Download Introduction to Theatre Styles Lecture Notes

Introduction to Theatre Styles Lecture Notes
Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism
ROMANTICISM
 Cultural movement during the 1800’s
 Rejected neoclassical rules and suggested that genius creates its own rules
 Focused on emotions, sentiment and imagination
 Elaborately staged and used supernatural elements
 Heroes were independent and defended individuality
 Common theme was the gulf between human beings’ spiritual aspirations and their
physical limitations
NATURALISM
 Mid-19th Century
 Based views on contemporary scientific theory
 Aimed to present ordinary life as accurately as possible – no theatrical sense – in the
extreme “slice of life” and “real flies on real meat”
 Showed how human beings act in response to forces of nature and society that are beyond
their control
 Subject matter emphasized the boredom, depression, and frustration of contemporary life
REALISM
 Late-19th Century movement
 Replaced the artificial romantic style with accurate depictions of people in plausible
situations
 Writers refused to make simple moral judgments or to resolve dramatic action neatly
 Presents life as it actually is; characters talk, dress, and act as people in ordinary life do
 Actors attempt to become their characters; living their lives in real room with the
audience spying on them through the invisible fourth wall
 Ushered in modern theatre and evolutionized contemporary theatre in every aspect, from
scenery, to styles of acting, from dialogue to makeup
SOURCES
Theatre: Art in Action – secondary school theatre textbook
Stage & Screen – secondary school theatre textbook
Brewer’s Theater: A Phrase and Fable Dictionary by Sir Peter Ustinov
The Fireside Companion to the Theatre by Ethan Mordden
Living Theater: A History by Edwin Wilson and Alvin Goldfarb