The Theatre of Revolt: An Approach to Modern Drama

by Robert Brustein

In a new edition of this now-classic work, Robert Brustein argues that the roots of the modern theatre may be found in the soil of rebellion cultivated by eight outstanding Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Shaw, Brecht, Pirandello, O'Neill, and Genet. Focusing on each of them in turn, Mr. Brustein considers the nature of their revolt, the methods employed in their plays, their influences on the modern drama, and the playwrights themselves. "One of the standard and decisive books on the modern theater.... It shows us the men behind the works,… what they wanted to write about and the private hell within each of them which led to the enduring works we continue to treasure."―New York Times Book Review. "The best single collection of essays I know of on modern drama... remarkably fine and sensitive pieces of criticism. "―Alvin,Kernan, Yale Review.

Genres: Theatre, Literature, Drama, Nonfiction

452 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Robert Brustein was an American theatrical critic, producer, playwright, writer, and educator.

Reviews

[Sketchbook · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brustein, a simple man with a bigoted brain, tried to destroy Tennessee Williams (and may have succeeded) and Edward Albee (he failed to cripple him), among others. Brustein reflected, in his time, a vengeful religion and specific "clan." He could write a swift sentence, but, in retrospect, the only "revolt" here is the "revolting" Robt Brustein. A celebration when he finally dies. (In 2016, he is 89...pls, soon, Lord!)

[Levent Mollamustafaoglu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Brustein is a well-known academic in the theatre world, having established the Yale Repertory Theatre when he was working at Yale and established the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University, where he currently teaches. "The Theatre of Revolt" is one of his early books on theatre, published in 1962. He covers the modern theatre (late 19th and 20eth centuries) and approaches the authors he has selected with a common faculty of being part of "The Theatre of Revolt". The Revolt he mentions is indeed against the centuries old classical theatre starting with the ancient Greek writers (Sophocles at al) continuing with the Bard and coming as far as the works of Racine.

In the introductory chapter he classifies the works he will cover in the book into three threads which he calls the messianic, social and existential.

He starts with Henrik Ibsen and shows that although he started with messianic epics like Brand, Peer Gynt and Emperor and Galilean, he is more known for his later-era (modern phase) masterpieces such as A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People, ending with Hedda Gabler. Brustein covers the earlier, less-known period to show the hints of revolt in the plays of this master playwright more known for his subtle and quiet plays.

He continues with August Strindberg, who he shows to have reacted to several of Ibsen's play which he interprets as trying to undermine the masculine case. Brustein brings some Freudian interpretation to the perceived "woman-hate" Strindberg has sometimes been accused of. He covers two plays from Strindberg that explains his "worship" of the masculine: The Father and Miss Julie. He also covers The Dream Play, a grim phantasy reflecting Strindberg's contradictions.

The next revolter is Anton Chekhov. Brustein admits that it may seem like a strange choice to include a playwright who seems to be the gentlest, subtlest and the most dispassionate of all the great modern dramatists, but he proceeds to show that there is a revolt beneath the surface of most of Checkov's plays, but the technique he uses it does not expose it too openly. He covers The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard to support his position. This section probably contains the most interesting analysis in the book.

The next section is about Bernard Shaw, who supported a "frankly doctrinal theatre" to replace the "romantic" - a point of view fitting his socialist background. Brustein covers two epic plays by Shaw, Man and Superman and Back to Methuselah, rather than my favourite Pygmalion.

Brustein covers Brecht in the next section, but I was a bit disappointed by his treatment of Brecht as someone who is extremely divided by his ideological background and his uncertain convictions (my disappointment was stronger since I had bought the book specifically for the chapter on Brecht). He claims that Brecht was very much influenced by Büchner's Woyzeck and puts most of Brecht's work in the Existential Revolt category. I believe this is quite odd for someone who has almost single-handedly invented the Epic Theatre and introduced so many different techniques - such as Verfremdung (alienation) in contrast to techniques of identification actors used. He covers In the Jungle of the Cities and then tries to balance it by covering The Threepenny Opera in great length as well, then goes into Mother Courage and Her Children.

The next chapter covers Luigi Pirandello, especially his plays about the Theatre, including Six Characters In Search of an Author. Brustein favors Pirandello's Henry IV with its post-modern plot.

Brustein next covers Eugene O'Neill. Understanding that he should have at least one American playwright in his book, I can not imagine how he can not include Tennessee Williams, much more of a revolter than O'Neill. With this bias, I did not enjoy this chapter at all.

He concludes the book with an analysis of Antonin Artaud, the creator of Theatre of Cruelty and Jean Genet, its major practitioner. Although this chapter is a good analysis of this genre, it is surprising that he does not include Samuel Beckett, who had published most of his masterpieces by the time this book was written. Brustein acknowledges his error in the Preface to the 2nd edition he wrote in 1990, but the damage is done.

So, I would have given this a much higher rating if I did it in the 60's, but in this day and age the book seems a bit outdated, although some of the analysis is revealing and instructive.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not really expect to get absorbed by this book--I'm only a half-hearted admirer of drama in the first place (though I always think I ought to enjoy it more), and in the second, literary criticism (or dramatic criticism, if you prefer) has as equal chance of being pedantic and useless as it does informative.

I believe this was Brustein's first book--I didn't know anything about him when I picked it up at some library sale or another, but a cursory Google search tells me that he's still going, and that this book has become somewhat of a classic in the field of criticism. I don't suppose that matters much, other than I approached it without much preconception. I found myself almost immediately engrossed in it, which is basically what has to happen any more for me to have a chance of actually finishing any book I start (I'm too old to waste much time anymore). I liked Brustein's manner of speaking to the reader; I liked how he set forth what it was that he was trying to accomplish with the book; and I liked his no-nonsense style when he disagreed with prevailing opinion.

As to the playwrights he discusses: I've read a fair amount of Ibsen and Chekhov, and also the particular plays Brustein uses as examples by Shaw, O'Neil and Pirandello; so I wasn't starting from a vacuum. What I found in all of his examinations were aspects that, unsurprisingly, I hadn't considered, and even if it didn't change my previous opinion about the playwright, I thought the mental exercise of following along with his arguments to be compelling and quite absorbing. I would imagine that the amount of the reader's experience with these playwrights and the theater in general would affect how much value they found in Brustein's dissections, but for myself, thought the essay on Pirandello absolutely opened up an entirely different viewpoint for how I could look at his plays.

After finishing the book (or even each chapter), I felt as though I had missed so much when I had initially read these plays--to the point that I felt like a blockhead...all the clues were there, I had just failed to notice any of them. In many cases, I had been even disgusted with the playwright at foisting off on the reader/audience something so melodramatic and false.

I can't say if anyone else's experience will be the same--I appreciated the insights that Brustein details here, and I felt like it gave me a way in. There are still some of these authors that I don't connect with, but even with them, I felt like I gained a better understanding of what they were about. Probably the best thing that criticism is capable of.

[Sasha Polienko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah cool better than learning theatre intfo from random sites

[Pol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offers engaging readings of major modern playwrights – thus far I haven't read further than the chapter on Strindberg, so I haven't earned the right to call him a bigot! On the other hand, perhaps one might argue Brustein's arching narrative might be a little too reductionist. No consideration is paid to the comic aspects of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, which is characteristically (and unfairly) brushed off by yet another critic, as a straightforward play.

Read in late 2015 and early 2016.

[Keaton]

Read: "Bertolt Brecht"

[Sadia Mansoor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Theatre of Revolt book http://www.hamhameh.org/wp-content/up...