Who was the pioneer of modern theater?

Question

Who was the pioneer of modern theater?

Answer 1

I think it's probably impossible to name a single pioneer of modern theatre. I took many classes on modernist theatre in university, so there's enough out there to fill four semesters with! Though, I'd probably say Ibsen or Strindberg are your safest bets.

Modernist theatre was characterized by a critique of the enlightenment, a mistrust of reason, and a belief that mastery over nature is impossible. Ibsen and Strindberg were two early modernist playwrights who both used ghosts on stage in their plays because the existence of ghosts is not "rational," its a celebration of superstition and the fact that nature is outside our comprehension. As this movement progressed, playwrights often used deconstruction to make the audience question the ability to reason and the accepted truths present in enlightenment theatre. Pirandello used this technique in Six Characters in Search of an Author, where six "characters" interrupt a play rehearsal. The play is highly self referential and makes the audience question the nature of existence. Modernism began with a re-visiting of romanticism and then moved on more to expressionism - an emphasis on extreme subjectivity, rejection of realism/naturalism. German expressionism, typically regarded as the first iteration, was primarily inspired by Strindberg, Buchner and Wedekind.

Modernist playwrights include: Ibsen, Strindberg, Wedekind, Artaud, Schnitzler, Sternheim, Kaiser, Brecht, Pirandello, Beckett, Albee, Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Büchner, Yeats, Glaspell -- Of those I would put Ibsen and Strindberg as the best bets for being the "Pioneers," Brecht and Beckett as the most famous examples (though both border on post-modern), O'Neill and Miller as the American Pioneers, and Artaud as the theorist who defined the movement.

If by modern, you mean contemporary theatre, rather than modernist theatre... that question gets even harder. Do you mean American, European, post-colonial, musical theatre, any particular movement in contemporary theatre, post-modernism? If you can get a little more specific and add any information to your question I'll check back on the posting and probably be able to give you a better answer.

Answer 2

Good question, try searching it up in google