Symbolism in theatre has served as a tool for playwrights and practitioners to convey meanings that extend beyond literal interpretation. While Realism relied on subtle gestures, costumes, and everyday objects—such as closed doors, furniture, or silent pauses—to convey significance, later approaches sought more direct and unconventional methods. Expressionism, for instance, distorted scenery, exaggerated gestures, and amplified sounds to reflect internal struggles through external means. Meanwhile, Surrealism created dreamlike worlds filled with startling juxtapositions, irrational images, and subconscious associations designed to challenge rational understanding.
In the twentieth century, symbolism gained new political and sensory significance. Epic Theatre reinterpreted symbols as intentional disruptions—such as placards, projections, or songs—not to hide meaning but to reveal it. Conversely, Theatre of Cruelty aimed to bypass intellectual understanding entirely: it relied on light, sound, movement, and ritual as visceral symbols, overwhelming audiences to trigger primal responses.
Modern theatre practices exemplify the fragmentation of meaning in a postmodern and global context. Postmodern Theatre has broken down traditional symbolic coherence, turning objects into unstable signifiers whose meanings expand through techniques like pastiche and parody. Devised Theatre, characterised by ensemble-driven methods, sees symbols as collective discoveries – motifs that develop through collaboration and repetition rather than the playwright’s sole intention. In both forms, symbolism no longer functions as a fixed code but becomes a space for negotiation among performers, creators, and audiences.
Contemporary performance has dramatically expanded the role of symbolism. Immersive Theatre creates entire environments as symbolic landscapes, with each room, prop, and interaction offering layered meanings that audiences can interpret personally as they move through the space. Digital Theatre pushes this idea further into virtual and hybrid worlds, where screens, avatars, and mediated images symbolise presence, absence, connection, and surveillance. In these environments, symbolism extends beyond individual objects to include complex systems of interaction among live performers, virtual elements, and the audience.
The table below serves as a structured overview that emphasises patterns, differences, and developments in the use of symbolism across various theatre styles and movements. It functions both as an educational tool for teaching and learning and as a scholarly reference for those looking to contextualise performance practices within broader cultural, artistic, and political frameworks.
Product
Name
The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (Dictionary, Penguin)
Signs and Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins and…
Dictionary of Symbols (Norton Paperback)
An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols
Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International…
Price
$17.11
$16.39
$16.78
$17.76
$43.85
Purchase
Product
Name
The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (Dictionary, Penguin)
Price
$17.11
Purchase
Product
Name
Signs and Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins and…
Price
$16.39
Purchase
Product
Name
Dictionary of Symbols (Norton Paperback)
Price
$16.78
Purchase
Product
Name
An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols
Price
$17.76
Purchase
Product
Name
Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International…
Price
$43.85
Purchase
Last update on 2025-11-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Symbolism in Theatre: Late 19th Century to Present Day
| Theatre Style | Descriptor and Dates | Use of Symbolism | Purpose / Intended Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gothic Theatre | Emerging late 18th century alongside Gothic literature (Walpole, Radcliffe); continued into the 19th century. Characterised by melodramatic acting, supernatural themes, and a heightened atmosphere of dread. | Relied heavily on symbolic imagery associated with fear and the supernatural. Dark castles, moonlight, storms, graveyards, and flickering candles were not just scenic devices but encoded symbols of repression, the uncanny, and forbidden desires. Characters often embodied archetypes (the villain, the virtuous maiden) that carried symbolic weight far beyond their individual roles. | To provoke terror and fascination by externalising repressed cultural anxieties. Audiences recognised their deepest fears — death, the supernatural, moral corruption — embodied symbolically on stage, creating a cathartic thrill. Example(s): In Matthew Lewis’s The Castle Spectre (1797), the haunted fortress became a symbolic extension of tyranny and hidden trauma. |
