ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the emergence, development, and settlement of realism theatre in Korea. From the beginning of Western realism in modern theatre by student groups, professional realistic theatre companies, such as ToWolHoe, came into being in the 1920s. The Dramatic Art Research Society, (劇藝術硏究會) founded in 1931 established realism through performances and various efforts, such as lectures, the introduction of foreign theories, the discovery of playwrights, and directly translating plays into Korean from the original language—previously translated from Japanese. Social realism theatre was another axis of the realism theatre movement. Its plays portrayed the advent of communist society instead of depicting the actual society while maintaining the realism style. KAPF (Korea Artista Proleta Federacio in Esperanto) stood at the center of the social theatre movement. Although actual performances were very few due to censorship and lack of theatrically trained actors, socialist plays were meaningful because they broadened the scope of Korean realism theatre.
