NWrealism

The development of realism in the theater came along with a variety of other factors that were occurring during the 1800s. Industrialization accompanied by an increased sense of materialism that came with the heightened value of spending power drove the design of many of the sets that were produced in the earlier period of older realism. Along with this, the focus of the theater began to shift towards the exploration of the ordinary man and woman and commentaries on society. Realist plays also focused more on the psychology of humans and what makes us act the in the way we do, related to the advent of increased psychological perspective in the 1800s. The realist plays of the time made one feel as if the fourth wall dissolved and the audience was actually viewing the actions the play is attempting to imitate. To accomplish the goal of realistic portrayal the older plays that incorporated realism had to alter the dialogue, setting, and lighting to develop the realistic interpretation. The sets that were used were very detailed in design and construction to resemble the setting that was being imitated, as opposed to earlier styles that utilized either no setting or a more vague setting. Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, for example makes a set that is almost identical to a Victorian home from which the play is set. Items and props used in the play help establish the sense of an actual house because they are things that could actually be found in a home in the period, such as portraits that are hanging on the faux walls and an ornate staircase that suggests opulence. Some props used are actually workable to create an atmosphere of further realism. An example of this is the use of the stove to cook in the Strindberg play, Miss Julie. The setting in the realistic theater seems concerned with catching precisely the feeling and tone not just of the time, but of the characters and action as well. For example, the messiness of the room in The Glass Menagerie belies the less than cordial state of affairs between the main characters in the play. In the area of costumes, again an obsession with detail comes into play. The costumes that are used are expected to be both from the period that play occurs in and also be correct in the station of the characters involved. In the Cherry Orchard, the characters all are dressed in the suits and dresses of the well-to-do Victorian upper class, while Miss Julie shows the same period, but a woman who wears an apron and is of a lower class is shown. A major part of the realistic experience is the acting that is involved in the showing of the play. The actors must deliver a performance that is not as exaggerated and upfront as ones that came before it. This involves more normal patterns of speech, such as the ones that are found in Death of A Salesman and Edmund and the Sea. Monologues, especially, must be given with a strong, deliberate intensity that is found in the Iceman Cometh. As time passed and film became a more dominant form of media, the extensive realism that pervaded the theater began to dwindle because it could not achieve the level of realistic perfection that was found in movies, where scenes could be reshoot. Films, such as Glengarry Glenn Ross, have an almost unbridled liberty to attempt and replicated the varied nuances of everyday life. The setting of more modern plays, in some cases, thus moves away from the perfection that is strived for in earlier realism. Oleanna, for example, uses realistic props but does not define all the space around the players. Fences, as well, shows only a part of a realistic set, but not a complete realistic set and background. The costumes and intensity of performances in all of the modern realistic plays is still as strong as the earlier realistic play, but is just updated to fit into a modern setting.