Date of Defense
11-11-2025
Date of Graduation
5-2026
Department
Theatre
First Advisor
Joan Herrington
Second Advisor
Lofton Durham
Abstract
Expressionism is a beautiful form of art that, even though it was created in the earliest 20th century it is still a huge relevance in theater today. It is a theatre of emotion, protest, and innovation. Expressionism at its core is a movement that rejected realism and naturalism and leaned towards expressing the inner world through symbolic staging, stylized acting, and bold experimentation. Realism and naturalism were too objective and expressionists sought out to explore the subjectivity of the inner workings of human beings. Their goal was to express the emotions and perspective of the characters on the stage. To do this, they use distorted, exaggerated, and abstract sets, exaggerated/grotesque and stylized movements in their acting, bold/nonnatural lighting choices, fragmented dialogue and nonlinear/episodic structure of plot, and so much more. The expressionist movement believed that theatre should not just copy reality and put it on stage. We should dig deeper than that, to the inner reality of the characters/artists creating it, finding the passion of life and perspective hidden inside us. They wanted the audience to have a visceral impact to the story being told through the crazy executions of their theatre pieces. They believe these kinds of performances would be more effective in sharing the messages of the pieces and have a connection with the characters and the audiences.
This form of theatre is still completely relevant today. When expressionism was first created it was responding to the corrupt authority of the time, war, industrialization, and the crisis of faith in rationalism. Expressionism served as a form of protest against these social problems and wanted to bring light to them. That is why they wanted to focus on the inner workings of the individual in a chaotic society. That is what the audience will see and ultimately understand. The concept of using theatre as a form of protest is hugely a part of the art world. To provoke the people who are watching and to encourage change on social issues is pretty much what theatre is for. Theatre is meant to change lives. That is what Expressionism does!
Recommended Citation
Downey, Jade, "Expressionism in Theatre" (2025). Honors Theses. 4082.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/4082
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Restricted
Restricted to Campus until
12-24-2026
Presentation Outline
Presentation.pdf (6789 kB)
Presentation