| Melodrama | Dominant in 19th-century popular theatre. Plots are based on moral binaries, with stock characters such as the villain, hero, and damsel in distress. Heavy use of music underscored dramatic action. | Symbolism was overt and unambiguous. Stock characters themselves were symbolic: the villain embodied evil, the hero symbolised virtue, and the damsel symbolised innocence or vulnerability. Colours, music, and exaggerated gestures reinforced symbolic meaning, ensuring instant recognition by audiences. | To generate strong emotional responses without ambiguity. The symbolism reinforced moral binaries, allowed audiences to quickly interpret narrative stakes, and ensured cathartic satisfaction when good triumphed over evil. Example(s): In Dion Boucicault’s The Octoroon (1859), costume colours and exaggerated gestures symbolised morality and social hierarchies. |
| Naturalism | Late 19th century (Émile Zola, André Antoine, Stanislavski). Sought to present life scientifically, showing characters as products of heredity and environment. “Slice of life” realism. | Sought to minimise overt symbolism, yet everyday objects carried a symbolic charge when presented truthfully. A broken chair might signify poverty, a cramped apartment the crushing weight of environment and heredity. Symbolism was subtle, rooted in material reality rather than theatrical exaggeration. | To encourage audiences to “read” truth in the mundane. Symbolism operated almost unconsciously, reinforcing determinist ideas that environment and heredity dictate behaviour. Audiences reflected on social conditions through the smallest details. Example(s): In Zola’s Thérèse Raquin (1873), the suffocating domestic space symbolised the crushing inevitability of environment and heredity. |
| Realism | Mid to late 19th century onwards (Ibsen, Chekhov, and later Stanislavski). Broader than naturalism, Realism focused on everyday characters, psychological motivation, and believable situations. | Embedded symbolic meaning within psychologically believable worlds. Props and actions often operated as layered symbols. Dialogue, too, could become symbolic when subtext contradicted the surface. | To reveal deeper truths beneath everyday life. The symbolism extended beyond the literal, encouraging recognition of wider social, moral, or psychological themes within familiar settings. Example(s): In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879), Nora’s tarantella symbolised her constrained role and eventual rebellion. In Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (1904), the orchard symbolised both heritage and decay. |
| Expressionism | Early 20th century (c.1910–1930s). Anti-realist, subjective theatre seeking to externalise inner truths, often political. Practitioners include Kaiser and Toller. | Saturated with symbolism. Lighting, set design, distorted props, and angular gestures functioned symbolically to externalise inner psychological or social conditions. Characters often lacked individuality, instead serving as symbolic “types” (the Worker, the Father). | To shatter naturalism and reveal subjective or collective truths. Symbolism created an unsettling, abstract reality that demanded audiences look beyond surface appearance to deeper emotional, spiritual, or political meanings. Example(s): In Ernst Toller’s Man and the Masses (1921), distorted staging symbolised alienation and mechanisation. |
| Surrealism | 1920s–1930s. Influenced by Freud’s theories of the unconscious. Practitioners such as Antonin Artaud experimented with dream-like, irrational staging. | Dream imagery, bizarre juxtapositions, and irrational sound or movement formed a symbolic language of the subconscious. Objects were stripped of their logical associations and reassembled to provoke unexpected resonances. | To bypass rational analysis and provoke audiences to recognise the irrational forces shaping human behaviour. Symbolism aimed to liberate imagination and expose subconscious desires or fears. Example(s): Antonin Artaud’s early experiments, such as “Jet of Blood” (1925), employed grotesque images (a hand raining down from the sky) as symbolic provocations of the subconscious. |
| Epic Theatre | 1920s–1950s. Developed by Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht. Politically engaged theatre breaking the illusion to provoke critical thinking | Used symbolism in an overtly didactic way. Placards, projections, and songs served as symbolic interruptions; actors employed gesture (Gestus) to embody social relations symbolically. A costume change on stage or a half-finished set became a symbol of theatre’s constructedness. | To alienate audiences from illusion and force critical thought. Symbolism was never naturalistic — it served to highlight contradictions, expose social conditions, and provoke rational analysis of political issues. Example(s): In Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children (1939), the cart symbolised both economic survival and moral compromise. |
