Postwar Theatre

1945-1970

Postwar World

* divided world into capitalist “west” and communist “east”
* Superpowers USA and Russia at the forefront
* The Cold War
* End of modern theatre coincided with the end of WW2
* Prosperity in the “West”

Activists and thinkers in capitalist countries become more critical of capitalism and turn back to Marxism, socialism and anarchism

* joined by unions
* black power advocates ad anti-war protestors in the US
* advocates for nuclear disarmament in Britain

Social movements

* American civil rights movement
* Notting Hill race riots

Political movements

* decolonization
* eastern europe sought more autonomy from USSR

Postwar Theatre

* A lot of theatre was an extension of movements from the first half of the 20th century
* Other forms were very different and made new paths for theatre to take
* Theatrical centres in major cities around the world including


1. Berlin
2. Paris
3. Moscow
4. London
5. NYC
6. Toronto

Theatre buildings

* more theatres popping up outside theatrical centres
* smaller regional theatres
* new state-funded national theatres and companies
* influx of smaller theatres to support work that larger theatres wouldn’t
* new venues pave the way for unconventional techniques and aesthetics
* founding of festivals


1. Edinburgh fringe festival
2. Stratford Festival

Atonin Artaud

Theatre of Cruelty

* immerse audience viscerally
* use techniques such as pulsating lights, vocal instruments, physical movements
* liberate individuals’ primal instincts

2 most influential theorists at the time

1. Antonin Artaud
2. Bertolt Brecht

influential in the environmental theatre movement

* Richard Schechner
* increase the audience’s awareness that they are watching theatre
* remove the distinction between audience’s space and performers space
* precursor to immersive theatre

Theatre was threatened by competition with?

film, television, and radio

what set theatre apart?

Theatre influenced by Theatre of Cruelty and Epic Theatre found performative uniqueness

postwar theatre: french

* psychological and social impact of ww2 felt strongly in France
* French absurdism became one of the most important movements of post-war theatre
* Dramatists confronted an existence that apparently had no meaning
* Albert Camus - The Myth of Sisyphus
* Philosophical inquiry of existentialism
* investigates human experience
* Existential angst (dread, confusion, anxiety)

Absurdism

coined by Martin Esslin in his study The Theatre of the Absurd

* absurdists were very different, still share a rejection of conventional dramatic structures, and skepticism toward rationality, language, and coherent subject

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* drew from Dadaism, Surrealism, and other avant-garde movements
* Jean Genet (the Maids)
* Eugene Ionesco (the bald soprano)
* Samuel Beckett ( Waiting for Godot)

what play in class goes with postwar theatre?

Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett)

Absurdism characteristics

* nonreality
* antirealism
* lack of coherence
* nonsensical language
* tragicomedy

postwar: British

* implementation of the welfare state in britain
* increase govt funding in social services
* formation of NHS
* larger funding for public housing
* creation of the Arts Council of Great Britian
* theatre did not benefit from the council, was self-sustained with West End theatre production
* Unremarkable postwar theatre until London Premiere of Waiting for Godot and Look Back in Anger by John Osborne

Look Back in Anger ( John Osborne)

* Produced by London Stage Company
* reflected anger towards postwar materialism and oppressive class structure and British disillusionment
* enabled a new generation of playwrights who addressed social class and national identity
* After this, social and political theatre saw an increase and was widely influences by Brecht

Theatre Workshop (british)

* Led by Joan Littlewood
* Based out of a working-class neighbourhood

Postwar British theatre

* Britain found the widest application of Brechtian thearte outside of German theatre
* Berliner Ensemble visited Lonson and inspired left leaning directors, who created their own original style based on Brechtian techniques

postwar british theatre: Revolutionary movements

\*\* May 68 protests in France

* student lef protests against capitalism, consumerism, and US imperialism
* Strikes, university and factory occupations
* Brought France’s economy to a halt

postwar British theatre: Brecht’s influence

* continued due to the abolition of government censorship
* permeated the second-wave feminist movement

Samuel Beckett

* raised angelicsn and later became agnostic, reflects in his works
* quit teaching to become a writer
* born in Ireland
* was involved in the resistance movement in France when ww2 broke out
* nearly caught by the Gestapo
* escaped to a secluded village, where he again became involved in the resistence
* after war, entered a prolific period of his career
* Most of his work after this point was written in French