Understanding Realism in Theatre: Key Features and Influences
Understanding Realism in Theatre
Realism is the artistic movement that attempts to represent reality objectively, avoiding idealization or subjective treatment. Idealism, conversely, presents reality in a beautiful way. Realism began in 1830 in Europe, culminating with figures like Ibsen and Chekhov, and extending through the twentieth century. The realist aesthetic persists even today.
Key Features of Realism
- The story unfolds linearly (exposition, rising action, and denouement).
- Suspense is a key feature.
- Focus on social problems of the poor and current affairs, attempting to explain human behavior.
- Characters are drawn from everyday life, not heroes. Female behavior becomes important.
- Stage space is recreated with meticulous detail, faithfully reproducing reality.
- Interpretation is natural-looking, rejecting declamatory diction and artificiality.
André Antoine is considered the first modern stage director and founder of the Free Theater in Paris. Important Nordic realistic authors include Ibsen, Strindberg (Swedish), Shaw (English), and Oscar Wilde.
Stanislavsky’s Method
Stanislavsky’s most important task was the construction of characters, achieved with the director’s help. He taught actors to observe, listen, learn, and be moved in order to move the audience. The Stanislavsky system is based on three key points:
- The body is the medium through which to express the character’s inner life through concrete physical actions.
- From an interpretive standpoint, the actor uses technical affective memory.
- The subtext is a major contribution.
Dramatic Structure
In dramatic structure, we find the following elements: character, conflict, space, time, plot, and theme.
Character
Character refers to human beings, supernatural entities, symbolic figures, animals, and even objects that perform a dramatic action. A character is defined by what they do, how they do it, and the attributes that characterize them.
Conflict
Conflict is any situation of clash, disagreement, opposition, or struggle between people or things. It is defined by the confrontation between two antagonistic forces, world views, or attitudes towards the same situation.
Space
Space refers to where the action is performed. In play, there is a twofold concept:
- Stage Space: The stage where the characters evolve and where, by convention, the representation takes place. It is visible and concrete in the staging.
- Dramatic Space: The space of fiction where the author of the text places the action in the play. The viewer or reader reconstructs it in their imagination.
Time
Dramatic time differentiates between fiction and performance time:
- Dramatic Time: The duration of the performance.
- Fiction Time: The time interval that the represented action would last in reality.
Plot
Plot is what we are told: the sequence of events. We should differentiate between:
- The Story: The milestones presented in the work.
- The Fable: The chronological order in which the events have passed in a linear fashion.
Theme
Theme is the idea treated by the author through the development of the story. A play does not contain a single theme, but several. Each reader or viewer can find different themes.