Modern Drama

From the time of the Renaissance on, theatre seemed to be striving for total realism, or at least for the illusion of reality. As it reached that goal in the late 19th century, a multifaceted, antirealistic reaction erupted. Avant-garde Precursors of Modern Theatre Many movements generally lumped together as the avant-garde, attempted to suggest alternatives to the realistic drama and production. The various theoreticians felt that Naturalism presented only superficial and thus limited or surface reality-that a greater truth or reality could be found in the spiritual or the unconscious. Others felt that theatre had lost touch with its origins and had no meaning for modern society other than as a form of entertainment. Paralleling modern art movements, they turned to symbol, abstraction, and ritual in an attempt to revitalize the theatre. Although realism continues to be dominant in contemporary theatre, television and film now better serve its earlier functions.

Henrik Ibsen

He is the creator of the modern and realistic prose drama. One of the first writers to make drama a vehicle for social comment and also one of the only 19th century dramatists to explore topics that were considered socially unacceptable. Ibsen is regarded as the greatest and most influential dramatist of the 19th century. Born in Skein, Norway in the mid 1830’s. His father, a once successful merchant, went bankrupt.. Ibsen, uncomfortable in new surroundings and stung by poverty and social rejection, he turned to writing poetry in his spare time. 

Having already written two plays,  In the following years, his talent as a playwright continued to blossom. A Doll’s House (1879) aroused controversy because it portrayed a woman whose actions were not considered acceptable at the time. As the nineteenth century wound to a close, Ibsen continued to write prolifically. In 1900, Ibsen suffered the first of a series of strokes that almost completely incapacitated him. When Ibsen died in 1906, it was already clear that he had made a major impact on the theater. However, the tremendous extent of his impact did not become apparent until later in the twentieth century, when it became obvious that Ibsen had completely altered the direction of the theater.

Ibsen sought to depict life accurately by delving into the types of conflicts and dilemmas that he viewed to be characteristic of the time.

• He focused on situations that could happen in real life.
• He patterned his dialogue after real-life conversations.
• His characters sometimes speak in incomplete sentences, express incomplete thoughts, change their train of thought in mid-sentence, and interrupt one another.

Ibsen revolutionized the way in which plays were staged by introducing elaborate, detailed sets that often changed from act to act. In his stage directions, he offers a precise description of how the set should appear, as well as how the lighting should be used. Not only does he use scenery, props, and lighting to contribute to the realistic quality of his plays. He also frequently uses these elements as symbols. Ibsen uses stage directions to instruct actors about how they should interpret certain lines of dialogue.

He wrote two plays, Catiline, a tragedy, which reflected the atmosphere of the revolutionary year of 1848, and The Burial Mound, written under the pseudonym of Brynjolf Bjarme. Ibsen staged more than 150 plays, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the techniques of professional theatrical performances. In addition to his managerial work he also wrote four plays based on Norwegian folklore and history, notably Lady Inger of Ostrat (1855), dealing with the liberation of medieval Norway. In 1852 his theater sent him on a study tour to Denmark and Germany. Ibsen himself considered The Emperor and the Galilean (1873) his most important play. Ibsen's dramatic conventions have been widely adopted by a number of dramatists in European world countries. For example:

Bernard Shaw

Throughout Shaw's professional life as a critic, he devoted a great deal of his writings to analyze Ibsen's plays for British audiences. Shaw wrote three sets of critical essays on Ibsen: The Quintessence of lbsenism, Our Theatres in the Nineties, and The Prefaces. 

Shaw is supporting the thesis that Ibsen prepared the way for later developments in which he had no part,  Because of Ibsen, it is now possible for a dramatist like Shaw to write plays that begin with discussion rather than end with it; or even, that are all discussion.. Shaw wrote plays that reflect the The Social Significance of the Modern Drama. Shaw's Major Barbara is of still greater social importance, as well as one of Shaw's best works, Pygmalion.

John Galsworthy

English novelist and playwright, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932. As a follower of the realistic tradition, Galsworthy never fails in attaching special significance to the tiniest details. Galsworthy's realism does not only lie in his capacity for making his hero part and parcel of his surroundings and convincing the reader of his typicality: he is a fine artist in reproducing the individual workings of his characters' minds.

However, several other writers have manifested their dissatisfaction with Ibsenite conventions either partly or wholly and given expressions to their dramatic experiments and structural designs.