water is an Atlas spouting up the streame to a very great height.

  2. a. In modern use, An edifice specially adapted to dramatic representations; a playhouse.
  Its essential parts, as in sense 1, are the stage for the actors, and the auditorium (the latter consisting of ranges of seats, one above another); the stage is furnished with movable scenes and more or less elaborate stage machinery for their production and removal. In 16–17th c. the building was only partially roofed; it is now entirely under cover.
  At first apparently the proper name of a particular playhouse in Shoreditch, outside the City of London, built 1576: see Arber, Gosson's Schoole of Abuse, Introd. 8, and early quots.
  patent theatre, a theatre established or licensed by royal letters patent (the first two of which were granted in 1603). Their exclusive privileges were abolished in 1843. saloon theatre (obs. exc. Hist.), variety theatre: see quots. 1892, 1902. picture theatre, a hall in which cinema films are shown, a ‘picture palace’.

1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1579) 29 b, Those places..which are made vp and builded for suche Plaies and Enterludes, as the Theatre and Curtaine is. 1578 J. Stockwood Serm. Paul's Cross 24 If you resorte to the Theatre, the Curtayne, and other places of Playes in the Citie. Ibid. 134 The gorgeous Playing place erected in the fieldes..as they please to haue it called, a Theatre. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. ii. 23 As in a Theater, the eyes of men After a well grac'd Actor leaues the Stage, Are idlely bent on him that enters next. 1603 Drayton Odes vii. 56 Till with shrill Claps the Theater doe shake. a 1658 Cleveland Christchurch Windows 215 Those that before our Glass Scaffolds prefer Would turn our Temple to a Theater. 1701 Lond. Gaz. No. 3750/4 The Patentees of the Theater-Royal in Covent-Garden. 1788 Act 28 Geo. III, c. 30 Such Trajedies, Comedies,..Plays, or Farces, as now are, or hereafter shall be acted, performed, or represented at either of the Patent or Licensed Theatres in the City of Westminster. 1864 Doran Ann. of Stage II. xi. Suppl. 186 List of the principal Dramatic Pieces produced at the Patent Theatres, from the Retirement of Garrick to the End of the Eighteenth Century. 1864 G. A. Sala Robson 14 Early in 1844 he accepted an engagement at the Grecian Saloon Theatre, in the City Road. 1888 Williams in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 227/1 In the provinces patent theatres were established at Bath by 8 Geo. III. c. 10. Ibid. 227/2 The exclusive rights of the patent theatres were also recognized in the Music Hall Act of 1752. 1892 Daily News 26 Sept. 2/4 To erect a roomy theatre of varieties—which seems to be modern English for music hall. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 45/2 (s.v. Music Halls) The ‘saloon theatres’ of the 'thirties were the music halls of to-day, and they owed their form and existence to the restrictive action of the patent theatres. Ibid. 46/2 The saloon theatres rarely offended the patent houses, and when they did the law was soon put in motion. 1911 London Opinion 13 May 248/1 A picture theatre [where] such films as Foxhunting..the Boat Race..or the Derby are being shown.

b. N. Amer. and N.Z. A picture theatre, cinema.

1923 H. Crane Let. 5 Oct. (1965) 149 [Chaplin] is here in New York..to see that the first film he has produced in it [sc. a new studio] gets over profitably... It's running now..at the ‘Lyric’ theatre. 1956 H. Kurnitz Invasion of Privacy ii. 20 Do I want to book that man's pictures in my theatres? 1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Austral. & N.Z. viii. 176 ‘Theatre’ nearly always a ‘picture theatre’ or cinema in New Zealand. 1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. (TV Week Suppl.) 2/1, I went to the theater and saw George Segal and Goldie Hawn in ‘The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox’.

† 3. transf. a. The stage or platform on which a play is acted. Obs.

