Editing Symbolism (movement) (section)

===Theatre===
[[File:Petrutxca de Fokine-1911.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Alexandre Benois]]' set for [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]]'s ''[[Petrushka (ballet)|Petrushka]]'' in 1911]]

The characteristic emphasis on an internal life of dreams and fantasies have made symbolist theatre difficult to reconcile with more recent trends. [[Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam]]'s drama ''[[Axël (drama)|Axël]]'' (rev. ed. 1890) is a definitive symbolist play.  In it, two [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucian]] aristocrats become enamored of each other while trying to kill each other, only to agree to commit suicide mutually because nothing in life could equal their fantasies.  From this play, [[Edmund Wilson]] adopted the title ''Axel's Castle'' for his influential study of the symbolist literary aftermath.

[[Maurice Maeterlinck]], also a symbolist playwright, wrote ''[[The Blind (play)|The Blind]]'' (1890), ''The Intruder'' (1890), ''Interior'' (1891), ''[[Pelléas and Mélisande]]'' (1892), and ''[[The Blue Bird (play)|The Blue Bird]]'' (1908).
[[Eugénio de Castro]] is considered one of the introducers of Symbolism in the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. He wrote ''Belkiss'', "dramatic prose-poem" as he called it, about the doomed passion of Belkiss, [[queen of Sheba|The Queen of Sheba]], to Solomon, depicting in an avant-garde and violent style the psychological tension and recreating very accurately the tenth century BC Israel. He also wrote ''King Galaor'' and ''Polycrates' Ring'', being one of the most prolific Symbolist theoriticians.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Saraiva |last2=Lopes|first1=António José |first2=Óscar|title=História da Literatura Portuguesa|date=2017|publisher=Porto Editora|location=Lisboa|isbn=978-972-0-30170-3|edition=17th}}</ref>

[[Lugné-Poe]] (1869–1940) was an actor, director, and theatre producer of the late nineteenth century. Lugné-Poe "sought to create a unified nonrealistic theatre of poetry and dreams through atmospheric staging and stylized acting".<ref name=EBS>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Symbolism|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/577796/Symbolist-movement|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2023-02-21}}</ref> Upon learning about symbolist theatre, he never wanted to practice any other form. After beginning as an actor in the [[Théâtre Libre]] and Théâtre d'Art, Lugné-Poe grasped on to the symbolist movement and founded the [[Théâtre de l'Œuvre]] where he was manager from 1892 until 1929. Some of his greatest successes include opening his own symbolist theatre, producing the first staging of [[Alfred Jarry]]'s ''[[Ubu Roi]]'' (1896), and introducing French theatregoers to playwrights such as [[Henrik Ibsen|Ibsen]] and [[August Strindberg|Strindberg]].<ref name=EBS />

The later works of the Russian playwright [[Anton Chekhov]] have been identified by essayist [[Paul Schmidt (translator)|Paul Schmidt]] as being much influenced by symbolist pessimism.<ref>''The Plays of Anton Chekhov'', trans. Paul Schmidt (1997)</ref> Both [[Konstantin Stanislavski]] and [[Vsevolod Meyerhold]] experimented with symbolist modes of staging in their theatrical endeavors.

Drama by symbolist authors formed an important part of the repertoire of the ''[[Théâtre de l'Œuvre]]'' and the ''[[Paul Fort|Théâtre d'Art]]''.