The manual introduces students to the modern theater of capitalist countries and socialist countries. Independent chapters are devoted to the theater of Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, as well as the theater of England, France, Italy, the USA and other capitalist countries. The authors strive to show the theater of each country comprehensively. At the same time, in the analysis of the stage art of capitalist countries, special attention is paid to leading progressive phenomena.