Ism’s

EXPRESSIONISM

Expressionism was a modernist movement which developed in Germany around the time of World War I.
Expressionism rejected: (A.) authority and industrialization associated with the war, and (B.) realism and attempts to
capture and portray objective reality. Expressionists preferred, instead, the subjectivity of emotions.

Expressionists were opposed to any form of art which was comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. They dismissed
this as superficial and overly concerned with irrelevant detail. To them, tapping into the visceral emotional reactions
to a situation was far more important. Expressionists aimed to expose the inner feelings and experiences of
characters, rather than the obvious outer reality which could be easily observed. They wanted to dramatise the
spiritual and emotional awakening of the protagonist. They felt that what was inside needed to be used as a basis
for what could be portrayed outside.

The expressionists did not believe in absolute truth. They felt that the world was composed of personal perceptions;
such as desires, aspirations, conflicts and frustrations. Very often expressionist drama is associated with feelings of
anxiety and torment.

(1) EPISODIC STRUCTURE

In German this is called Stationendramen. Expressionists abandoned the idea of a comfortable and chronological
narrative sequence of events. They presented only the high points of the action. These were moments of
exaggeration which helped to convey to the audience an intensity of feeling.

(2) PICTORIAL DIRECTING

The composition and what the audience could see on stage was important. Different areas and levels of the stage
were used. Scenery, costumes, sound and light were all designed in such a way to reflect the personal thoughts and
feelings of the protagonist.

(3) USE OF LANGUAGE

Dialogue was exaggerated and charged with intense emotion. Characters speak using clipped patterns, like the
blurted utterances of a telegraph. The rhythm of the plays was staccato, abrupt and shocking. The intention was to
separate the character from the speech patterns which people use in everyday reality.

(4) DEHUMANISED CHARACTERISATION

Characters were not people (in the Stanislavski sense with a profound depth and motivation). Rather they conveyed
emotional attitudes. (Characters often just had names like The Tractor Girl; The Peasant Woman)

(5) STYLISED MOVEMENT

Gestures and choreography were exaggerated and overstated, in an attempt to help the audience step further away
from reality. Movement often relied upon symbolism or strictly controlled patterns.

MORE info*:
Particular characteristics and techniques became associated with the early (German)
expressionist play:
1. Its atmosphere was often vividly dreamlike and nightmarish. The mood was aided by
shadowy, unrealistic lighting and visual distortions in the set. A characteristic use of
pause and silence, carefully placed in counterpoint with speech and held for an
abnormal length of time, also contributed to the dream effect.
 2. Settings avoided reproducing the detail of naturalistic drama, and created only those
starkly simplified images the theme of the play called for. The decor was often made up
of bizarre shapes and sensational colours.
3. The plot and structure of the play tended to be disjointed and broken into episodes,
incidents and tableaux, each making a point of its own. Instead of the dramatic conflict
of the well made play, the emphasis was on a sequence of dramatic
statements made by the dreamer, usually the author himself. From this structure, grew
Brecht’s epic theatre…
4. Characters lost their individuality and were merely identified by nameless
designations, like The Man, The Father, The Son … such characteristics were
stereotypes and caricatures rather than individual personalities, and represented social
groups rather than particular people … they could appear grotesque and unreal…
5. The dialogue, unlike conversation, was poetical, febrile, rhapsodic. At one time it might
take the form of a long lyrical monologue, and at another, of staccato telegraphese –
made up of phrases of one or two words or expletives.
6. The style of acting was a deliberate departure from the realism of Stanislavsky.
Moreover, in avoiding the detail of human behaviour, a player might appear to be
overacting, and adopting the broad, mechanical movements of a puppet.

Characteristics associated with German expressionism in its mature phase:

1. Settings are virtually abstract and unlocalized, and the scene frequently appears angular and
distorted, suggesting a bad dream. The properties are few and symbolic.
2. The action of the play is still broken into episodes, and these may represent stages in the
hero’s life or a sequence of visions as seen through his subconscious mind, as in a dream play.
3. The characters for the most part remain nameless and impersonal, often moving grotesquely
… They always represent some general class or attitude, their characteristics being
emphasized by costume, masks or make-up …
4. Crowds are also impersonalized, and move with mass rhythmic movements, often
mechanically.
5. The dialogue is increasingly clipped, fragmented and unreal. It became known as ‘telegram
style’.
6. The style of acting is hard to reconstruct from the text, but expressionist films have
established its general characteristics. Known as the ‘ecstatic’ style, it was intense and violent,
and expressed tormented emotions. Actors might erupt in sudden passion and attack each
other physically . Speech was rapid, breathless and staccato, with gesture and movement
urgent and energetic–eyes rolling, teeth bared, fingers and hands clutching like talons and
claws.

*Source: J. L. Styan Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 3: Expressionism and Epic Theatre

SYMBOLISM

Roots in France, anti-realistic in denying that truth can be found in evidence of senses or rational thought.

