actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. English Renaissance theatre – also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. It includes the drama of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and many other famous playwrights. Restoration comedy – English comedies written and performed in the Restoration period from 1660 to 1710. After public stage performances had been banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime, the re-opening of the theatres in 1660 signalled a renaissance of English drama. Restoration comedy is notorious for its sexual explicitness Restoration spectacular – elaborately staged productions beginning the late 17th-century Restoration period, enthralling audiences with action, music, dance, moveable scenery, baroque illusionistic painting, gorgeous costumes, and special effects such as trapdoor tricks, "flying" actors, and fireworks. Neoclassical theatre – theatrical movement that drew inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome that was dominant in Europe from the mid-18th to the 19th centuries. Nineteenth-century theatre – wide range of movements in the theatrical culture of Europe and the United States in the 19th century. In the West, they include Romanticism, melodrama, the well-made plays of Scribe and Sardou, the farces of Feydeau, the problem plays of Naturalism and Realism, Wagner's operatic Gesamtkunstwerk, Gilbert and Sullivan's plays and operas, Wilde's drawing-room comedies, Symbolism, and proto-Expressionism in the late works of August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen. Nineteenth-century theatrical scenery Twentieth-century theatre – wide range of movements in the theatrical culture of the 20th century, including Naturalism, Realism, Expressionism and Experimental theatre. Theatre of the United Kingdom – introduced by the Romans and part of the British culture since at least 1585. West End – popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. London fringe – small scale theatres, many of them located above pubs, and the equivalent to New York's Off-Broadway or Off-Off-Broadway theatres. Fringe festival – unjuried festivals, such as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Adelaide Fringe, permit artists to produce a wide variety of works. Theater of the United States – based in the Western tradition. Broadway – refers to theatrical performances presented in the Theater District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre