| c. 1600 | Japan | The female Japanese dancer Okuni develops kabuki, a popular form of theatre that employs music and dancing and depicts scenes of everyday life (unlike the formal Noh theatre). |
| 1615 | Japan | Bunraku theatre develops in Japan when puppet theatre (practised for many centuries) is combined with the music of the shamisen (a stringed instrument). |
| 1653 | France | The ballet La Nuit/Night by the French choreographer Isaac de Bensarade (with music by French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully) is first performed, at the French court. King Louis XIV dances the part of Le Roi Soleil (the Sun King). |
| 1659 | France | The comedy Les Précieuses ridicules/The Affected Young Ladies by the French dramatist Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) is first performed. |
| 1667 | France | The tragedy Andromaque/Andromache by the French dramatist Jean Racine is first performed. |
| 1668 | England | The English poet and dramatist John Dryden publishes his essay ‘Essay of Dramatic Poesy’, a dialogue on the development of English theatre. |
| 1670 | France | The comedy Le Bourgeois gentilhomme/The Bourgeois Gentleman by the French dramatist Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) is first performed. The music is by the French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully. The play is first published in 1671. |
| 1671 | England | The English poet John Milton publishes the verse tragedy Samson Agonistes. |
| 1675 | UK | The comedy The Country-Wife by the English dramatist William Wycherley is first performed, in London, England. |
| 1677 | France | The tragedy Phèdre/Phaedra by the French dramatist Jean Racine is first performed, in Paris, France, and first printed. |
| 1677 | UK | The play The Rover by the English writer Aphra Behn is first performed, in London, England. |
| 1700 | UK | The comedy The Way of the World by the English dramatist William Congreve is first performed, in London, England. |
| 1703 | Japan | The play Sonezaki Shinyu/Love Suicides at Sonezaki, one of the first great works of bunraku (puppet) theatre, is performed, in Japan. Around this time its author, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, helps to turn bunraku into a major art form, often writing specifically for the famous singer Takemoto Gidayu. |
| 1707 | UK | The comedy The Beaux Stratagem by the Irish dramatist George Farquhar is first performed, in London, England. |
| 1748 | Japan | The kabuki play Chushingura by the dramatist Takeda Izumo is first performed, in Japan. Based on an ancient legend, it becomes one of the best loved kabuki plays. |
| 30 December 1903 | USA | A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, during an Eddie Foy performance, kills 588 people. The public outcry helps lead to the passage of theatre safety codes in many US cities. |
| 1980 | UK | A stage version of Charles Dickens's novel Nicholas Nickleby, adapted for stage by David Edgar, is first performed, at the Aldwych Theatre in London, England. The play runs for over eight hours. |
| 14 February 2003 | England | At the Laurence Olivier awards for theatre in London, England, English director Sam Mendes becomes the first person ever to win three prizes. He takes the best director and best revival awards (for Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya) and a special award in honour of his ten-year artistic directorship of London's Donmar Warehouse theatre. |
