What are some historical events they may have influenced modern day theatre?

Answer 1

That IS a broad question.

Short answer?


All of it.


'Modern theatre' is a very relative term. Current broadway? Pieces written in the past five years? Twenty years? Fifty years? What country? What cultural background? What religious background?

For example the current broadway hit Wicked - is based on the book The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, which is based on the Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum. But Wicked has themes that stem to civil rights, racial profiling, communism, etc. Wicked was composed by Schwartz, who also wrote Children of Eden. And THAT is based on the Judeo-Christian creation and flood stories!!!

Wide range, even there!

Answer 2

World Wars I and II, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the stock market collapse in the 20s, the Holocaust... all these tragedies that put in doubt the idea that progress is inevitable, that there's a transcendant "truth" to which we should aspire, that right wins over wrong, that technology is a boon to humanity. These experiences have left us with a sense of doom, ambiguity, pessimism, doubt, despair... in short, the existential crisis. Modern theatre seems to be both an acknowledgment of, and reaction against, the modern (postmodern, I guess) sensibility.

Answer 3

That is a pretty broad question! All of history influences present day theatre. Theatre is often about history. Pretty tough to answer.

Answer 4

The Reformation and British Restoration lead the way to a more modern form of drama that allowed plays to really reflect society. It was during the Restoration that the first plays were written where the King actually died because of his faults, meaning he was no longer devine.

Answer 5

chuck noris's beard and also chuck noris's attack on the twin towers!