| Theatre of Cruelty | 1930s–1940s. Developed by Antonin Artaud, who sought to reject text-dominated theatre in favour of a visceral, sensory experience that would assault the audience’s nerves and confront them with primal truths. Rooted in Surrealism but diverging into his own radical philosophy. | Employed non-verbal and sensory symbols: screams, ritualistic movement, harsh lighting, pounding rhythms, and primal imagery. Language itself was treated symbolically, as sound and rhythm rather than meaning. Everyday gestures became grotesque symbols of repression or violence. | To assault the senses, bypass rational thought, and confront audiences with primal truths. Symbolism operated at the level of the body and psyche, seeking to cleanse and awaken spectators by forcing them to experience their own repressed impulses. Example(s): In Artaud’s vision for The Cenci (1935), screaming, strobe lighting, and ritualised action symbolised repression and violence. |
| Political Theatre | 20th century onwards. Encompasses agitprop, didactic theatre, and activist performance. Strongly associated with Piscator, Brecht, and later political collectives. | Objects, slogans, and gestures were imbued with political symbolism — a flag became a symbol of ideology, a worker’s tool of solidarity, or a suit of capitalist exploitation. Symbolism was often blunt, easily legible, and directly tied to current events. | To make political critique unavoidable. Symbolism functioned to expose injustice and mobilise audiences towards action. Meaning was kept clear and direct, often simplified for maximum agitational impact. Example(s): In Piscator’s In Spite of Everything! (1925), projections of real newsreels became powerful political symbols of struggle. |
| Absurdism | 1950s–1960s. Post–World War II existential theatre, with Beckett and Ionesco as central figures. Explored futility, repetition, and lack of meaning. | Relied on futile, repetitive, or meaningless symbols — a barren tree, endless waiting, nonsensical dialogue. Props and settings often symbolised the emptiness of existence or the collapse of communication. The characters themselves were symbolic of humanity stripped of purpose. In Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1953), the barren tree symbolised emptiness and the endless cycle of waiting. | To confront audiences with the futility of searching for meaning. Symbolism became an ironic commentary on the human condition, leaving audiences to wrestle with despair, humour, and existential recognition. Example(s): In Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano (1950), meaningless dialogue became symbolic of the collapse of communication. |
| Poor Theatre | 1960s–1970s. Jerzy Grotowski’s approach stripped away spectacle, focusing on the communion between actor and audience. | The stripped stage meant that props and set carried heightened symbolic weight. A single rope might symbolise confinement, a wooden plank could serve as an altar, a bed, or a coffin. The actor’s body itself became the primary symbolic medium, capable of transforming space through gesture. | To refocus attention on the essence of performance. Symbolism, created through minimal means, emphasised ritual, universality, and the transformative power of the actor–audience encounter. Example(s): In Grotowski’s Akropolis (1962), ladders, ropes, and the human body symbolised oppression and ritual transformation. Objects were transformed repeatedly, gaining layered meanings. |
| Forum Theatre | 1960s–1970s. Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed in Brazil. Invites the audience to intervene in oppressive scenarios. | Everyday situations became symbolic of systemic oppression. Characters stood for types of oppressor and oppressed; interventions symbolised possible futures. Costumes and props were minimal but chosen for immediate recognisability. | To empower audiences by demonstrating that symbolic oppression on stage can be reimagined and transformed. Symbolism was practical and functional, serving as a rehearsal for social transformation. Example(s): In Boal’s Arena Theatre productions of the 1960s, authority figures symbolised oppressive structures, while interventions symbolised possible futures. |
| Experimental Theatre | 20th century onwards. Umbrella for avant-garde, boundary-breaking performance forms (Living Theatre, Wooster Group, etc.) | Approached symbolism with deliberate unpredictability. Objects could be repurposed mid-performance to carry shifting meanings; juxtaposed elements clashed symbolically. Symbolism was eclectic, often confronting or confusing audiences. | To destabilise expectations and force interpretation. Symbolism was not meant to reassure but to challenge audiences to create meaning from ambiguity and disruption. Example(s): The Living Theatre’s Paradise Now (1968) used nudity, chants, and collective ritual as symbolic acts of liberation. Symbolism was deliberately eclectic and confrontational. |