- Truth grasped intuitively

- Dramatises impressions and feelings – subjective reality
- Plays become metaphor, symbols; evoke feelings and states of mind
- Symbolist dramas are mysterious and ambiguous
- Keynote of production was simplicity, with atmosphere and mood created by lighting, colour, shapes and
lines
- Appia: noted for his evocative settings; also Craig – used system of large screens, imaginitave lighting, flights
of steps and movable rostra
- Acting and directing influenced by symbolism – still representational; made use of exaggerated movements
suggesting larger patterns of reality
- Dialogue often delivered in staccato manner
- Sometimes proscenium removed – greater sharing between actor and audience
- Most famous writers: Maerterlinck, Alfred Jarry.
SURREALISM

Theory

– Surrealism evolved from Dadaism

– André Breton became the spokesperson for the surrealist movement after Apollinaire’s death in 1918.
– Breton was also a key figure in the Dada movement.
– The first Manifesto of Surrealism was published by Breton in 1924.
– Breton based his theories of surrealism on experiments inspired by Sigmund Freud’s work on dreams and the subconscious mind
– Breton preached surrealist works must be created by freeing the mind using automatism (automatic writing)
– Automatism: the avoidance of conscious intention in producing works of art, especially by using mechanical techniques or
subconscious associations.
– The second, more militant Manifesto of Surrealism was published by Breton in 1929, after he was converted to Communism three
years earlier.
– Surrealism was more successful in cinema and visual art than in drama.
– Surrealism (theatre) emerged mainly in Paris.
– Apollinaire is considered the first person to implement a surrealist style in the theatre.

Acting and Characterisation

– fragmentary characters (not fully rounded, incomplete)

– unmotivated characters
– sometimes a dissociation between actor and character**
– use of clichéd dialogue*
– caricature
– mechanical, robotic movement
– telegraphic speech*
– grotesque, unsavoury, impolite, irreverent characters
– nonsensical dialogue*
– characters performing as if they are puppets
– intense satire
– experimental use of language*
– disturbing, nightmarish atmosphere***
– comedy > anarchic humour, sometimes burlesque-ish
*similarities with absurdism
**similarities with Brecht’s epic theatre
***similarities with German expressionist plays
“… the subconscious mind in a dreamlike state represented for Breton the source of artistic truth”. (History
of the Theatre, Oscar Brockett)

“Breton demanded that a work of surrealist art should be a window through which the viewer could look
upon some inner landscape of the mind. His approach lent a new importance to dreams, fantasies and
hallucinations” (Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 2, J. L. Styan)

FUTURISM

A group of Italian creatives (poets, artists) rebelled against Italy’s industrial backwardness and blamed Italy’s
museums and art treasures for an inflated tourist industry at the expense of everything else. Thus their philosophy
was destructive and anarchistic, with slogans such as “war – the only hygiene of the nations” and “destroy the
museums.” They glorified the virtues of speed, power and force. These qualities, they believed, related to the
universe and were in harmony with it. The futurists were optimistic about the new momentum of the twentieth
century; its materials, industrial development and technology.
The leader of the futurists was the poet MARINETTI whose manifesto first appeared in the Paris La Figaro periodical
in 1909. By 1910 Marinetti’s Milan group included plastic artists, as well as other poets and intellectuals. Their goal
was to reveal the strength and power of speed, machinery and modernisation.

In drama the futurists attempted to control time and space by using simultaneous staging (various scenes being
shown at various locations at the same time). They felt that this approach, of multiple events taking place
concurrently, was a reflection of a modern reality. They wanted to avoid placid, static productions.

Futurists wanted to jolt audiences into an appreciation of technology and so used multimedia techniques. The
overall impression was chaotic, but futurism left an important legacy for the future of drama to incorporate
multimedia increasingly.

DADAISM

Dadaism rejected all conventions and, in drama, this meant the use of the proscenium arch stage. Dadaists
disapproved of logic and preferred uncomfortable chaos and disharmony.

Spontaneous improvisation and disruptive events were central to many of their performance activities. They
abandoned comfortable sequences or routines and, as a result, tended towards unrehearsed events and illogical
arrangements. Hugo Ball’s nonsensical sound poem Karawane is an excellent example of Dada performance.

They wished to destroy the kind of art appreciated and nurtured by those who were comfortable with what was
regarded as ‘traditional.’ Brute noise, rather than music, was used to assault and confront.

The Dadaists used spectator participation in the production of a creative work. Dadaists took their art form to the
streets and threw it in the faces of the unsuspecting public. They did this by insulting the public by obscene poetry or
abuse while leading them into a gallery of objects which the audience would find offensive or themselves duped to
arouse anger enough to destroy the exhibition.

The Dadaists rejected reason as they believed that logical thought had led men to the insanity of a world war.
Therefore they praised madmen as being sane and preferred to find inspiration without reason or, even in some
cases, consciousness. Thus their sources were charts, instinct and impulses. Dadaists did not make recommendations
about how the state of the world could possibly be improved as they believed no suggestions had helped in the past.

THE LEGACY OF DADA

Dada is often regarded as the root of performance art. Performance art is regarded as interdisciplinary (it is neither
pure art, nor pure sculpture, nor pure drama) and involves four elements: time, space, the performer's body, and a
relationship between performer and audience. The ‘art’ is created through the actions of the person at a particular
time at a particular place.

In performance art the actor abandons expected theatre elements, such as a script or narrative or characterisation,
and instead challenges and shocks the audience to think critically about what art means. Performance art really
emerged strongly in the 1960s with Yoko Ono (Wall piece for orchestra) and Carolee Schneemann (Meat Joy). Allan
Kaprow coined the term “Happening” to describe how 1960s artists experimented with body motion, recorded
sounds, written and spoken texts, and even smells. Happenings were mysterious, often spontaneous and unscripted
gatherings of artists and their friends and relatives in various specified locations. Happenings often incorporating
exercises in absurdity, physicality, costuming, spontaneous nudity, and various random or seemingly disconnected
acts.