What is Expressionism in a play?

Similar to the broader movement of Expressionism in the arts, Expressionist theatre utilized theatrical elements and scenery with exaggeration and distortion to deliver strong feelings and ideas to audiences.

Who are the early Expressionist playwrights?

There was a concentrated Expressionist movement in early 20th century German theatre of which Georg Kaiser and Ernst Toller were the most famous playwrights. Other notable Expressionist dramatists included Reinhard Sorge, Walter Hasenclever, Hans Henny Jahnn, and Arnolt Bronnen.

What are the characteristics of Expressionism in Theatre?

Particular characteristics and techniques became associated with the early (German) expressionist play: Its atmosphere was often vivdly dreamlike and nightmarish. The mood was aided by shadowy, unrealistic lighting and visual distortions in the set.

What did the main characters in Expressionist plays come to represent?

The characters in Expressionist drama were often impersonal or nameless. Very often they served to illustrate some aspect of the protagonist’s thought or feelings or expressed aspects of the world and society.

Who is the father of expressionistic drama?

Johan August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg (January 22, 1849 – May 14, 1912) was a Swedish writer, playwright, and painter. He is ranked among Sweden’s most important authors. Strindberg is known as one of the fathers of modern theater. His work falls into two major literary movements, Naturalism and Expressionism.

Is Brecht an expressionist?

The most influential playwright of the twentieth century, Bertolt Brecht was a conduit for the impact of German expressionism on later modern drama.

Is Van Gogh an expressionist?

One of the most influential figures of the Post-Impressionism movement in France, Vincent Van Gogh is also seen as a seminal pioneer of 20th century Expressionism. His use of colour, rough brushwork and primitivist composition, anticipated Fauvism (1905) as well as German Expressionism (1905-13).

What was the first Expressionist play?

August Strindberg and Frank Wedekind were notable forerunners of Expressionist drama, but the first full-fledged Expressionist play was Reinhard Johannes Sorge’s Der Bettler (“The Beggar”), which was written in 1912 but not performed until 1917.

Does Brecht use Naturalism?

Brecht traces through the modern theatre the two lines running from Naturalism and Expressionism. Naturalism he sees as the “assimilation of art to science,” which gave the Naturalistic theatre great social influence, but at the expense of its capacity to arouse aesthetic pleasure.

Why is Brecht so important?

Why is Brecht so important? Bertolt Brecht was a theatre practitioner. He made and shaped theatre in a way that had a huge impact upon its development. He wanted to make his audience think and famously said that theatre audiences at that time “hang up their brains with their hats in the cloakroom”.

Who was the first playwright to write Expressionist plays?

Eugene O’Neill, although widely known for his realist dramas, was the first playwright in the United States to experience success with an expressionist piece. O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape was the first fully expressionist play written by an American playwright, it premiered in 1922.

Who are some famous people from the Expressionist movement?

There was a concentrated Expressionist movement in early 20th century German theatre of which Georg Kaiser and Ernst Toller were the most famous playwrights. Other notable Expressionist dramatists included Reinhard Sorge, Walter Hasenclever, Hans Henny Jahnn, and Arnolt Bronnen.

What was the purpose of expressionism in theatre?

Commonly, Expressionist theatre critiqued the government, big business, the military, family structures, and sexism. Expressionism shifted emphasis from the text of pieces to the physical performance and highlighted the director’s role in creating a vehicle to deliver theirs and the playwright’s thoughts and feelings to audiences.

How did Brecht influence expressionism in the theatre?

As I dug deeper into the mind of Brecht trying to discover what it was that made this genius tick, I found he was heavily influenced by expressionism in the theatre happening in Germany when he was a young man. So began my interest in expressionism, itself.