What plays were popular in 1800s?

Answer 1

The nineteenth century was an era of spectacle and bombast in theatre. Productions were designed for huge proscenium stages which led themselves to using giant set pieces, thousands of extras and complex tableaux. This kind of setting was not conducive to intimacy and complex character study. Actors declaimed their lines, just in order to be heard off of huge stages with awful acoustics in front of huge audiences. Melodramas such as Mazeppa or East Lynne were ideally suited to this, as were certain Shakespeare plays such as King John.

The revolution came at the end of the century and it came not from the English-speaking theatre but from Europe with such playwrights as Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg and Anton Chekhov. These playwrights began writing plays with small casts and which dealt realistically with ordinary human problems. This kind of play required a much more naturalistic acting style, and a different style of production altogether. The theatres were still proscenium style but needed to be much more intimate to work effectively with such a script.

The bombastic melodramatic style of the 19th century never really went out of style in the United States and was the foundation for the peculiarly American idiom, the Broadway musical.

Answer 2

In the 1800s plays were the most common found entertainment. Every night there would be a colored flag for what kind of play there was black was for drama. i learned this in seventh hour. in ninth grade.

Answer 3

A swingy, twangy new age sound was modern. In 1844, the song "Buffalo Gals" was big; 1861's big song was "Aura Lee." Earlier, in 1800, the songs' "A Rose Tree" and "Crazy Jane" were big.

Answer 4

Folk operas!

Answer 5

Country mainly