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;
Henrik Ibsen Theater
Henrik Ibsen is reckoned to be one of the most influential European playwrights of the 19th century. Ibsen was Norwegian and his talent proved Norway to be full of literary geniuses. He was one of the first Norwegians who discovered his motherland to the entire world as a literary country.
His first professional path was the Norwegian Theater in Bergen. At this place, he had to combine three professions of director, playwright and producer. He didn't succeed in creating plays, but the experience he obtained was of utmost importance for him afterwards.
After returning to the capital of Norway, he became the director of Christiana's National Theater. Still, it didn't bring either famed or financial stability, and in 1864 he had to leave for Italy. He lived in Italy for the next twenty seven years. This period of life made him a world-known dramatist.
His two well-known plays "Brand" and "Peer Gynt" provided him with relative financial stability, permitting him to write what he was keen on. He starts to elaborate his own "drama of ideas", gaining more and more popularity. The next period of his creative work is regarded as the Golden Epoch of all his oeuvre.
Around that period, he creates "Emperor and Galilean" (his main work), "A Doll's House", and "Ghosts". All three plays are controversial and socially-accusative. Ibsen tries to solve old public hardships through moralizing and protesting against lawlessness.
"An enemy of the people" is one of the most socially-revealing plays as well. In this piece, he opposes an individual and surrounding community. It was absolutely unacceptable for Victorian Europe that disguised all social flaws.
Still, Ibsen managed to revolutionize European Theater during his lifetime.