Naturalism seems to be the theatre that all fashionable modern theatre people love to hate. This module aims to reconnect with the original dynamic energy of naturalist theatre, and to trace a century-long fascination with the art of making it look and feel real. We will look at new discoveries and explorations of nineteenth century science, and at radical moves in painting and literature, as a way of framing our exploration of naturalist drama itself. We will find out why it was so offensive to see a version of your own living room on stage and how theatre started to bring all the sordid realities of everyday life on stage. Seminars will involve extensive study of naturalist plays, from Ibsen and Strindberg, via Franz Xavier Kroetz to Richard Maxwell, film screenings and critical and historical texts that place the phenomenon of naturalism in historical and aesthetic context.