Early on in the realism movement the proscenium arch stage of the romantics was modified to accommodate scenery constructed in box sets, with walls and real bookcases, windows, fireplaces, swinging doors, and so on built into the walls exactly as they are inside a house. There was very little abstract or symbolism in Realist plays.
Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906) was one of the greatest pioneers of realism. Today he is sometimes called "the father of modern drama." He was born a Norwegian. His most famous plays are: "A Dolls House"" and "Ghosts." These plays were extremely controversial all across Europe for their day and were met my unanimous disapproval by conservative critics. "This mass of vulgarity, egotism, coarseness, and absurdity.This disgusting representation.An open drain; a loathsome and fetid. Crapulous stuff." These were the London Daily Telegraph's comments on the 1891 English Premiere of what is described as "Ibsen's positively abominable play entitled Ghosts." Both these plays depict the typical Victorian marriage, the outward happiness but cold underlying truth. Stanislavski, the famous Russian director did a lot in the way of helping prepare actors for realistic roles. His systems helped actors find their inner truth, he wanted actors to live on stage.
The next minor theatre style to emerge, more of a theory, was Naturalism. Naturalism attempts to portray all actions on stage exactly as it would occur in real life. It is more emotionally concerned than realism. The sets were even more realistic than realism, with actual food on tables etc. Emile Zola (1849 - 1902) was born in Paris to an Engineer father. He developed the theory of Naturalism. He claimed that the theatre should act as a doctor and expose the sickness in society. It should expose social infection in all its unrefined glory. Under his theory drama was to depict a "slice of life," actors were expected to live the drama on stage.
