Chapter 9: Anti-Realism

The Revolt against Realism

After you read Chapter 9, you should be able to. . .

Know the purpose of the anti-realist movement

Know what was symbolism and who were its proponents

Know how anti-realism led to changes in stylization

Be able to name some of the playwrights and their works of this period

Recognize Samuel Beckett as the foremost playwright concerned with the theme
of human futility

Know the plot of Happy Days

Be familiar with influence of Bertolt Brechts Theatre of Alienation

First anti-realism movement:

Symbolism: Plays are filled with images and metaphors; dream sequences; fantasy.

Why did the Symbolists want to revolt?

Said realism was too confining

Realism eliminated poetry, fantasy, and the magic of the theatre

Said realism led to constraints of verisimilitude

What influence from the medical world influenced symbolism?

The theory of the subconscious: Freud

What inventions influenced symbolism?

Electricity

Stage Effects

Spotlighting

Using a scrim to change the set

What were the themes of the symbolist or stylized theatre?

Death

Fate

Idealism

Nature

Life force

Most Violent production in theatre history?

Ubu Roi (1896) by Alfred Jarry

Shock theatre (theatre of the avant garde)

Foul language; characters entering through fireplaces; lack of plot

George Bernard Shaw

His plays were platforms for discussions of social problems

Man and Superman: 4 hours long

Characters fall asleep and wake up in hell
This dream sequence often portrayed as a separate play
Major Barbara
My Fair Lady

Expressionism

Used darkness and shadow to set mood and tone

Used shocking dialogue; exaggerated scenery; auditory effects

The Hairy Ape by ONeill

Plot: Working class man falls in love with and is rejected by an upper class
woman

Theatricialism

Example: Six Characters in Search of an Author

The play becomes a part of the play!

Theatre of Cruelty

Forces the audience to look at the dark side of life.

Emphasis on sensory images

Founder was Antonin Artaud

His book: Theatre and Its Double

Antonin Artaud

Existentialism

Man is unique and isolated in the universe

Human existence is unexplainable

No Exit by Jean Paul Satre

Theatre of the Absurd

Founded by Albert Camus

Playwright: Samuel Beckett

Endgame
Waiting for Godot

Theatre of Alienation

Playwright: Bertolt Brecht

Believed society did have potential for growth and change

The Caucasian Chalk Circle