1589 Rider Bibl. Schol. 1484 A theater, or scaffold whereon musitions, singers, or such like shew their cunning, orchestra. 1647 Trapp Comm. Rom. i. 20 Clearly seen: As in a mirrour, or as on a theatre. 1659 Stanley Hist. Philos. III. iii. 23 Some plead in the Forum, others act on the theater. a 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 93 Like the ghost on a theatre.

b. A theatreful of spectators; the audience, or ‘house’, at a theatre. (Cf. house n. 4 g.)

1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 31 The censure of the which One [the judicious], must in your allowance o'reway a whole Theater of Others. 1634 Heywood Maidenhead lost i. Wks. 1874 IV. 112 'Twas a glorious sight, Fit for a Theater of Gods to see. 1894 Gladstone Hor., Odes xvii. [xx.] 29 The theatre thrice clapped you then.

c. Dramatic performances as a branch of art, or as an institution; the drama. Also, the drama of a particular time or place; dramatic art as a craft, the theatrical profession.

1668 Dryden Ess. Dram. Poesy Ess. (ed. Ker) I. 56 By his encouragement, Corneille, and some other Frenchmen, reformed their theatre, which before was as much below ours, as it now surpasses it. a 1859 L. Hunt Shewe Faire Seeming v. Poems (1860) 178 For much the stage he lov'd, and wise theàtre. 1880 Scribner's Mag. June 286 Their chief delight is the theater or opera. 1908 E. Terry Story of my Life xiv. 332 The life of an actress belongs to the theatre. Ibid. 333, I have had many friends outside the theatre, but I have had very little time to see them. 1938 R. G. Collingwood Princ. of Art xiv. 323 In the Renaissance theatre collaboration between author and actors on the one hand, and audience on the other, was a lively reality. 1955 G. Gorer Exploring English Character ii. 14 Of the theatre I know of, only the Burmese drama of the second half of the nineteenth century approaches the Elizabethan in its search for horror. 1976 J. Archer Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less xvi. 174 Harvey recognized Dame Flora Robson, the actress, who was being honoured for a distinguished lifetime in the theatre. 1977 S. Brett Star Trap iv. xiii. 143 He is a hard-working performer with a great belief in the live theatre.

(b) Phrases: theatre-in-the-round: see round n.¹ 5 d; Theatre of Cruelty [tr. F. théâtre de la cruauté (A. Artaud (1932) Manifeste du théâtre de la cruauté)], a collective term for plays in which the dramatist seeks to communicate a sense of pain, suffering, and evil through the portrayal of extreme physical violence; Theatre of the Absurd, a collective term for plays (chiefly French) portraying the futility and anguish of man's struggle in a senseless and inexplicable world (cf. absurd n.); also fig.; Theatre of Fact, documentary drama.

1954 E. Bentley In Search of Theater ii. vii. 198 Antonin Artaud's ‘theatre of cruelty’, that theater of Dionysian energy and visionary power. 1958 M. C. Richards tr. Artaud's Theater & its Double vi. 79 ‘Theater of cruelty’ means a theatre difficult and cruel..on the level of performance, it is not the cruelty we can exercise upon each other..but the much more terrible and necessary cruelty which things can exercise against us. 1964 Punch 21 Oct. 627/3 To watch the ‘Theatre of Cruelty’ season safely on the audience side. 1973 J. Elsom Erotic Theatre x. 190 The one adjective which cannot be used to describe the Theatre of Cruelty evening is, however, unexpected.

1961 M. Esslin Theatre of the Absurd 17 The Theatre of the Absurd strives to express its sense of the senselessness of the human condition and the inadequacy of the rational approach by the open abandonment of rational devices and discursive thought. 1962 [see absurd n.]. 1963 Sunday Times 24 Feb. 24/5 They deserved to win, but two of the goals they scored came straight from the theatre of the absurd. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society xix. 253 We must not be surprised to find that the United Nations..should have become the World Theatre of the Absurd, a global madhouse where lunatic falsehood reigns.

