‘Social Realism’ and Plays Based on Political Issues

Abstract

Although fantasy plays may successfully explore political issues (for example the dramatised version of Animal Farm at the National), the most popular mode for the enterprise is ‘social realism’. The phrase can be misleading, as it can imply a preoccupation with the sordid at the expense of more attractive sides of ‘reality’. In this context, though, it is taken to mean a more literal rendering of the world of social experience. Such are the connotations of fantasy that some companies, perhaps, believe that a ‘literalist’ style might seem to signal a more ‘relevant’ play and have a better chance of being taken seriously.