20th Century American Drama:
An Overview
Important Trends and Playwrights
in the Move toward Modernism
Timeline of Innovations
1900: Dirigible, Hershey Bar,
Radio, Wireless Signaling
 1901: Assembly Line
 1903: Airplane, Coat Hanger, Crayons,
Study of Radioactivity
 1905: Popsicle, Theory of Relativity
 1907: Paper Towels, Cellophane
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Timeline Continued
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1910-20: Life Savers, Mass Production,
Zipper, Remote Control, Rocket,
Traffic Light, Toaster, Tinker Toys.
1921-30: Wheaties, Blender, Bubble
Gum, Television (1927), Penicillin.
1931-40: Ballpoint Pen, Trampoline,
Shopping Cart, Nylon Stockings.
Timeline Continued
1941-50: Duct Tape, Nuclear Reaction,
Computer, Bikini, Microwave,
Kitty Litter, Scrabble, Frisbee.
 1951-60: Liquid Paper, RAM, Milk
Carton, Video Game, Barbie.
 1961-70: Easy-Bake Oven, Lava Lamp,
Holography, Computer Mouse,
Microprocessor.
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Timeline Continued
1971-80: Karaoke, Internet/Ethernet,
Post-It Notes, Rubik’s Cube,
Personal Computer (1976),
PC Modem, Trivial Pursuit.
 1981-90: Cabbage Patch Kids, www.,
Mobile Phone, Teletubbies,
Google.
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Theatre in early 1900s
Classics still performed
 Melodramas popular
 Minstrel Shows reflected racism
 Theatre frowned upon socially
 Burlesque pushed boundaries
 Technology created options
 Vaudeville became mainstream
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Emergence of American Style
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Theatre achieved legitimacy
Superstars created
Early moving pictures competed
Acting styles were more subtle
Realism borrowed from Europe
- Truth verified through science
- Scientific method of observation ruled
- Human problems were the subject of science
The Origins of Realism
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is considered
to be the father of modern realistic
drama. His plays attacked society’s
values and dealt with unconventional
subjects within the form of the wellmade play (causally related). He
became a model for later realistic
writers.
Ibsen’s Plays
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Ghosts—1881—dealt with the concept of the
sins of the father transferring to the son,
resulting in syphilis.
Hedda Gabler – 1890 – a powerful woman
takes her life at the end of the play to get
away from her boredom with society.
A Doll’s House – 1879 – Nora leaves her
husband Torvald and her children at the end
of the play; often considered "the slam heard
around the world," Nora’s action must have
been very shocking to the Victorian audience.
Other Realism Playwrights
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George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) – Uncommon for
his witty humor, he made fun of English society for the purpose
of educating and changing. His plays tended to show the
accepted attitude, and then demolished that attitude while
showing his own solutions.
Arms and the Man (1894) – about love and war and honor.
Mrs. Warren’s Profession – prostitution.
Major Barbara (1905) – a munitions manufacturer gives more to
the world (jobs, etc.) while the Salvation Army only prolongs the
status quo.
Pygmalion (1913) – shows the transforming of a flower girl into a
society woman, and exposes the phoniness of society. The
musical My Fair Lady was based on this play.
Other Realism Playwrights
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Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)
The Seagull (1898)- about an actress and her
family and their love interests who each are
frustrated by life.
Three Sisters (1900) –about three sisters who
want to move to Moscow but never do.
The Cherry Orchard (1902)- about a family
symbolized by their surroundings being
destroyed.
The Move to Naturalism
While Ibsen was perfecting realism, Europe was
demanding a new drama based on Darwinism:
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all forms of life developed gradually from common
ancestry,
evolution of species is explained by survival of the fittest
The implications of Darwin’s ideas seemed to be
that
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1) heredity and environment control people;
2) no person is responsible, since forces are beyond
control;
3) the power must go to society;
4) progress is the same as improvement/evolution; it is
inevitable and can be hastened by the application of the
scientific method;
5) man is reduced to a natural object.
Reactions to Naturalism
Advancements in Musical Theatre
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Addition of plots, not just revues
Show Boat-first real example
Cole Porter made show tunes hits
Oklahoma! Advanced story through dance & song
Effects of the Great Depression
- Federal Theatre Project created jobs
- Social Protest through theatre
- Shows became Brechtian
Pivotal Playwrights
Arguably, the four most influential were:
 Eugene O’Neill
 Arthur Miller
 Tennessee Williams
 Edward Albee
Eugene O’Neill (1988-1953)
Wrote in a style which combined:
- Realism
- Symbolism
- Expressionism
Most famous play:
Long Day’s Journey Into Night--- about the horrors of
addiction as it it devastates the Tyrone family. It
was highly autobiographical.
Arthur Miller (1915-2005)
Called a “modern tragedian.”
 He wrote: “…the underlying struggle is
that of the individual attempting to gain
his 'rightful' position in his society."
 Most famous plays:
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- The Crucible
- Death of a Salesman
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)
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Wrote in a style now called “magical realism.”
His works fit into the format of “memory play.”
- Character experiences something profound
- That experience causes an “arrest of time.”
- Character must re-live that until he makes sense of it.
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Actors/directors of his plays brought “the Method” of
acting to forefront.
Most famous plays:
- The Glass Menagerie
- A Streetcar Named Desire
Edward Albee (1928-
)
Heavily influenced by Samuel Beckett
who wrote Waiting for Godot.
 Associated in his early works with
Theatre of the Absurd.
 Early successes were one-act plays like
The Zoo Story.
 Best known play was not absurdist:
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
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Other Contemporary Trends in
Theatre
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Growth of Musical Theatre
Explosion of Broadway
Film and theatre borrow from each other
Minorities/fringe society gained voices:
- August Wilson - the African American
experience in the 20th Century (cycle)
- Tony Kushner - gay culture in response to AIDS
- Wendy Wasserstein - both Jewish and feminist
issues addressed
Other Playwrights of Note:
Thornton Wilder (Our Town)
 Lillian Hellman (The Children’s Hour)
 Sam Shepard (Buried Child)
 Marsha Norman (‘night, Mother)
 Christopher Durang (Baby with the
Bathwater)
 David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross)
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More Notable Playwrights
John Patrick Shanley (Doubt)
 Lanford Wilson (Tally’s Folly)
 John Guare (House of Blue Leaves)
 Neil Simon (The Odd Couple)
 William Inge (Picnic)
 Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the
Sun)
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Other artistic developments of the turn of the
century and beyond…
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1881: London’s Savoy Theatre is the first to
be lit by electricity.
In the same year, Vaudeville debuts in NYC.
1890: Modern dance emerges as a revolution
against ballet.
1901: Stanislavski’s “Method” of acting
introduced.
- See/hear onstage = real life = recreate reality.
- Credited as being the first great director-theatre
never the same.
Other Artistic Developments
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1904: Anton Chekhov premieres his play The
Cherry Orchard at the Moscow Art Theatre,
directed by Stanislavski, introducing modern
realism.
1907: Florenz Ziegfeld debuts his Follies in
NYC – takes musical extravaganza to new
heights.
1909: Diaghilev begins the era of modern
ballet.
Summary
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Modernism in all the performing arts such as
dance, musical theatre, and drama take
realism in new directions.
By changing what theatre could be, it
attracted a more diverse, intellectual, and
sophisticated audience.
Chances were taken and most were
successful – encouraging risks.
Playwrights, then directors, became the
greatest influence on the progression of
theatre in America in the 20th Century.