1966 Punch 7 Dec. 864/1 Together they make up the most successful example so far of the Theatre of Fact, a gripping story, the clash of widely different personalities and many sharp remarks on the relationship between Science and Government. 1970 Times 9 Feb. 5 Murderous Angels is another example of the Theatre of Fact... The two main characters are Dag Hammarskjold and Patrice Lumumba. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVIII. 232/2 The Brecht approach to stage presentation has something in common with the Theatre of Fact.

d. Dramatic works collectively.

1640 C. G. in Brome Antipodes To Censuring Criticks, He [Jonson] was often pleas'd, to feed your eare With the choice dainties of his Theatre. 1703 Addison Prol. to Steele's Tender Husb. 9 But now Our British Theatre can boast Drolles of all kinds, a Vast Unthinking Hoast! 1880 Cornh. Mag. Aug. 156 Any two plays in the whole Shakespearian theatre. 1881 Saintsbury Dryden iii. 38 Except in Congreve's two editions and in the bulky edition of Scott, Dryden's theatre is unattainable.

e. Without article or pl. (chiefly predicatively). With a descriptive adjective: theatrical or dramatic entertainment (of a specified quality); esp. in good theatre (see good a. 1 f); also used transf. of an action or work of art that has the quality of (good, etc.) drama or theatrical technique; hence fig., dramatic effect or sensation, spectacle, outward show without serious inward intent.

1926, etc. [see good a. 1 f]. 1927 Sunday Times 27 Feb. 6/4 ‘The Letter’ is superb theatre throughout. 1934 Sun (Baltimore) 1 June 12/1 Superb tennis and ‘good theater’ have never been so generously mixed in the performance of any other player. 1939 A. Thirkell Before Lunch iv. 96 It would have been rather too much theatre to awaken heroine with soft music, don't you think? 1948 A. J. P. Taylor Habsburg Monarchy i. 12 Austrian Baroque civilisation..was grandiose, full of superficial life, yet sterile within: it was theatre, not reality. 1951 in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 89 They bring real ‘theater’ to a sales presentation. 1955 W. W. Denlinger Compl. Boston ii. 9 Some of the competition exercises are almost useless; some I consider pure ‘theatre’ and others are practical. 1958 Listener 2 Oct. 499/2 You have to admit that the Old City is good theatre. 1965 Ibid. 21 Oct. 630/2 Standing spotlit at the end of a great black-draped room all by itself, it [sc. a piece of sculpture]..was above all dramatic. It was, in its way, even great theatre. 1975 J. O'Faolain Women in Wall xii. 211 She encourages zeal and all she gets is theatre... This sort of thing was new to the convent.

4. A temporary platform, dais, or other raised stage, for any public ceremony.

1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1334/1 It was found better for them by the aduise of the prince of Orange..to tarie for his highnesse vpon a theater which was prepared for him. [1621 Execution at Prague in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 410 The theatrum, or scaffold of timber, which was to be erected, and whereupon the..execution of the prisoners..was to be performed.] 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1475/3 Then his Lordship conducted their Royal Hignesses to the Hall, at the South end whereof, was erected a Theater of 42 Foot in length, and 40 in breadth, covered with Carpets and rising five steps from the ground. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Theater,..said in general, of any Scaffold erected for the performance or sight of any publick Ceremony. 1820 A. Taylor Glory of Regality 178 A large platform called the Theatre; in the midst of this are placed the royal thrones. 1838 Order Coron. Q. Vict., The Queen..passes up through the Body of the Church,..and so up the Stairs to the Theatre. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 4/2 According to the original order of service the King and Queen would have ascended the steps to the ‘Theatre’—a square platform which had been erected in the central space under the ‘Lantern’.

5. a. A room or hall fitted with tiers of rising seats facing the platform, lecturer's table, or president's seat, for lectures, scientific demonstrations, etc.
the (Sheldonian) Theatre (at Oxford), the building in which the great assemblies of the University are held, and honorary degrees are given at the annual Commemoration.

