The post-war Theater witnessed the alterations that the whole world underwent in the course of the Second World War. Right after the war, the European theatrical scenes were occupied by the plays of three authors. They are Tennessee Williams with his “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Jean-Paul Sartre with “No Exit”, and Samuel Becket “Waiting for Godot”;
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Modern Theatre comes from the European Renaissance Theatre of the 16th-17th centuries that dates back to the Ancient Greek and Roman Theatre. Its foundation was laid down in England and Italy, especially by the English Renaissance Theatre between in the period between Reformation and theatre closure in 1642;
The beginning of the 19th century was swept by the never-before-seen cultural movement known as Romanticism. One of the first European dramatists who got himself involved in this process was August Schlegel that considered W. Shakespeare the greatest playwright;
Early Modern Theater
The rise of Realism changed the face of modern European culture. Richard Wagner was one of the first creators that put the new demands into life. He founded a new type of Theatre known as the "Festival Theater". That was a real cultural revolution for Theater as this new type of Theater was determined for everyone making it cheap and available sources of entertainment.
With commercialization of culture and growing of theatrical business companies, the new epoch demanded smart business directors that were good not only in playing roles or writing new plays, but also at making transactions and contracts.
One of the most well-known theatrical directors of that time were Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Georg II that created amazing plays accompanied by costumes, scenery, and so on. He also invented ensemble acting and managed to create the effect of crown scenes and family groups.
One more eminent Theater director was American Belasco. He was a perfect designer and created one of the best lighting tools of that time.
Henry Ibsen must have been the most famous German playwright. He is considered the father of Realism. His plays are symbolic and very often non-understandable. The new Russian symbol of the time was Anton Chekhov with his "The Seagull" and "The Cherry Orchard".
The French playwrights of the time were Alexandre Duma with "The Demi-Monde" and "The Lady of the Camellias", Emile Augier with "Olympe's Marriage" and "Madame Poirier's Son-in-Law" and Eugene Scribe. Scribe created the notion of current "well-made" play.
Two most prominent English playwrights were Arthur Pinero "The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith" and William Butler Yeats with his "Purgatory".