| Metatheatre | Present throughout history but theorised in the 20th century. Theatre that comments on itself; plays-within-plays (Shakespeare, Pirandello). | Theatrical devices themselves became symbols: the curtain, the stage, the actor in role. Plays-within-plays symbolised artifice and performance as a metaphor for life. Props deliberately foregrounded as “just props” became symbols of theatre’s constructedness. | To invite audiences to reflect on the nature of performance and representation. Symbolism highlighted irony, reflexivity, and the parallels between theatre and everyday life. Example(s): In Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), unfinished characters symbolised the instability of identity and the nature of theatre as construction. |
| Documentary Theatre | 20th century onwards. Verbatim and historical re-enactment of real events; testimony-driven performance. | Symbolism arose from juxtaposing factual material (transcripts, testimonies) with theatrical framing. Projection of images or repetition of testimony lent symbolic weight to particular events or figures. Authentic objects on stage became potent symbols of truth or bias. | To highlight the tension between fact and interpretation. Symbolism helped audiences critically evaluate representation, questioning whether “truth” could ever be neutrally staged. Example(s): In Peter Weiss’s The Investigation (1965), courtroom transcripts became symbolic of the collective voice of Holocaust victims. Authentic objects often carried the symbolic weight of memory. |
| Physical Theatre | 20th century onwards. Storytelling primarily through body, movement, and image. Influences from mime, dance, circus, and experimental theatre. | The body functioned as the central symbolic medium. Shapes, lines, and physical tableaux symbolised abstract concepts such as oppression, freedom, or love. Props were minimal but could be transformed symbolically through movement. | To create meaning beyond words, engage audiences through metaphor embodied in action. Symbolism foregrounded universality, enabling audiences to interpret ideas through shared physical imagery. Example(s): In DV8’s Can We Talk About This? (2011), physical tableaux symbolised political oppression and social conflict. Movement sequences stood for abstract concepts such as love, fear, or violence. |
| Postmodernism | 1970s onwards. Fragmented, playful, intertextual; mixes high and low art, often ironic. | Symbolism was fragmented, parodic, and destabilised. A single object could carry contradictory symbolic meanings; pastiche recontextualised cultural icons. Signs and images were multiplied until no single “true” symbol remained. | To reveal the instability of meaning itself. Symbolism became a game, highlighting irony, intertextuality, and the constructed nature of cultural narratives. Example(s): In Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach (1976), repeated images (a train, a courtroom) became symbolic motifs without fixed meaning. Intertextual references multiply symbols rather than stabilising them. |
| Devised Theatre | Late 20th century onwards. Collaborative, ensemble-created works. Content and form are generated collectively. | Symbolism emerged from a collaborative process. Images, motifs, or repeated physical sequences became central symbols carrying collective significance. Objects are often repurposed creatively across scenes. | To reflect shared concerns of the ensemble. Symbolism often expressed community identity or thematic resonance, encouraging audiences to see meaning as collectively generated. Example(s): In Complicité’s Mnemonic (1999), images of the human brain and archaeological objects became symbolic links between personal memory and collective history. |
| Immersive Theatre | 1990s onwards. Fully participatory, site-specific works (e.g. Punchdrunk). | Spaces and objects transformed into powerful symbols — a mask, a room, a piece of furniture could acquire layered meaning through proximity and personal interaction. Each audience member might experience symbols differently. | To deepen personal engagement, create unique symbolic encounters for each participant. Symbolism enveloped audiences in meaning that felt individual, intimate, and embodied. Example(s): In Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More (2011), rooms, masks, and objects symbolised themes of secrecy, identity, and violence. Each audience member decoded symbols differently. |
| Digital Theatre | 2000s onwards. Live performance integrated with digital platforms (livestreams, VR, hybrids). | Screens, avatars, virtual environments, and mediated images served as central symbols. Technology itself has become symbolic of disconnection, surveillance, or hyperconnection. Live and digital layers created symbolic commentary on reality. | To provoke reflection on how technology mediates experience. Symbolism highlighted questions of authenticity, presence, and identity in the digital age. Example(s): In Rimini Protokoll’s Call Cutta in a Box (2008), the telephone itself symbolised globalisation and mediated presence. Digital interfaces have become symbols of both connection and disconnection. |
Discover more from The Drama Teacher
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.