An overview of Realism & Naturalism
From the 1860s onward, a new generation of playwrights — Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Shaw, Hauptmann, Galsworthy — set out to replace the rhetorical conventions of nineteenth-century stagecraft with something that looked and sounded like ordinary life. Their characters spoke in prose, lived in recognisable rooms, and confronted the social and psychological pressures of modern industrial society. The result was a body of plays that still feels startlingly contemporary in performance.
Plays from this era (183)
- Belinda: An April Folly in Three Acts — by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne
- Mr. Pim Passes By: A Comedy in Three Acts — by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne
- First Plays — by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne
- A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 — by A. H. (Arthur Henry) Bullen
- A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 — by A. H. (Arthur Henry) Bullen
- A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 3 — by A. H. (Arthur Henry) Bullen
- A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 — by A. H. (Arthur Henry) Bullen
- Rada: A Drama of War in One Act — by Alfred Noyes
- Swan Song — by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
- The Sea-Gull — by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
- Ivanoff: A Play — by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
- Uncle Vanya: Scenes from Country Life in Four Acts — by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
- Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series — by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
- Children's Classics in Dramatic Form, A Reader for the Fourth Grade — by Augusta Stevenson
- Contemporary One-Act Plays — by B. Roland (Benjamin Roland) Lewis
- Misalliance — by Bernard Shaw
- The Dark Lady of the Sonnets — by Bernard Shaw
- Mrs. Warren's Profession — by Bernard Shaw
- You Never Can Tell — by Bernard Shaw
- Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy — by Bernard Shaw
- Caesar and Cleopatra — by Bernard Shaw
- Captain Brassbound's Conversion — by Bernard Shaw
- O'Flaherty V.C.: A Recruiting Pamphlet — by Bernard Shaw
- Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress — by Bernard Shaw
- The Inca of Perusalem: An Almost Historical Comedietta — by Bernard Shaw
- Augustus Does His Bit: A True-to-Life Farce — by Bernard Shaw
- Great Catherine (Whom Glory Still Adores) — by Bernard Shaw
- Heartbreak House — by Bernard Shaw
- How He Lied to Her Husband — by Bernard Shaw
- John Bull's Other Island — by Bernard Shaw
- Arms and the Man — by Bernard Shaw
- The Devil's Disciple — by Bernard Shaw
- Major Barbara — by Bernard Shaw
- Pygmalion — by Bernard Shaw
- Overruled — by Bernard Shaw
- Androcles and the Lion — by Bernard Shaw
- Candida — by Bernard Shaw
- The Man of Destiny — by Bernard Shaw
- The Doctor's Dilemma — by Bernard Shaw
- The Philanderer — by Bernard Shaw
- Getting Married — by Bernard Shaw
- Fanny's First Play — by Bernard Shaw
- The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet — by Bernard Shaw
- Press Cuttings — by Bernard Shaw
- Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch — by Bernard Shaw
- The Miraculous Revenge — by Bernard Shaw
- The Admirable Bashville; Or, Constancy Unrewarded Being the Novel of Cashel Byron's Profession Done into a Stage Play in Three Acts and in Blank Verse, with a Note on Modern Prize Fighting — by Bernard Shaw
- Saint Joan — by Bernard Shaw
- Harlequin and Columbine — by Booth Tarkington
- The Servant in the House — by Charles Rann Kennedy
- Touch and Go: A Play in Three Acts — by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
- The Harlequinade: An Excursion — by Dion Clayton Calthrop
- Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare — by E. (Edith) Nesbit
- Cyrano de Bergerac — by Edmond Rostand
- Chantecler: Play in Four Acts — by Edmond Rostand
- The Romancers: A Comedy in Three Acts — by Edmond Rostand
- L'Aiglon — by Edmond Rostand
- Cyrano de Bergerac: An Heroic Comedy in Five Acts — by Edmond Rostand
