|




 
‡ ³Realism is a style, not a standard!´
(Donna Fontana 2003)

›
 







 

  


 



 






  

   


› is ³style´ was created in t e late
nineteent century as a reaction to t e
ot er ³movements´ in t e t eatre and t e
art world at t e time.

It as continued to be an important
style«for last 120 years.
|
 
 
‡ Origins in Ô


ÿ late eig teent
early nineteent centuries
ÿ revolt against t e artificiality of Neo
classicism.

It was an attempt to
reactivate passion!
 Ô 


Ô Ô


‡ Inspired by«S akespeare«
ÿ rapid c ange of location«
‡ many plots«many c aracters«

‡ Goet e, is j  (1808, 1832) explores t e dept s of evil.

‡ Victor Hugo's«fervent exploration of events and c aracters.

ÿ  

‡ Alexandre Dumas: presents a sympat etic prostitute c aracter in

 


ÿ Swas buckling c aracters of an earlier time in
» ›
›

‡ Edmond Rostand: t e last ³breat ´ of Romanticism (1897)
ÿ  

 
 Ô


Its goal was to dazzle and ent rall t e
audience.
 |
 
 
‡ New t eories of t e director¶s role
developed.
ÿ Georg, t e Duke of Saxe
einingen
emp asized ensemble acting
‡ abolis ed t e star system.
‡ staged uge productions wit an attention to detail
ÿ emp asized istorical accuracy.
‡ His troupe toured t roug out Europe and
influenced ot ers, suc as Constantin
Stanislavski.
 Ô


Emp asis on
t eatricality
and spectacle

Introduced ³ istorically
accurate´ settings. Georg, Duke of Saxe
einingen

Created a ³stage picture.´ Director of t e einingen players

 Ô


‡ Proscenium staging becomes popular to
accommodate«
ÿ Rapid c anges of location
ÿ Exotic locales
ÿ Splendid effects

Emp asized t eatricality

and spectacle
 Ô


‡ Scenic innovations would become an
important aspect of realism and naturalism
 Ô


Introduced to t eatre t e tec nology:
‡ › e ³box set´

› e ³invisible fourt wall´

|
 
 
‡ Electric lig ting was introduced in t e
1880s in England
ÿ At a performance of a Gilbert and Sullivan
operetta
 |
 

 
Ideas of t e Nineteent Century

‡ C arles Darwin¶s £

 (1859)

Scientific met odology applied to uman problem solving

Lower and middle class c aracters viewed as eroes

‡Sigmund Freud¶s examination of uman be avior²

Psyc ology of c aracters gains importance
|
 
 
ÿ Examined ³real´ people and problems.
‡ C aracters would move and talk in a manner
similar to t at of everyday be avior.
ÿ It t oug t of itself as a laboratory to study t e
ills of society.
› e stage would be an environment, rat er t an as an
acting platform.
³Likeness to life´ was its motto.
 |
 
‡ ›
   
ÿ ell
ade Play was formulated to ³crank out´
t e very popular ³melodramas´ of t e
nineteent century.
‡ Scribe and Sardou (1820s
30s) devised t is
tec nique of playwriting.
‡ It was later embraced by Ibsen and ot er realists.
 |
 
 
Norwegian Henrik Ibsen was
probably t e most influential figure
in modern
› eatre.

‡Saw drama as a means for social

c ange.

‡



  (1879) was banned in

Norway.

Henrik Ibsen¶s plays were t e

first to examine ³real people´ as
tragic c aracters.
! 
1881
|
 
 
‡ S ocking subjects
ÿ Frank edekind¶s 
 
|
 
 
‡ S ocking subjects:

George Buec ner¶s w "

 |
 
 
‡ Henrik Ibsen (1828
1906)
› e individual in conflict wit society

› e first to s ow t at tragedy could be

written about ordinary people speaking
ordinary language.

Ibsen¶s plays ad critics, even some w o

accused im of using t e ³well
made
play´ formula to merely s ock t e
audience. He now olds t e title of
³fat er of modern realism.
 |
 

 
‡ G

 ›  
   
[
 !

!" "
! 
   
#$ 
!  "     
 " %
|
 
 
‡ Ot er playwrig ts:
ÿ Ger art Hauptmann (1862
1946)
‡ Explored t e plig t of t e lower classes
ÿ George Bernard S aw (1856
1950)
‡A socialist, wrote to criticize society and inspire c ange.

S aw often employed comedic devices to expose suc subjects as

urban poverty and greed in t e arms manufacturing industry in  # 

   (1905).

w  
$   (1902) addresses prostitution.
 Ñ
 
‡ ³Slice of life´
‡ Emile Zola (1840
1902)
ÿ Soug t to eliminate dramatic convention
ÿ › e c aracter of t e play is t e subject.
‡ Humans are mere figures in t e natural
environment
 |



Ñ
 
‡ André Antoine
›
 featured
meat carcasses on t e set.
 Naturalism
‡ August Strindberg
Struggle of t e individual is
ore brutal and violent

›
j  (1887) examines t e

In erent uman capacity for evil.


%
 (1888) pits man against
woman; servant against master.

³I ave depicted my c aracters as modern c aracters, living in an age of

transition«I ave made t em more vacillating«I ave ad my c aracters use
t eir brains only intermittently as people do in real life«´
 Ñ
 

‡ August Strindberg¶s 
%



1916 performance in
Sweden.
 Anton C ek ov
(1860
1904)
‡ › e most important dramatist of t e
period.
ÿ Late nineteent century early twentiet
centuries
‡ Did not consider imself a member of any
movement.
 Anton C ek ov
‡ › e most modern
of playwrig ts

Created deeply complex

relations ips among t is c aracters
Plots and t emes are developed
³between t e lines´
(Subtext)
 Anton C ek ov
‡ ›
 

(1896)

‡ &

'  (1899)

‡ ›
›
 (1901)

‡ ›

£  (1904)

 Anton Chekhov
‡ at is ³C ek ovian´?

