Wikipedia: Theater

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The earliest days of theater have not been definitively identified. Some theories hold that theatrical and dramatic representations came from the revelry of the ancient Greek celebration of Bacchus, which was a festival in honor of the god Dionysos. In any case, little doubt exists about the fact that the modern theater was born in ancient Greece. Important figures in ancient Greek theater include:

...and Aristotle, primarily for his timeless theories on the dramatic arts. Please note that his theories, especially the Three Unities (I don't know if this is the correct term) are not undisputed. Some scholars believe they are meant to be descriptive, not proscriptive.

Although the abovementioned playwrights made some of the most renowned dramas, their staging had little or nothing to do with twentieth century theater. Their dramas were always part of a series of three performances, where just the middle part was the drama, while the events always ended with dance. The dramas rarely had more than three actors (all male), who played the different roles using masks. There was a chorus on the stage all the time which did songs and spoken word passages. As far as we know, each drama was only played a single time, at the traditional drama contest.

The importance of acient Greek theater came much in retrospect, because influential playwrights like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said their conception of theater was meant to be a recreation of classical theater (which it was not). Another attempt to recreate classical theater argued that Greek actors didn't speak, but sang instead and thus created the Opera.

In the middle ages in Europe, the theater was reduced to didactic, metaphorical illustrations that featured the "Everyman" or religious cycles.

The Renaissance brought the geniuses of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and the Baroque theater produced Moliere?.

20th Century American Theater:

: [Eugene O'Neill]?
: Arthur Miller
: David Mamet
: [Tony Kushner]?
: [Edward Albee]?
: [Neil Simon]?

20th Century British Theater:

: George Bernard Shaw
: Tom Stoppard
: [Harold Pinter]?
: [John Osborne]?
: [John Galsworthy]?
: Samuel Beckett

20th Century German Language Theater Authors:

: [Heiner Mueller]?
: Bertolt Brecht
: [Thomas Bernhardt]?
: [Elfriede Jelinek]?
: [Friederich Durrenmatt]?
: [Wolfgang Hildesheimer]?

20th Century German Language Theater Directors:

: [Fritz Kortner]?
: [Peter Stein]?
: [Peter Zadek]?
: [Frank Castorf]?
: [August Everding]?
: [Max Reinhardt]?

This gives a brief outline of some of the better known playwrights, however, theater does not operate on playwrights alone. Often, though not always, a play is produced by a Production team which consists of various technical, support, and design staff. Among these are the [[Scenic designer]], the [Lighting designer]?, the [Costume designer]?, the Director, the Dramaturg and the [Stage Manager]?. This is not an all inclusive list, and may include other personnel from the world of Technical Theatre.