Modern Drama A brief Overview

• Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) Norwegian playwright who established the foundations of "realistic" drama, writing in prose and dealing with contemporary social problems, morality, and social institutions.
  

His later plays (from about 1890 onwards) move away from his concerns with social problems and into a psychological exploration of emotionally and sexually driven individuals who become entangled in self destructive personal relationships.
Among his most famous plays are those we now call classics: A Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881), The Wild Duck (1884), Hedda Gabler (1890), and The Master Builder (1892)

• August Strindberg (1849-1912) Swedish playwright known for his "naturalistic" plays which all deal with forms of psychological and sexual strife between men and women.
  

His important plays from his late period (about 1900 onward) deal spiritual issues and revolve around exposure of evil. The later plays move away from naturalism and toward expressionism and symbolism as both technique and theory
Among his plays are many we now call classics: Miss Julie (1888), The Creditors (1889), A Dream Play (1902), The Ghost Sonata (1907)

• Anton Chekov (1860-1904) Russian playwright known for the psychological realism of his plays and for their commentary on prevailing social conditions. His emphasis on character over plot and social didacticism set new standards for the stage
  

His plays allowed a new kind of acting to become established and to flourish - it was founded by Constantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Art Theatre and has been called Method Acting in this century.
Some of his plays which we now consider classics: The Seagull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1899), The Three Sisters (1901), and The Cherry Orchard (1904)

• George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) first major British playwright of twentieth century. Author of 47 full length plays and many one act plays he was the most prolific playwright in British history.
  

A socialist, who founded the Fabian Society, his plays were committed to exploring the social fabric of his contemporary culture - class structure, religion, economic and political reform, the status of women, and trade unionism are among the issues his plays tackled.
He moved away from the Ibsen style of "real" characters whose inner lives were explored in the play to a kind of drama where character was subordinated to ideas - the characters sometimes were used as spokespersons for the idea Shaw wanted to explore.
Some of his plays which we now consider classics include: Mrs. Warren's Profession (1893), Man and Superman (1903),Major Barbara (1905), Pygmalion (1913), and Saint Joan (1923)

• Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) German playwright who pioneered a new kind of drama called "epic theatre". Epic theatre is intended to provoke spectators into a heightened social and political awareness rather than involve them emotionally in a realistic or naturalistic situation.
  

Brecht didn't want spectators to sympathize with his characters, so his plays deliberately seek to alienate audience from play and actors - the exact opposite of Method Acting. He uses episodic structuring, has actors deliver their lines in a mocking or dispassionate tone, and in general to highlight the fact that they are acting a role. He also incorporated a variety of nonrealistic staging techniques - slides projected on the wall, film clips included, stylized sets, garish lighting effects.
Some of his plays are now considered classics: The Threepenny Opera (1928), Mother Courage and Her Children (1939), The Good Woman of Setzuan (1943), and The Caucasian Circle (1945)

• Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) Irish playwright whose major works were written while he lived as a self exiled writer in France.
  

One of a number of playwrights in the 40s and 50s who worked within the framework of what has become known as "Theatre of the Absurd". Theatre of the Absurd presents the human condition as fundamentally absurd - not open to understanding or knowledge on the part of humans, life is simply lived, acknowledging the inherent absurdity of existence.
Beckett's plays feature illogical and purposeless activity in place of plot; dialogue that presents endless contradictions between language and action; a bare stage that defied conventional ideas about spectacle and special lighting or other effects. Beckett's purpose was to discover the limits of drama and to challenge audiences to move away from their comfortable complacent roles as spectators in the theatre.
It is in this tradition of innovative theatre that Pinter places himself - influenced by the political and social works of writers such as Shaw, Brecht and especially Beckett, and by the principles underlying both the Theatre of the Absurd movement and the modernist skepticism of language as an effective means of communication.