Today in Theatre History we were talking about the difference between Realism and Naturalism. The class was confused how something could be more real on stage then realism. We then talked about all of the ways that realism is not real. How many of us speak as clearly as characters in realism? How many of us only sit on three sides of the dining table? How many worry about articulation and projection when we are talking to our mother? How many evenings do we have a full major dramatic curve – in which an event is set up right after school; worked through during dinner; and reaches a nice compact moment of closure that ties everything up with a bow before bedtime?
Naturalism is an entirely different game. Now we make NO CHOICE. We do no editing. We do not take the needs of the audience in at all! We sit on four sides of the table, barely mumble through dinner, change topics several times, and solve NOTHING by bedtime. That’s natural!
I simplify it for the class. Naturalism is life. Realism is life-LIKE.