Nineteenth-century theatre
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| - | [[Image:Theatre from Ars Memoriae by Robert Fludd.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Ars Memoriae]]'': The [[Theatre]] ([[1619]]) - [[Robert Fludd]]]] | ||
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| - | '''Realism''' was a general movement in [[Nineteenth-century theatre|19th-century theatre]] that steered theatrical texts and performances toward greater fidelity to real life, including [[Naturalism (literature)|Naturalism]] in France, [[Verismo]] in Italy, and similar movements. | + | '''Nineteenth-century theatre''' describes a wide range of movements in the [[Theatre|theatrical]] [[culture]] of the [[19th century]]. In the [[Western culture|West]], they include [[Romanticism]], [[melodrama]], the [[well-made play]]s of [[Eugène Scribe|Scribe]] and [[Victorien Sardou|Sardou]], the [[farce]]s of [[Georges Feydeau|Feydeau]], the [[problem play]]s of [[Naturalism (theatre)|Naturalism]] and [[Realism (theatre)|Realism]], [[Richard Wagner|Wagner's]] [[opera|operatic]] ''[[Gesamtkunstwerk]]'', [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s plays and operas, [[Oscar Wilde|Wilde's]] drawing-room comedies, [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] and [[Russian Symbolism]], and proto-[[Expressionism|Expressionism]] in the late works of [[August Strindberg]] and [[Henrik Ibsen]]. |
| - | '''Realism''' began earlier in the 19th century in [[Russia]] than elsewhere in Europe and took a more uncompromising form. Beginning with the plays of [[Ivan Turgenev]] (who used "domestic detail to reveal inner turmoil"), [[Aleksandr Ostrovsky]], [[Aleksey Pisemsky]] (whose ''A Bitter Fate'' (1859) anticipated [[Naturalism (theatre)|Naturalism]]), and [[Leo Tolstoy]] (whose ''[[The Power of Darkness]]'' (1886) is "one of the most effective of naturalistic plays"), a tradition of psychological realism in Russia culminated with the establishment of the [[Moscow Art Theatre]] by [[Constantin Stanislavski]] and [[Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko]]. Their ground-breaking productions of the plays of [[Anton Chekhov]] in turn influenced [[Maxim Gorky]] and [[Mikhail Bulgakov]]. Stanislavski went on to develop his [[Stanislavski's 'system'|'system']], a form of actor training that is particularly suited to psychological realism | + | [[Realism (theatre)|Realism]] began around 1850 as the [[Romanticism]] period was ending around 1870, and gave way to the 'isms' of [[Modernism]] in the [[Twentieth-century theatre|theatre of the 20th century]]. [[Henrik Ibsen]] is considered to be the father of Realism in theater. In the UK, [[Thomas William Robertson]] was an early proponent. |
| - | 19th-century realism is closely connected to the development of modern drama, which, as [[Martin Harrison]] explains, "is usually said to have begun in the early 1870s" with the "middle-period" work of the Norwegian dramatist [[Henrik Ibsen]]. Ibsen's realistic drama in prose has been "enormously influential." | + | The theme of Realism in theater was ''likeness to life'' and this movement sought to create theater that was a laboratory for the nature of relationships. The goal of a realism-era play was to set forth a functional or dysfunctional situation in an objective manner to an impartial audience. The audience is meant to view the characters as a visitor observes animals in a zoo. |
| + | * Dialogue only, no [[aside]]s, [[soliloquy]]s or [[monologue]]s (except when addressed to another onstage character) | ||
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| + | * An individual represents a societal problem | ||
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| + | * [[Fourth wall]] removed convention is strictly followed | ||
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| + | Also, the expansion of railways helped expand theatre as more people could afford to go and watch or act. | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | * [[Naturalism (theatre)|Naturalism]] | + | |
| - | * [[Socialist realism]] | + | *[[History of theatre]] |
| + | *[[Twentieth-century theatre]] | ||
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Revision as of 09:16, 16 February 2013
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Nineteenth-century theatre describes a wide range of movements in the theatrical culture of 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 Russian Symbolism, and proto-Expressionism in the late works of August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen.
Realism began around 1850 as the Romanticism period was ending around 1870, and gave way to the 'isms' of Modernism in the theatre of the 20th century. Henrik Ibsen is considered to be the father of Realism in theater. In the UK, Thomas William Robertson was an early proponent.
The theme of Realism in theater was likeness to life and this movement sought to create theater that was a laboratory for the nature of relationships. The goal of a realism-era play was to set forth a functional or dysfunctional situation in an objective manner to an impartial audience. The audience is meant to view the characters as a visitor observes animals in a zoo.
- Dialogue only, no asides, soliloquys or monologues (except when addressed to another onstage character)
- An individual represents a societal problem
- Fourth wall removed convention is strictly followed
Also, the expansion of railways helped expand theatre as more people could afford to go and watch or act.
See also
