• The Romantic movement activated in interest in historical plays which resulted in a preoccupation with authenticity in settings and costumes.

• In England, Charles Kean's Shakespearean productions saw an abundance of archaelogical detail which resulted in the invention of new scenes to highlight the designer's research.

• Large numbers of exotic animals were used including live horses galloping about the stage on moving belts set into the stage floor.

• Realism found its way into domestic dramas with the innovation of the 'box set' replacing the perspective backcloth - three solid walls and a celing (introduced to the stage by the actress and singer Madame Vestris at the Olympic theatre)

• Ensemble acting allowed more scenic realsim with Madame Ventris demanding a more natural style from her actors followed by Charles Kean.

• The introduction of electricity allowed for better lighting and this was another catalyst for eliminating exaggerated acting and a call for more 'real' acting on stage.

The New Naturalism

• The move towards a more natural acting style demanded also a 'truthfulness' in stage setting.

• The actors were expected to ignore the audience and to behave and speak as though they were really experiencing their life on stage.

• They were expected to turn their back on the audience when called for and from this idea came the 'fourth wall' concept.

• Behind this wall, the environment should be portrayed as authentically as possible.

• Naturlistic scenery was to lead however to a clutter of archaeological detail on stage and the move against this was for simplicity.

• The swiss designer Adolphe Appia was the first to use the latest technology and use the unqiue possiblities of electric lighting - he suggested a whole new direction in stage design.

• Appia aruged that the setting should serve to focus on the actor and not mask him/her with excessive detail.

• He advocated an imaginative use of light, simple platforms, flights of steps etc to convey the changing mood of the play.

• His ideas were considered radical and he did not have great opportunity to try his theories but they were to be carried further at the beginning of the century of director Edward Gordon Craig who used strong lighting on abstract forms