Contemporary Theatre Styles Lecture Notes
Symbolism, Existentialism, Epic/Theatricalism, Absurdism
SYMBOLISM
 Anti-realist movement between 1880-1910
 Writers believed that drama should present the mystery of being and the cosmos—the
infinite qualities of the human spirit and inner meaning of life
 Symbolic images rather than concrete actions would be the basic means of
communication and represented emotions, ideals, and values
 Characters were figures representative of the human condition
 Stage pictures had only the bare essentials necessary to evoke the dramatic universe
 Themes were chosen from myth or fairy tales and used poetic language and a deliberately
artificial style of staging
EXISTENTIALISM
 Philosophical doctrine developed after World War I
 Rejects traditional beliefs
 Writers believe there is little meaning to existence, that God does not exist, and that
humanity is therefore alone in an irrational universe
 An individual must accept responsibility for his/her own actions
 Emphasis is on freedom and the moral responsibility of the individual and shows a
distrust of philosophical idealism
 Disillusionment
 Plays are based on traditional cause-and-effect logic, and the characters are recognizable,
fully developed human beings
EPIC/THEATRICALISM
 Began by Bertolt Brecht
 Reactions in the 1920’s and 30’s to an over-emphasis on artistic illusion and aesthetic
emotion in theatre
 Believes that theatre should serve a social purpose of educating audiences
 Narrators are often used to comment on the dramatic action
 Political drama intended to appeal to reason rather than emotions that uses a journalistic,
non-emotional style that incorporates signs, projections, films, etc.
 Attempts to distance the audience from the action and characters—“alienation effect”—in
order to allow them to concentrate on a play’s message
 Epic theatre usually deals with history or foreign lands, covers a long time, shifts locale
frequently, has intricate plots, and includes many characters
ABSURDISM
 Genre of the 1950’s and 60’s
 Stage conventions were abandoned in order to present a view of the world as meaningless
and incomprehensible
 Believe that much of what happens in life cannot be logically explained; it is ridiculous
and absurd and presents human existence as futile
 Plots do not have traditional structure
 Characters are not realistic and they usually fail to communicate
 Setting is frequently a strange, unrecognizable locale
 Dialogue seems to make little sense and the language is unreliable
 Writers are highly individualistic
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