- The Lamp and the Bell: A Drama In Five Acts — by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Aria da Capo — by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- The Palmy Days of Nance Oldfield — by Edward Robins
- The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons — by Ernest Christopher Dowson
- Certain Noble Plays of Japan: From the manuscripts of Ernest Fenollosa — by Ernest Fenollosa
- The Hairy Ape — by Eugene O'Neill
- Anna Christie — by Eugene O'Neill
- The First Man — by Eugene O'Neill
- The Straw — by Eugene O'Neill
- Beyond the Horizon — by Eugene O'Neill
- Gold — by Eugene O'Neill
- All God's chillun got wings, and Welded — by Eugene O'Neill
- King Arthur's Socks and Other Village Plays — by Floyd Dell
- Little Masterpieces of Autobiography: Actors — by George Iles
- The Blue Bird for Children The Wonderful Adventures of Tyltyl and Mytyl in Search of Happiness — by Georgette Leblanc
- The Dramatic Works of Gerhart Hauptmann, Volume I — by Gerhart Hauptmann
- The Dramatic Works of Gerhart Hauptmann, Volume II — by Gerhart Hauptmann
- Hadda Pada — by Guðmundur Kamban
- Hobson's Choice: A Lancashire Comedy in Four Acts — by Harold Brighouse
- Charles Frohman: Manager and Man — by Isaac Frederick Marcosson
- The Admirable Crichton — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- Dear Brutus — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- What Every Woman Knows — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- Alice Sit-By-The-Fire — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- Echoes of the War — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- Quality Street: A Comedy — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- Der Tag"; or, The Tragic Man — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- A kiss for Cinderella: A comedy — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- The old lady shows her medals — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- Mary Rose — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- Peter Pan — by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
- Riders to the Sea — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- The Playboy of the Western World: A Comedy in Three Acts — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- The Well of the Saints: A Comedy in Three Acts — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- The Tinker's Wedding — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- In the Shadow of the Glen — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- Deirdre of the Sorrows — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- The Jewel Merchants: A Comedy in One Act — by James Branch Cabell
- Hassan : the story of Hassan of Bagdad, and how he came to make the golden journey to Samarkand : a play in five acts — by James Elroy Flecker
- The Master of Mrs. Chilvers: An Improbable Comedy — by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome
- Fanny and the Servant Problem — by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome
- Abraham Lincoln: A Play — by John Drinkwater
- The Silver Box: A Comedy in Three Acts — by John Galsworthy
- Joy: A Play on the Letter "I — by John Galsworthy
- Strife: A Drama in Three Acts — by John Galsworthy
- The Eldest Son — by John Galsworthy
- The Little Dream: An Allegory in Six Scenes — by John Galsworthy
- Justice — by John Galsworthy
- The Fugitive: A Play in Four Acts — by John Galsworthy
- The Pigeon: A Fantasy in Three Acts — by John Galsworthy
- The Mob: A Play in Four Acts — by John Galsworthy
- A Bit O' Love — by John Galsworthy
- The Foundations (An Extravagant Play) — by John Galsworthy
- The Skin Game (A Tragi-Comedy) — by John Galsworthy
- The First and the Last: A Drama in Three Scenes — by John Galsworthy
- The Little Man: A Farcical Morality in Three Scenes — by John Galsworthy
- Four Short Plays — by John Galsworthy
- Complete Plays of John Galsworthy — by John Galsworthy
- A Family Man : in three acts — by John Galsworthy
- Loyalties — by John Galsworthy
- Windows — by John Galsworthy
- Plays : First Series — by John Galsworthy
- Plays : Second Series — by John Galsworthy
- Plays : Third Series — by John Galsworthy
- Plays : Fourth Series — by John Galsworthy
- Plays : Fifth Series — by John Galsworthy