1613 Purchas Pilgrimage vi. xi. 521 That is now rather become a Sepulcher of Sciences, then a Theater, there being not above five Students. 1669 Wood Life 9 July (O.H.S.) II. 165 Theater consecrated. The Archbishop's [Sheldon's] letter in English (read in Convocation) wherby he tells the vice-chancellor and Convocation that he had layd by 2000 li. for a purchase to keep the Theater in repayr. 1721 Sheldonian theatre [see terræ filius 2]. 1910 Kelly's Directory of Oxford 52 Of the many ceremonials and receptions which have taken place in the theatre, the most imposing..were the visit of the allied sovereigns in 1814, and the installation of the last five chancellors.

b. A room in a hospital specially designed for surgical operations (orig. one resembling a theatre, for the performance of such operations before observers); = operating-theatre s.v. operating vbl. n. b.

1641 Evelyn Diary 28 Aug., I was much pleased with a sight of their Anatomy schole, theater, and repository adjoyning. 1766 Entick London IV. 264 The surgeons erected a theatre in the Old⁓bailey. 1823 Lancet 5 Oct. 3/1 At half-past Seven this Theatre was crowded in every part, by upwards of four hundred Students, of the most respectable description; in fact we never before witnessed so genteel a Surgical class. 1910 Kelly's Directory of Oxford 37/2 The Radcliffe Infirmary and County Hospital... A new operating theatre was erected in 1898. 1935 Marsh & Jellett Nursing-Home Murder iii. 38 In the anteroom of the theatre two nurses and a sister prepared for the operation. 1976 J. Archer Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less xii. 129 Although the hospital had only some 200 beds, the theatre was of the highest standard.

6. fig. Something represented as a theatre (in sense 1 or 2) in relation to a course of action performed or a spectacle displayed; esp. a place or region where some thing or action is presented to public view (literally or metaphorically).

1581 in Confer. ii. (1584) K iv, They..are set before all mens eyes, and in the middest of the Theatre of the whole world. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 136 This wide and vniuersall Theater Presents more wofull Pageants then the Sceane Wherein we play in. 1639 Fuller Holy War v. x. 246 Asia, the theatre whereon they were acted, is at a great distance. 1684 T. Burnet Th. Earth i. 173 Earth was the first theater upon which mortals appear'd and acted. 1713 Young Last Day i. 51 Wide theatre! where tempests play at large. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, xi. III. 267 A theatre on which he might display his great qualities. 1798 Washington Lett. Writ. (1893) XIV. 21 The propriety..of my again appearing on a Public theatre, after declaring the sentiments I did in my Valedictory Address. 1855 Brewster Newton II. xvi. 104 An event..which..placed him in a noble position on the theatre of public life. 1877 Bryant Ruins of Italica ii, A tragic theatre, where Time Acts his great fable.

b. A place where some action proceeds; the scene of action. Cf. scene, stage.

1615 G. Sandys Trav. Ded. A vj, The most renowned countries and kingdomes:..the theaters of valour and heroicall actions. 1654 tr. Martini's Conq. China 198 Which Country was the Theater of all his Brutalities. 1720 Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. II. xi. 194 The Theatre of a Civil War. 1774 J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 26 To-morrow we reach the theatre of action. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 199 The theatre of violent earthquakes. 1879 Mendell Art of War iii. 75 The theater of operations of an army embraces all the territory it may desire to invade and all that it may be necessary to defend.

c. A particular region or one of the separate regions of the world in which a war is being fought. Also theatre of war.

1914 W. S. Churchill Let. 15 Oct. in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1972) III. Compan. i. 193 The hand of war will I expect be heavy upon us in the Western Theatre during the next four weeks. 1928 Blunden Undertones of War xv. 160 (heading) Theatre of War. 1940 W. S. Churchill Into Battle (1941) 261 Far larger operations no doubt impend in the Middle East theatre. 1958 E. Birney Turvey vii. 76 Turvey straightened his helmet and marched down the gangplank into the European Theatre of War. 1961 G. F. Kennan Russia & West viii. 118 Real fighting took place between Allied and Bolshevik forces only in one theater, in the Russian north. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds xv. 352 The biggest and most decisive battle of the North African theater had been fought.

