Modern Theatre

Modern Theatre was heavily influenced by the the Avant-garde. These theatre movements like naturalism, aestheticism, symbolism, expressionism, absurdism, futurism, dadaism, and surrealism to name a few, each espoused a particular focus as important to theatre (and art in general). After reading Machinal by Sophie Tredwell and watching Kander and Ebb’s Chicago, think about how a play and a musical are able to treat the same or similar topics very differently. Do you see any of the above “-isms” in thiese theatre pieces? Explain how and where.