Modern Realism

Modern realism holds the idea of the stage as an environment, rather than as an acting platform. The
father of modern realism was Norwegian playwright Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828-1906). Ibsen was one
of the first playwrights to put realism on a modern stage. Ibsen's realistic plays took place in three-
dimensional rooms instead of the more traditional approach of using flat painted or constructed
backdrops (Berggren). Realism in modern theatre also popularized the usage of “box-sets”. The box
set was first introduced in 1832 and was not used often until the end of the 19th century where it
became a common feature of the modern theatre. Box sets feature very detailed, three-walled,
roofed setting that simulates a room with the fourth wall removed in order for the audience to see
the action taking place in the room. Authentic details include doors with real moldings, windows with
outdoor scenery, stairways, and painted highlights and shadows (Box Sets).

Modern realism plays are very psychologically driven, where the plot is secondary and primary focus
is placed on the mental lives of characters, their motives, the reactions of others all while taking
place in a very normal real life setting (Cash, 2014). This allowed for the audience to watch the
characters develop and see their emotions to very real life situations in a real life setting. Since the
settings are realistic to the real world, the settings for modern realism plays are often bland
compared to other forms of theatre (Cash, 2014). For example, in a Shakespearean play, scene
changes often reflects a mood change of a character. A scene may take place in a forest to reflect a
mental freedom of a character. In modern realism, this mood change of a character would have to be
detected through speech and actions while taking place in a very normal real life setting (King, 2012).

Modern Naturalism

Naturalism modern theatre is very similar to modern realism theatre. Naturalism is a more extreme
form of realism and sought to go further and be more explanatory than realism by identifying the
underlying causes for a person’s actions or beliefs and display them in an even more natural setting
than realism. August Strindberg was one of the first playwrights to really incorporate naturalism into
modern theatre on stage when he wrote the 1888 play Miss Julie (Choice Reviews Online, 2003).
During the production of Miss Julie, Strindberg insisted that "there is nothing so hard to find on the
stage as an interior set that comes close to looking as a room should look. . . . There are so many
other conventions on the stage that strain our imagination; certainly we might be freed from
overexerting ourselves in an effort to believe that pots and pans painted on the scenery are real"
(Strindberg, 1973).

Modern naturalism set design used in the 2002 Sydney Opera House production of "Australia Day".

Every modern naturalism play takes place in one location therefore only one set was used in these
plays (Cash, 2012). Like realism, the sets used on stage are very realistic and mimic real life.
Therefore, box sets were often used and again consisted of three walls with a roof (Box Sets). One
extreme detail naturalism would use was the use of actual light fixtures. Actual light fixtures are used
onstage to suggest the sources of the light, and opaque shades were used on some of these fixtures
so that they cast actual patches of light against walls and furniture (Tripp, 2014). One big difference
between realism and naturalism on stage was that naturalism tried to be so realistic that it did not
jump in time and stage time was real time (Cash, 2012). Meaning that three hours in the theatre
equaled three hours for the characters in the play. What this meant for set design was that the sets
did not change. If there was a change in the scene, that time it took to change the scene would be
time that the characters also had to lose and since naturalism mimic-ed real life to the extreme, that
would be time that just disappeared which is not possible in real life.

Naturalism was not as successful as realism and was short lived on stage. This was due to most
naturalism plays attempts at imitating real life so much that they often dealt with unpopular taboo
subjects, were pessimistic and cynical, had no obvious climaxes, had no sympathetic characters, and
progressed slowly to the end (Trumbull, 2009).