This paper is intended to briefly examine the Italian, French, Greek, Italian and Japanese drama and compare them to Irish drama and the changes they have underwent in the 20th century. Irish drama in the 20th century reached a turning point with the creation of the Abbey Theater. Two revolutionary playwrights, W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, established the Abbey Theater which came to be a place that reflects the deeper emotions of Ireland on stage. Many performances at the Abbey Theater were extremely controversial due to the contemporary nature of the plays themselves. For example, in 1907 the performance of The Playboy of the Western World incited riots in the audience.
Similarly, French theater in the 20th century was met with hostility as French theater turned to a more avant-garde performance style which abandoned clarity and thought and focused more on artistry and expression. Italian drama and Japanese drama are similar in terms of transitioning into a more contemporary art form in the 20th century. Italy is the home of opera and opera is still prevalent in Italy to this day. Similarly, the Japanese still perform traditional theater performances such as the Noh, Kyogen and Kabuki. Noh and Kyogen have been performed in Japan since the 15th century.
Noh is based on traditional tales of supernatural beings. Kabuki is another traditional Japanese drama form which incorporated sword fights. Both Italian and Japanese drama are deep seated in their traditional drama forms, but both adopted a more contemporary drama style in the 20th century. The Japanese started to perform a style known as Shingeki which incorporated contemporary themes which highly contrast the traditional Kabuki and Noh.
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The plots of the Shingeki became more complex with various characters reflected by different masks. Italian theater adopted a new style during the 20th century as well which mirrored themes of contemporary life. This new style of Italian drama moved away from the traditional restraints of the Commedia dell’arte and discontinued the use of masks to portray unrealistic characters in absurd scenarios and the characters started reflecting everyday people.
Greek drama seems to highly differ from Irish drama in regards to contrasting from their past style to the present style of drama. Although Greek drama has evidently evolved since Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek tragedies are what is most performed in the Greek drama genre. Greek drama seems to be tightly rooted to their ancient style and performances, unlike Irish drama which was revolutionized with the help of the Abbey Theater.
In conclusion, Irish drama is similar to Japanese, French and Italian drama as they all seemed to shift from their traditional roots to a more contemporary drama style in the 20th century to start reflecting the themes of everyday life.