- Six Short Plays — by John Galsworthy
- The Bicyclers and Three Other Farces — by John Kendrick Bangs
- The Piper: A Play in Four Acts — by Josephine Preston Peabody
- Bluebeard; a musical fantasy — by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin
- The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 01 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. — by Kuno Francke
- The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes — by Kuno Francke
- The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 07 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes — by Kuno Francke
- New Comedies — by Lady Gregory
- Angels and Ministers, and Other Victorian Plays — by Laurence Housman
- Washington Square Plays — by Lewis Beach
- If: A Play in Four Acts — by Lord Dunsany
- Plays of Gods and Men — by Lord Dunsany
- Moral — by Ludwig Thoma
- Within the Law: From the Play of Bayard Veiller — by Marvin Dana
- The Shakespeare Story-Book — by Mary Macleod
- The Blue Bird: A Fairy Play in Six Acts — by Maurice Maeterlinck
- Pélléas and Mélisande; Alladine and Palomides; Home — by Maurice Maeterlinck
- The Betrothal A Sequel to the Blue Bird; A Fairy Play in Five Acts and Eleven Scenes — by Maurice Maeterlinck
- Joyzelle — by Maurice Maeterlinck
- The Burgomaster of Stilemonde: A Play in Three Acts — by Maurice Maeterlinck
- Mary Magdalene: A Play in Three Acts — by Maurice Maeterlinck
- The miracle of Saint Anthony — by Maurice Maeterlinck
- Parsifal A Mystical Drama by Richard Wagner Retold in the Spirit of the Bayreuth Interpretation — by Oliver Huckel
- Lady Windermere's Fan — by Oscar Wilde
- The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People — by Oscar Wilde
- A Woman of No Importance — by Oscar Wilde
- The Duchess of Padua — by Oscar Wilde
- An Ideal Husband — by Oscar Wilde
- A Florentine Tragedy; La Sainte Courtisane — by Oscar Wilde
- For Love of the King: A Burmese Masque — by Oscar Wilde
- Vera; Or, The Nihilists — by Oscar Wilde
- Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act — by Oscar Wilde
- Intentions — by Oscar Wilde
- Miscellanies — by Oscar Wilde
- The noble lord — by Percival Wilde
- The reckoning — by Percival Wilde
- Alias Santa Claus — by Percival Wilde
- Chitra, a Play in One Act — by Rabindranath Tagore
- The King of the Dark Chamber — by Rabindranath Tagore
- The Post Office — by Rabindranath Tagore
- Miss Civilization: A Comedy in One Act — by Richard Harding Davis
- Armenian Literature: Comprising Poetry, Drama, Folk-lore and Classic Traditions; Translated into English for the First Time — by Robert Arnot
- Duty, and Other Irish Comedies — by Seumas O'Brien
- The Atlantic Book of Modern Plays — by Sterling Andrus Leonard
- Plays — by Susan Glaspell
- A Gentleman from Mississippi — by Thomas A. (Thomas Alfred) Wise
- The Naturewoman — by Upton Sinclair
- The Second-Story Man — by Upton Sinclair
- Prince Hagen — by Upton Sinclair
- The Machine — by Upton Sinclair
- The Pot Boiler: A Comedy in Four Acts — by Upton Sinclair
- The Countess Cathleen — by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
- The Land of Heart's Desire — by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
- The Hour Glass — by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
- Pastoral Poetry & Pastoral Drama A Literary Inquiry, with Special Reference to the Pre-Restoration Stage in England — by W. W. (Walter Wilson) Greg
- Play-Making: A Manual of Craftsmanship — by William Archer
- The Wagner Story Book: Firelight Tales of the Great Music Dramas — by William Henry Frost
- The Dramatic Values in Plautus — by Wilton W. (Wilton Wallace) Blancké
- Dr. Jonathan — by Winston Churchill
Legacy & influence
Plays from Realism & Naturalism continue to define what working theatre artists assume a play is. Drama-school curricula are built around them; regional theatres programme at least one of them every season; high-school English departments teach them year after year because students respond to the structural clarity and the language. What looks at first like pious veneration of the canon is, on closer inspection, a working consensus among practitioners that these plays still teach us how the form actually works.