Preliminary Topic: Paper #4

I am very interested and excited about the genre of theater.  I love going to plays.  I enjoy being entertained by a cast and production and I enjoy having the relief from my own life for a short time.  In writing this blog, however, I’ve come to the understanding that not everyone shares the same interests as me, specifically that not everyone could possible enjoy the genre of dramatic theater. 

            For Paper #4 I am going to expand on my paper #3 and specifically focus on the anti-theatrical movement that came out of the modernist movement of drama.  During this movement, the theater shied away from entertaining its audience with flowery language and intricate characters and plots, and instead focused on a more realistic view of society.  In other words, the theater decided to portray on stage what its audience was experiencing off-stage.  Following such historians as Bertolt Brecht, the theater began to create a forum for playwrights to use immediate aspects of society in order to create a sort of commentary on that specific idea.

            With every new concept, however, there is going to be an opposition, which is where the anti-theatrical movement lies.  This was a group of individuals who opposed the reality of the theater.  With this paper I hope to uncover key groups who opposed this type of theater as well as offer key reasons for their opposition.  My first thoughts as to the reasons behind this opposition to the theater are merely because it was different from what the audience of theater was used to.  This movement came at a critical time during American history, during the Great Depression, when there was an increased divide among the population based on monetary standings, which created a great tension that hadn’t been seen in years.  Another possible reason for this anti-theatrical movement could be for the realistic nature that it relied on.  During such harsh times, it was probably difficult to watch a production that highlighted the exact difficulties that you were trying to overcome.  I know that if I were suffering, I would not want to go to a play whose focus was on a character that I could relate to because they too were suffering from a similar circumstance.

            The theater has, however, been able to stay a part of American society, so this anti-theatrical movement clearly never went far enough as to completely eradicate the art form.  I would be interested in discovering what effects this movement did have on the theater.  Did it create yet another movement, possibly away from the modernist and realist one?  I would also be interested in wondering if there continues to be a strong anti-theatrical movement today.  I continue to see new productions being introduced, as well as revivals, so there is still a large audience for the genre.  Did this burst in an anti-theatrical movement harm the genre as a whole? Or did it create an even stronger backing of it?  All of these questions I hope to research and comment on to further my understanding of the current genre of dramatic theater.