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Theatre Arts for Advanced Secondary Schools

dadaism and surrealism have had no much impact in theatre practices worldwide,
including Africa. Theatre movements which had greater influence on African
theatre practices include realism, naturalism, expressionism, symbolism, theatre
of the absurd and theatre for social change.
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Realism
Realism is an attempt to present people, places and events in a similar way to
those in everyday life. It aims at representing everyday life and human behaviour
accurately and truthfully. Realism directs its attention to social and psychological
problems of ordinary life. In theatre, realism suggests that everything connected
to a production conforms to an observation of the world around people’s lives.
This includes the way characters speak and behave, clothes they wear, the events
that occur in the play and the physical environment. Characters presented in a
public gathering or classroom, for example, tend to look and act as individuals
who reside in that setting. Realistic drama centres on the affairs of ordinary
people in their natural surroundings. Henrik Ibsen is known as the “father of
dramatic realism”. Ibsen’s plays pay attention to everyday themes such as the
role of women in society, hereditary diseases and political hypocrisy.

Features of realism

(a) Focus on everyday life: Realistic plays focus on life and events of ordinary
people. Characters are often drawn from the middle or working classes
and the settings are commonly domestic or urban environments. The plot
revolves around ordinary events and issues faced by people in their day-
to-day life, such as family issues, social struggles and personal dilemmas.

(b) Detailed observation: Realistic plays pay attention to detailed observation
of human behaviour of the society in which a particular work of theatre is
produced. Theatrical performances that follow the realism style accurately
portray the speech, manners and customs of the time. Characters speak
in a natural manner and their language reflects the way people actually
speak, including regional dialects and slangs.

(c) Concern for social issues: Realistic plays often address social issues
and concerns of the people. The issues dealt with are such as poverty,
gender roles, classes of people, inequality and the impact of political
and economic trends of a particular period of time in which the play is
produced. The main aim is to provoke thoughts and discussions about

Form Five 2

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