† 7. A book giving a ‘view’ or ‘conspectus’ of some subject; a text-book, manual, treatise. (Chiefly in titles of such books.) Obs.

? 1566 J. Alday tr. Boaystuau (title) Theatrum Mundi, the Theatre or rule of the world, wherein may be sene the running race and course of euerye mans life, as touching miserie and felicity. 1599 R. Allot (title) Wits Theater of the little World. 1611 Speed (title) The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine: Presenting an exact Geography of the Kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Iles adioyning. 1640 Parkinson (title) Theatrum Botanicum, The Theater of Plantes, or An Universall and Compleate Herball. 1657 S. Purchas (title) A Theatre of Politicall Flying-Insects. 1704 R. Monteith (title) A Theater of Mortality; Or, the Illustrious Inscriptions..upon the several Monuments..within the Grey-friars Church-Yard [etc.] of Edinburgh.

† 8. transf. A thing displayed to view; a sight, scene, spectacle; a gazing-stock.

1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. i. Tropheis 343 All cast their eyes on this sad Theater. 1640 Petit. A. Leighton in Chandler Hist. Persec. (1736) 370 He was made a Theatre of Misery to Men and Angels. 1646 Evance Noble Ord. 38 If there be any that are made a Theature unto the world,..it is such as Paul [cf. 1 Cor. iv. 9].

9. attrib. and Comb., as theatre audience, theatre-bill, theatre coat, theatre hat, theatre-house, theatre-haunter, theatre-light, theatre man, theatre people, theatre-pit, theatre-poster, theatre stall, theatre-ticket, theatre-train, theatre-tram, theatre-wrap, etc.; theatre-like adj. and adv., theatre-loving adj.

1936 Vogue 18 Mar. 101/2 The London *theatre audience is still all dressed in black and white. 1977 S. Brett Star Trap xiii. 143 It doesn't bear comparison with the contact you can get with a live theatre audience. That's electrifying.

1895 G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) I. 1 It is not a work of art at all: it is a mere contrivance for filling a *theatre bill.

1897 Globe 18 Feb. 6/3 The fashionable *theatre bodice.

Ibid., Very handsome *theatre coats and jackets are worn at the play in London.

1611 Cotgr., Coeste,..vsed by the auncient Grecians in their *Theater combats.

1930 *Theatre hat [see Juliet].

1856 Kingsley Misc., Plays & Purit. (1859) II. 137 *Theatre-haunters were turning Romanists.

1577 T. W[ilcocks] Serm. Pawles Crosse 46 Beholde the sumptuous *Theatre houses. 1977 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 29 Sept. 12/4 On the rickety stages of a thousand provincial theater houses, alternative worlds blazed like magic by limelight.

1873 Routledge's Yng. Gentl. Mag. Apr. 282/2 *Theatre lights are lime-light jets fitted into square boxes.

1626 Bacon Sylva §253 Some hills that stand encompassed *theatre-like.

1846 Geo. Eliot Let. 1 June (1954) I. 219 Please to come in a very mischievous, unconscientious, *theatre-loving humour.

1933 P. Godfrey Back-Stage viii. 112 Every experienced *theatre-man knows that there is ample room for criticism inside the theatre. 1961 Guardian 6 Mar. 9/4 Some knowing theatre-men say it would have flopped..even a few years ago.

1952 E. Wilson Shores of Light 382, I did not want to see the *theater people again; I could not face another evening.

1907 G. B. Shaw Let. Dec. (1972) II. 739 With..society out of town during the parliamentary recess, *theatre stalls have been empty.

1846 Thackeray L. Blanchard Wks. 1900 XIII. 477 The young fellow,..*theatre-stricken, poetry-stricken.

1902 A. C. Hegan Mrs. Wiggs of Cabbage Patch vi. 73 Couldn't you use a whole load [of kindling], if I was to take it out in..*theayter tickets? 1980 P. G. Winslow Counsellor Heart v. 94 Up for a day in town, to get theatre tickets..and then go shopping.

