Realism: 15 Helpful Theatre Resources for Students

Realism as a theatre movement emerged in Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. As a genuine theatre style, realism was a reaction against romanticism and the sensationalism of melodrama which dominated the stages of Europe and America for much of the 1800s. Audiences soon began to seek more believable plots, characters, sets and costumes on the stage. Characters in realistic plays were more middle class than those in most naturalistic dramas and the subject matter was less sordid. Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler) is often considered the father of modern realism.

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Realism Theatre Resources

Easy-to-understand overview of the characteristics and conventions of realism and the distinct differences between it and naturalism.

Excellent overview of the introduction of the movement on European stage in the mid-1900s.

Excellent article focusing on various aspects of the realist and naturalist movements in the theatre including definitions, major works, playwrights and other practitioners.

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“The realistic impulse, the desire to reproduce on the stage a piece of life faithfully, has been persistent over the last hundred years, even when realism as a technique has varied constantly in purpose and kind.“

— J.L. Styan | Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 1

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Brief summary of 20th century “American realism” from Oxford Research Encyclopedia.

Wikipedia entry detailing the emergence of this theatre movement in Russia and the United States.

Explanation of the well-made play formula adhered to by many realist playwrights, first developed around 1825 by French dramatist Eugene Scribe.

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“Theatre is a concentrate of life as normal. Theatre is a purified version of real life, an extraction, an essence of human behaviour that is stranger and more tragic and more perfect than everything that is ordinary about me and you“

— Eleanor Catton | Screenwriter

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Overview of the genre including the emegence of the movement and key playwrights.

Brief Wikipedia entry on this genre in the theatre.

Useful summary of the key conventions of this style at a glance.