Modern Theater

Oh the Drama!
 Modern drama, like modern painting and
other forms of modern art, developed not
in the twentieth century, but during the
19th century
 Modern theater was born out of a
widespread reaction against the subject
matters, forms, and methods of staging
that had prevailed in many 18th century
and early 19th plays.
 Largely plays from this era are missing the
romantic melodrama or neoclassical
tragedy.
 Rather a new form of theater was coming
about.
 Realism
 “Reality” in turn became a watchword
among early modern dramatists, actors,
directors, and set designers.
 Realism in its most literal sense developed
out of a desire to bring the stage into
greater conformity with the surface details
or ordinary human experience.
 The illusion of 3D
 To create the illusion of a three-
dimensional interior, nineteenth century
set designers devised a set compose of
flats arranged to form connected walls
enclosing three sides of the stage with the
fourth wall removed so that the audience
could look into a stage room that spatially
seemed just like a real one. The realistic
illusion of this stage design is known as
Box Set
 New advances:
 With box sets came
movable windows and
doors
 Interior walls of the set were decorated and
hung with fixtures
 Lighting changed with the advent of gaslights as
well as oil lights which could show the illusion of
sunlight or moonlight
 False thickness: which
made the sets appear
to have more depth
then they may really
have.
Theater still follows the
same story structure
 Stage terminology
 Blocking - Blocking is the movement that the
director gives the actors. The director blocks the
play or tells the actors where to move when he is
directing.
 Upstage – Toward or on the rear part of the
stage
 Downstage – The Portion of the acting area
nearest the audience
 Stage Left – The part of the stage on the actor’s
left as the actor faces the audience
 Stage Right – The part of the stage on the
actor’s right as the actor faces the audience.