‡ › e dog wandering around

on t e set barking«
 Anton C ek ov
C ek ov imself ad complained t at t e ³actors act too muc ´ w en is
play ›
 

was first performed by star actors in t e St. Petersburg

premiere. Stanislavsky developed an actor training met od w ic would
be adopted and embraced, particularly by American actors in t e
twentiet century.
 |
 
 
‡ Constantin Stanislavski
 › e oscow Art › eatre
‡ ³t e actors act too muc .´ C ek ov

›
 

 Anton C ek ov
‡ C ek ov and company at t e oscow Art
› eatre

³Play t e subtext´
› e interrelations ips between t e c aracters.
  
‡ Bot Ibsen and C ek ov present a world
of un
eroic individualists trapped in a
society t at t warted individualism and
starved creativity.
 Stanislavski and t e oscow Art
› eatre
‡ Founded (wit Nemirovic
Danc enko)

‡ C ampioned C ek ov¶s plays

‡ Developed actor training t eories to

accommodate t e demands of C ek ov¶s
plays.
› e oscow Art › eatre
 › e oscow Art › eatre
‡ Visit to America«c anged acting forever
 › e oscow Art › eatre
‡ Still active today
 G
 
‡ › e Abbey › eatre 1904

Yeats

artyn

Lady Gregory
 G
 
ÿ Synge¶s $
 


w
w 

 G
 
ÿ O¶Casey¶s ›
$



 
‡ rote about ³lower class´ Iris not portrayed as
stereotypes.

ÿ Influenced Eugene O¶Neill

 -
 


‡ America¶s first great playwrig t

(1888
1953)

Born in a trunk«
 -
 


‡  
( 

  (1916)
 Am
 
m
‡ Eugene O¶Neill (1888
1953)
ÿ America¶s first master dramatist
‡ Expressionism: ›
 
, ›
( 

% 

‡ Naturalism: 


‡ Greek ›ragedy re
told:  
 
(



‡ Autobiograp ical Naturalism: 
) 
  

% 
*
+
 -
 


‡ ›
( 
% 

Explored expressionism
 -
 


‡ 
) 
  
% 

+ (1954)

ÿ Autobiograp ical masterpiece

Only publis ed after is deat in 1953.
  

m
‡ Art ur iller

ÿ Elia Kazan
ÿ
o ielziner
  

m
Built on t e wide social relevance and
stylistic innovation of American t eatre
in t e 1930s.
 Am
 
m
‡ Elia Kazan
ÿ Group › eatre

ÿ Fusion of external realism and psyc ological symbols

ÿ A sense of subjective emotional vision interpreting t e

realistic outlines of material existence
ÿ Reinforced by t e acting style developed t roug t e
Actor¶s Studio
  

m
‡    & is a truly American
sub
style developed by Elia Kazan and
o
ielziner in order to stage t e plays of
Art ur iller and ›ennessee illiams in
t e mid
twentiet century.
 Am
 
m
‡ ielziner, iller, Kazan
  

m
‡ Art ur iller (1915
2005)

Expressed political passion based

on t e individual¶s imperative
to preserve is personal trut
against t e demands of a
materialistic or repressive
society.
 Art ur iller
‡ Art ur iller (1915
2005) is known for
tackling serious social issues suc as
wartime profiteering in 


  and
t e broken ³American dream´ in  




 . In ›

, e reacts to
t e ³red scare´ witc unts of t e mid

twentiet century.
 A  

‡  



 
,-./

illie ³low man´

and t e loss of
t e ³American
Dream´
  

m
‡ ›ennessee
illiams
(1911
1983)
Naturalistic on t e surface
 ›ennessee illiams
‡ Paralleling iller during t e post
orld ar II period was t e
more poetic ›ennessee illiams (1911
1983).
‡ His autobiograp ical ³memory play´ ›
!

 
as
followed by four steamier dramatic classics:
ÿ 
 
+ 


ÿ  


 
›
0

ÿ 

) 

ÿ ›
+


*  


‡ › ese plays are all idealized
sensually evocative c aracter studies,
often dealing wit c aracters¶ psyc ological weaknesses and inability to
cope wit t e ³brutalities´ of every day life.
‡ illiam¶s c aracters²Stanley Kowalski, Blanc e Dubois in particular


ave remained an indelible part of our national ³myt .´
  

m
‡ 
 
+ 


Expresses t e interior psyc ological

turmoil of t e protagonist.

Blanc e Dubois
 Am
 
m
‡ August ilson (1947
2006)

›en play dramatic cycle

explores African American
life.
 A


‡ In ilson¶s plays, poetry and mysticism
blend wit jazz
like ³riffs.´
ÿ usic plays an indelible part in is plays,
w ic all deal wit social and racial subjects.
ÿ During is life
time e earned two Pulitzer
Prizes, seven ›ony nominations, and dozens
of ot er awards.
 A


‡ j

 A


‡ ›
$ 
) 
A


 Am
 
m
‡ › ere are many ot er playwrig ts w o
ave emerged in t e latter part of t e
twentiet century.

‡ e will examine t em furt er w en we

discuss playwriting.
 |
 

 

   
Ô


‡› is style, w ic emp asizes t eatricality and spectacle, continues today in
t e form of nineteent
century based musicals suc as ›
$  



£ , )
1 
, and ›
 

$


 
  
› ese styles are more prevalent in film and television.
It is more accurate to refer to t em as ³ eig tened´ realism.