Performing arts
Crash Course Theater and Drama
Sikhami InstituteEnglish
Free
Join for free- 51 video lectures (10h 16m)
- Certificate of completion
- Ask the teacher your doubts
- Watch on the web and in the Android app
- Learn more
About this course
Discover the history of theatre with Mike Rugnetta and Crash Course, from ancient Greek drama to Broadway musicals: the plays, the playwrights and how theatre is made. Who it's for: students of theatre and literature, actors and anyone who loves plays. These are the free, official videos of the Crash Course Theater and Drama playlist from the CrashCourse YouTube channel (youtube.com/@crashcourse). All videos belong to Crash Course; Sikhami is not affiliated with Crash Course and simply arranges the public playlist into a course, so you can learn one lesson at a time and keep track of your progress.
What you will learn
• What theatre is • Greek and Roman drama • Medieval, Renaissance and Shakespearean theatre • Theatre traditions from around the world • Realism, modern drama and the avant-garde • Musical theatre and Broadway
This course at a glance
- Lectures
- 51 video lectures
- Video
- 10h 16m in all
- Level
- All levels
- Language
- English
- Access
- Lifetime access
- Certificate
- On completion
Lectures last updated September 2026
Course content
1 section · 51 lectures · 10h 16m
1. Crash Course Theater and Drama
- Crash Course Theater and Drama Preview!3m
- What Is Theater? Crash Course Theater #114m
- Thespis, Athens, and The Origins of Greek Drama: Crash Course Theater #210m
- Tragedy Lessons from Aristotle: Crash Course Theater #312m
- Greek Comedy, Satyrs, and Aristophanes: Crash Course Theater #411m
- Dances to Flute Music and Obscene Verse. It's Roman Theater, Everybody: Crash Course Theater #512m
- Roman Theater with Plautus, Terence, and Seneca: Crash Course Theater #611m
- Nostrils, Harmony with the Universe, and Ancient Sanskrit Theater: Crash Course Theater #712m
- The Death and Resurrection of Theater as...Liturgical Drama: Crash Course Theater #812m
- Hrotsvitha, Hildegard, and the Nun who Resurrected Theater: Crash Course Theater #912m
Show all 51 lectures
- Get Outside and Have a (Mystery) Play: Crash Course Theater #1011m
- Just Say Noh. But Also Say Kyogen: Crash Course Theater #1112m
- Pee Jokes, the Italian Renaissance, Commedia Dell'Arte: Crash Course Theater #1211m
- The English Renaissance and NOT Shakespeare: Crash Course Theater #1312m
- Straight Outta Stratford-Upon-Avon - Shakespeare's Early Days: Crash Course Theater #1411m
- Shakespeare's Tragedies and an Acting Lesson: Crash Course Theater #1512m
- Comedies, Romances, and Shakespeare's Heroines: Crash Course Theater #1611m
- English Theater After Shakespeare: Crash Course Theater #1712m
- Where Did Theater Go? Crash Course Theater #1813m
- The Spanish Golden Age: Crash Course Theater #1911m
- Rules, Rule-Breaking, and French Neoclassicism: Crash Course Theater #2013m
- Moliere - Man of Satire and Many Burials: Crash Course Theater #2111m
- Pre-Columbian Theater, Spanish Empire, and Sor Juana: Crash Course Theater #2212m
- Japan, Kabuki, and Bunraku: Crash Course Theater #2312m
- All Night Demon Dance Party - Kathakali: Crash Course Theater #2410m
- China, Zaju, and Beijing Opera: Crash Course Theater #2511m
- England's Sentimental Theater: Crash Course Theater #2612m
- Why So Angry, German Theater? Crash Course Theater #2711m
- The Rise of Melodrama: Crash Course Theater #2812m
- North America Gets a Theater...Riot: Crash Course Theater #2912m
- Race Melodrama and Minstrel Shows: Crash Course Theater #3013m
- Zola, France, Realism, and Naturalism: Crash Course Theater #3112m
- Realism Gets Even More Real: Crash Course Theater #3212m
- Symbolism, Realism, and a Nordic Playwright Grudge Match: Crash Course Theater #3313m
- Chekhov and the Moscow Art Theater: Crash Course Theater #3412m
- The Horrors of the Grand Guignol: Crash Course Theater #3511m
- Synge, Wilde, Shaw, and the Irish Renaissance: Crash Course Theater #3611m
- Dada, Surrealism, and Symbolism: Crash Course Theater #3712m
- Expressionist Theater: Crash Course Theater #3812m
- Futurism and Constructivism: Crash Course Theater #3913m
- Little Theater and American Avant Garde: Crash Course Theater #4011m
- The Harlem Renaissance: Crash Course Theater #4112m
- Federal Theatre and Group Theater: Crash Course Theater #4212m
- Antonin Artaud and the Theater of Cruelty: Crash Course Theater #4311m
- Bertolt Brecht and Epic Theater: Crash Course Theater #4411m
- Beckett, Ionesco, and the Theater of the Absurd: Crash Course Theater #4511m
- Broadway, Seriously: Crash Course Theater #4611m
- The Birth of Off Broadway: Crash Course Theater #4712m
- Poor Unfortunate Theater: Crash Course Theater #4813m
- Into Africa and Wole Soyinka: Crash Course Theater #4912m
- Broadway Book Musicals: Crash Course Theater #5013m
How long it takes
10h 16m of video in 51 lectures. Pick a pace that suits you:
Steady
about 3 weeks
at 30 minutes a day
Regular
11 days
at 1 hour a day
Fast track
6 days
at 2 hours a day
Video time only: practice takes a little longer. Your place in every lecture is saved, so you can stop any time.
Earn a certificateLearn more
Watch every lecture, then claim a certificate of completion with your name on it.
- Its own web page and code, so a school or an employer can check it is real
- Save it as a PDF or print it
- Included with the course, at no extra cost
Who teaches it
Sikhami InstituteNew Delhi · 297 courses · 694 learners · 473 followersSikhami Institute is Sikhami's own institute for free learning. We pick some of the best free courses on YouTube, from Harvard's CS50, MIT, NPTEL, Khan Academy, Google, Microsoft, the BBC, Crash Course, PW, Magnet Brains, CodeWithHarry and many more, and turn them into proper courses on Sikhami that you can follow lesson by lesson while your progress is saved.
Free courses in every category, in English and Hindi: school and competitive exams, programming and AI, languages, music and dance, art, yoga and fitness, cooking, trades, business, marketing, farming and more.
All videos belong to their creators and play from their official YouTube channels, and each course credits its creator. Questions or suggestions? Write to help@sikhami.com.Questions people ask
Is this course free?
Yes. Joining is free, and the lectures unlock as soon as you join. Once you join, it is yours for life.
How long is the course?
51 video lectures, 10h 16m of video in all. At an hour a day, the videos take 11 days. You learn at your own pace; there are no fixed class times.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. When you have watched every lecture, you can claim a certificate of completion. It has its own page and code, so anyone can check that it is real. About certificates
What language is it taught in?
English.
Can I learn on my phone?
Yes. Watch on the website or in the Sikhami app for Android with the same account. Your place in every lecture is saved, so you can switch between them.
Can I ask the teacher a doubt?
Yes. Ask it in the questions on the course page, or from inside any lecture while you watch. You can also keep your own notes on each lecture.
Who made these videos?
The lectures are the free, public videos of the YouTube playlist "Crash Course Theater and Drama", and they belong to their creator. Sikhami arranges them into a course, so you can learn one lecture at a time and keep track of your progress.