1905 Longm. Mag. Apr. 501 The people you meet in buses and trams and *theatre-trains.

b. Special combs.: theatre club, a theatre for which tickets are sold only to members (esp. in order to circumvent the censorship of public performances); theatre-floor: see quot.; theatre-goer, one who frequents theatres; so theatre-going n. and adj.; theatre-land, the district of a town (spec. of London) in which most of the theatres are situated; theatre-list Med., a list of patients about to undergo surgical operations; theatre nurse Med., a hospital nurse qualified to assist in the operating theatre; theatre organ = cinema organ s.v. cinema c; hence theatre organist; theatre party (orig. U.S.), a party in which the guests, besides being entertained at dinner or supper, are taken to a theatre; theatre-restaurant, a restaurant where theatrical entertainment is provided for customers; theatre seat, (a) a seat of which the bottom is made to fold back when not occupied, so as to leave a wider passage; a tip-up seat used in theatres, also on tram-cars, etc.; (b) a seat that may be booked for a performance at a theatre; theatre sister Med., in a hospital, nursing-home, etc., a sister qualified to assist in the operating theatre; theatre suit Fashion (see quot. 1969); theatre workshop, a non-commercial theatre company concerned esp. with experimental and unconventional theatrical productions; orig. and spec. a company founded by Joan Littlewood and others in 1945 and based in the East End of London from 1953 to 1973.

1961 R. Williams Long Revolution ii. vi. 267 The growth of ‘free theatres’ and *theatre-clubs. 1978 R. Holles Spawn iv. 31 Marianne had met him..at a theatre club in Notting Hill Gate.

1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., *Theater-floor, an inclined floor in a public building, as a lecture-hall, affording a better view of the platform from rear seats.

1870 Boston Transcript 1 Nov. 2/4 If the theatre is not crowded.., we shall be much disappointed in our estimation of the taste of Boston *theatre-goers. 1874 Macm. Mag. Aug. 281 Theatre-goers..who have long winced over the pale and unwholesome jokes of patchy vaudevilles.

1846 B. I. Lane Mysteries of Tobacco 11 The classical theological, feat-haunting, *theatre-going, card-playing Reverend Gentleman. 1852 Geo. Eliot Let. 15 June (1954) II. 36 Between theatre-going and proof⁓reading, my spiritual eyes are burning as dim and bleared as gas-lights. 1853 Househ. Words VI. 63 The Parisians..are evidently a more theatre-going people than the Londoners. 1883 Harper's Mag. June 126/1 Theatre-going and..card-playing are..permitted.

1905 Daily Chron. 28 Dec. 4/7 [St. Martin's parish] Bishop Burnet described as ‘the greatest cure in England’. ‘*Theatreland’ we name it now. 1907 H. Wyndham Flare of Footlights xxxvi, The comfortable little house [the Sheridan theatre], situated in the very heart of theatre-land.

1964 G. L. Cohen What's Wrong with Hospitals? i. 17 A student will undertake the pre-medication of patients on *theatre-list.

1934 P. Bottome Private Worlds xxxi. 302 Matron..is a first-rate surgical nurse... The *theatre nurse is about too, in case we want her. 1959 T. S. Eliot Elder Statesman ii. 45, I fell in love with him During an appendicitis operation! I was a theatre nurse.

1930 R. Whitworth Electric Organ xvi. 156 The building of *theatre organs has..helped to bring electric..actions to their present state of efficiency. 1977 Lancashire Life Nov. 101/1 The story of Ronald Curtis and theatre organs is in effect the chronicle of a love affair which began in his childhood.

1932 R. Whitworth Cinema & Theatre Organ ix. 105 The cinema or *theatre organist fills a very important role.

1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 787/1 A report..of Mrs. Dash's *theater party. 1884 L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 170 To a theatre party on the 15th and supper after. 1885 A. Forbes Souvenirs of Continents 239 A New York ‘theatre party’. 1903 Smart Set IX. 145/1 I've given theatre-parties to them, and watched them rustle in and fill box after box. 1962 J. F. Powers Morte d'Urban viii. 164 The Cathedral curates..wangled an invitation to the Saturday-morning theatre-parties.

