NATURALIST AND
EXPRESSIONIST THEATRE
Conventions
Here are some conventions of
naturalist/realist drama
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Plays should be a realistic as possible, creating an
illusion of real life on stage
Believable, everyday working/middle classed
characters
Set, props and costumes are realistic and believable
Action is continuous – no jumps in time
No interaction between audience and actors
Dialogue is close to everyday speech
Acting looks like real life
Edward
Munch’s
Scream
1893 (the very
start of
expressionism)
Expressionist drama
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Expressing is more important than being realistic
Expressionistic devices are used to make the psychological
state of the characters clear to the audience
Shadowy, unrealistic lighting and visual distortion in the set
Abstract sets represent themes through shapes, colours and
simplified images
Only a few symbolic props
Episodic
Heightened lyrical poetic style
Long monologues, pauses/silences instead of naturalistic
dialogue
Stylised exaggerated movements rather than naturalistic
ones.
Williams: mixing realism and
expressionism
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Some aspects of the play seem ‘real’, like a grubby
kitchen set
The playwright might choose to use very nonnaturalistic theatrical devices to convey a different
sort of reality (lighting, music, staging, language)
Elia Kazan (director) said:
 “This
is a poetic tragedy, not a realistic one. The acting
must be styled...Blanche’s inner life, emotions are a
tangible actual factor’
The Glass
Menagerie
Rank these events scene 1:
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1.A glimpse of life in the area – a sailor on his way to the Four Deuces, a black woman and a
white woman chatting together, a streetseller.
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2. Stanley throws a package of meat at Stella his wife, who hurries after him
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3. Blanche arrives having taken the streetcar from Desire to Cemeteries – she seems lost
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and disorientated and shocked at what she sees.
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4. Eunice lets her into the flat and talks to Blanche about her family’s plantation home –
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Belle Reve – in Mississippi.
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5. Having sent Eunice off, Blanche helps herself to a drink while she waits for Stella – and
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then washes the glass.
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6. Stella arrives.
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7. The sisters talk about Blanche’s visit.
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8. Blanche tells Stella why she isn’t still teaching school.
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9. Stella talks about Stanley, the sort of man he is and their relationship.
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10. Blanche tells Stella that she has ‘lost’ Belle Reve, their family home.
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11. Stanley arrives back and introduces himself to Blanche.
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12. He asks Blanche about her marriage and the scene ends with Blanche