Edwardian Era Theatres

Edwardian theater was one of the formidable forms of theatre in late nineteenth century Europe. People from different countries of Europe used to come to be a part of this cultural extravaganza.

Theatre has always played an important role in Europe. Right from Germany to France, theatre played an important role in Europe right from the Renaissance. However England was always hailed as the epitome of theatrical endeavor due to stalwarts like Shakespeare and Marlowe who raised the bar for theatre in Europe.

When we come to the Edwardian era, we find that people always preferred live performances as opposed to picture shows. Theatre in this era consisted of plays written by George Bernard Shaw and Harley Granville Barker. This was also called the period of New Drama.

Shaw focused on the pangs of the working class. He is the only person to have been awarded an Oscar (1938) as well as Nobel Prize for Literature (1925). He is mostly known for his plays like Mrs. Warrens Profession (1893), Candida (1894) and You Never Can Tell (1897).

The plays of Barker on the other hand focused on the experimentation with form. His ideas and dialogues were revolutionary. His most famous plays include Waste (1907), The Voysey Inheritance (1905) and The Madras House (1909).

There was a lot of interaction going on with the continental imports by playwrights like Henrik Ibsen and Gerhart Hauptmann. Ibsens plays were basically considered scandalous as they did not conform to the moral codes of the strict Edwardian theatre.

Issues of morality and the human condition were critically examined in his plays. Ibsens most famous plays were Ghosts (1881), An Enemy of the People (1882) and The Wild Duck (1884). Hauptmann on the other hand dealt with the movement of Naturalism in Germany with Before Dawn (1889).

Some of his other famous works include The Reconciliation (1890), Lonely People (1891) and The Weavers (1892). The last drama was about the uprising of Silesian weavers, an incident that happened in 1844.

Even though the society was a very conservative one, playwrights and novelists voiced their opinions through radical drama. Some of the most famous playwrights of Europe were part of Edwardian Theatre.