1958 Hotel & Catering Rev. Oct. 35/1 The only *theatre restaurant of its size and type in the world.

a 1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xviii. 421 A clever play that'll draw the damn fools who buy *theater seats. 1982 C. Castle Folies Bergère vii. 254 As a student..the only theatre seat he could afford was in the gallery.

1935 Marsh & Jellett Nursing-Home Murder iii. 37 Tell the *theatre sister I'll operate as soon as they are ready. 1976 C. Storr Unnatural Fathers i. 10 The staff nurse on the surgical side who deputised for the theatre sister.

1964 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary (1970) 202, I changed into my black *theater suit en route. 1969 R. T. Wilcox Dict. Costume 107/2 Dinner or theater suit, the feminine ‘covered-up’ look for evening of the 1930's and '40's, consisting generally of a long black skirt, a delicate blouse, a cummerbund and short jacket.

1945 Westmorland Gaz. 4 Aug. 4/9 Addresses were given by Miss Joan Littlewood..now in Westmorland with the *Theatre Workshop, a new venture aimed at furthering the arts in local towns. 1962 Guardian 7 Nov. 7/6 A theatre workshop is about to be started in Dublin. 1973 E. Bullins Theme is Blackness 10 Some of the Black Arts approaches and techniques that Marvin X and I had developed in revolutionary theater and literature workshops on the Coast. 1981 Sunday Tel. 20 Dec. 16/5 The Arts Council refuses it [sc. the D'Oyly Carte Company] a grant— preferring its own East End revolutionary theatre workshops.

c. attrib. Designating nuclear weapons for use within a ‘theatre’ (at present thought of as Europe) as opp. to intercontinental or strategic weapons (cf. strategic a. 2), or their targets.

1977 Observer 3 Apr. 12/4 In a tactical role, Backfire..is ideally suited to attacking local or ‘theatre’ targets in Western Europe. 1978 Orbis XXII. 309 The United States has deployed a varied array of theater-nuclear weapons and delivery systems in Europe. 1980 Daily Tel. 18 June 1/2 Theatre nuclear missiles..have a longer range than battlefield weapons but cannot be fired as far as inter⁓continental missiles. 1983 Chicago Sun-Times 26 Nov. 5/2 ‘What worries us is the buildup of theater nuclear forces in Europe,’ Defense Undersecretary Fred C. Ikle said.

Hence ˈtheatre v., intr. to go to the theatre; ˈtheatredom, the domain or sphere of things theatrical and persons connected therewith; also, the district in which theatres are situated; ˈtheatreful, as many as a theatre will hold; ˈtheatreless a., without a theatre or theatrical entertainments; ˈtheatrewards adv., towards a theatre; ˈtheatre-wise adv., in the manner of a theatre.

1896 Pall Mall Mag. 495 If a woman dances, and drives, and *theatres,..she keeps herself too chronically tired to think. 1906 Daily Chron. 26 June 4/7 Our round of entertainments..[does] not cease till we have lunched, motored, tea'd, dined, theatred, and supped.

1890 Daily News 29 Dec. 3/1 London *theatredom,..—if we may be allowed the expression—is, roughly speaking, about ten miles wide by six miles deep. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 5 May 1/3 Those versed in the inner life of London theatredom.

1902 19th Cent. Aug. 284 Get together a *theatreful of people to hear it.

1853 Chamb. Jrnl. XX. 409/2 The dreary prospect of a supperless, *theatreless Lent.

1897 Daily News 3 May 8/6 Walking slowly *theatrewards.

1629 Maxwell tr. Herodian (1635) 164 A goodly spacious Plaine..lying under a row of Hills, *Theatre wise. 1737 [S. Berington] G. di Lucca's Mem. (1738) 227 Two Rows of young Men and Women, placed Theatre-wise one above another.