August Strindberg – Expressionism & the unconscious
It is a sultry Midsummer Eve in 1889, past midnight. In a cramped upstairs hall of a Copenhagen student club, by the flicker of gaslight, an illicit theatrical experiment reaches its climax. On a…
Podcasts · In this section
Modern Realism and Expressionism
Episodes on Ibsen, Strindberg, Lorca, and Tennessee Williams examine modern realism, expressionism, psychology, family conflict, desire, and social pressure on stage.
Henrik Ibsen – Modern realism born
The final line of dialogue hangs in the air of the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen on a frigid December evening, 1879. A young woman named Nora Helmer stands at the threshold of her cozy…
Federico García Lorca – Poetic realism
Federico García Lorca’s theatre unfolds like a folk song that turns into a scream. He was a Spanish poet-playwright who infused the real stories of rural Spain with surreal imagery and lyrical symbolism, creating…
Tennessee Williams – Desire & violence
Tennessee Williams brings us into the steamy, gothic heart of American life, especially life in the old South, and he does it with a poet’s touch and a truth-teller’s grit. His plays are lush…