Modern Western theatre

Chekhov, Ibsen, Shaw, Brecht, Beckett, Stanislavski and others.

Performing Arts5 questions
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Realism

  • Henrik Ibsen (Norway): called the father of modern drama. He brought social problems onto the stage in realistic prose. A Doll's House (Nora leaves her husband), Ghosts, An Enemy of the People, Hedda Gabler and The Wild Duck.
  • Anton Chekhov (Russia): plays of everyday life, quiet action and inner feeling: The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.
  • August Strindberg (Sweden): Miss Julie.

Stanislavski and acting

Konstantin Stanislavski co-founded the Moscow Art Theatre (1898) with Nemirovich-Danchenko, which staged Chekhov's plays. His system of acting asks the actor to live truthfully in the role, using ideas such as the "magic if", given circumstances, objectives and the super-objective, and emotional memory. His books include An Actor Prepares.

Drama of ideas

George Bernard Shaw (Irish): witty plays that debate social questions: Pygmalion, Arms and the Man, Saint Joan, Major Barbara and Man and Superman.

Epic theatre

Bertolt Brecht (Germany) developed epic theatre. Instead of making the audience lose itself in emotion, he used the alienation effect (Verfremdungseffekt): songs, placards, narration and visible stage machinery remind spectators that they are watching a play, so they think critically. Plays: Mother Courage and Her Children, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Threepenny Opera and Life of Galileo. He founded the Berliner Ensemble.

Theatre of the Absurd

Samuel Beckett (Irish, wrote also in French): Waiting for Godot, in which Vladimir and Estragon wait for someone who never comes; also Endgame. Critic Martin Esslin named this trend the Theatre of the Absurd; Eugene Ionesco (The Bald Soprano, Rhinoceros) is another major figure.

Others

Luigi Pirandello (Six Characters in Search of an Author), Antonin Artaud (Theatre of Cruelty), Jerzy Grotowski (Poor Theatre), Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman) and Peter Brook (The Empty Space; a stage version of the Mahabharata).

Key points

  • Ibsen: A Doll's House; Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard.
  • Stanislavski: Moscow Art Theatre, system, An Actor Prepares.
  • Brecht: epic theatre, alienation effect.
  • Beckett: Waiting for Godot, Theatre of the Absurd.

Common mistakes

  • Linking alienation effect with Stanislavski; it is Brecht's.
  • Crediting Pygmalion to Ibsen; it is Shaw's.

Practice questions

Which playwright wrote A Doll's House and is called the father of modern drama?Easy
Waiting for Godot, a key play of the Theatre of the Absurd, was written by:Easy
A director uses placards, songs and a narrator so that the audience stays critically aware that it is watching a play. …Medium
Stanislavski developed his system of acting while working at which theatre?Medium
Match: P. Chekhov, Q. Shaw, R. Brecht with 1. Mother Courage and Her Children, 2. The Cherry Orchard, 3. Pygmalion.Hard
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