Taylor Chung

Arts

11 December, 23:22

Is musical theatre a form of antirealist theatre similar to expressionism and theatre of the absurd?

a. yes, because major writers of musicals produced manifestos by way of program notes

b. no, because musical theatre, while seeming to be antirealist, does not derive from a rebellion against verisimilitude but has aesthetics unique to its own performance

c. no, because musical theatre belongs to the tradition of realism in representation, especially in terms of the representation of character

d. yes, because the antirealist traditions shared common playwrights, common playing spaces and common politics?