The ideas and practices to bring the art to the public in 20th century

Theater is the art of the masses. As being different from the other branches of art, theater is the process depending on the moment, and it always wants to reach to a wider range of the masses. With its specific expressions, theater emphasizes the meaning of life, existence of human being as its subject. By these means, an emotional and mental interaction between the spectator and the play is created. This kind of interaction is based on feedback. During the ritual periods in which origin of theater started, theater action was realized by all communities. With time, theater underwent changes: The participation of the spectators to the action has been restricted. Especially, the communication between theater art and the spectators was cut off by moving the theater from open fields to palaces. The theater art which became a cultural tradition of minority, was then restricted by rules of figure and content. This situation made the theater unable to express the reality and circumstances. In this study, the periods in which theater art became a mass action (Ritual period, Ancient Greek, Middle age and the Renaissance) and the three directors who realized massive drama action in twentieth century (Max Reinhardt, Erwin Piscator, Vsevolod Meyerhold) were examined. At the same time, the study includes the definitions and ideas of Avant-garde trend and alternative theater communities which aim to bind art and life. In this study, the contents and figures which cause the theater to be the art of the masses, are examined according to their historical periods. The ideas and practices of native twentieth century theater and evaluation of theater art at the present time will be examined.