Beginning in France, these three artistic modes infiltrated theater all over Europe. Symbolism, having its roots in poetry, aimed at instilling within drama a lyrical and suggestive quality, and relied upon sensory elements -- light, patterns, and sounds -- to create this effect. Surrealism, also a reaction against realist drama, broke away from logical thought and develed into the unconscious workings of the brain, devising a drama based on chaos, randomness, irrationality, and alienating the audience. Finally, absurdism, a theatrical term designating a specific group of writers such as Beckett, Ionesco and Genet, evolved from an existential view of the world following the World War II.
This site will show images from Appia's and Craig's scene designs for the theater, as well as from such works as Cabaret Voltaire,
"Theatre of Cruelty: First Manifesto"
The Steps (currently unavailable)
"The Actor and the Ubermarionette" (currently unavailable)
"The Censor and the Mask" (currently unavailable)
Education and Passatism -- Two Futurist Scripts
"Writings on the Theater"
"Preface" to Plays for Dancers