The first fully expressionist theatrical work was Murderer, the Hope of Women by Oskar Kokoshka. It opened on Juy 4, 1909 in Vienna. However, it was not considered a full play. The first work considered a full expressionist play was The Son by Walter Hasenclever. It was published in 1914 and performed in 1916.
Expressionist plays often dealt with the sufferings and spiritual awakenings of their protagonists. They plays did not feel any commitment to every day reality.
The settings and atmospheres of expressionst plays were often abstract, distorted, and either dreamlike or nightmarish. Characters are often nameless and impersonalized. The style of acting can be difficult to reconstruct from the text.
The action of the play is broken into episodes. This was based on the religious stations of cross
The best known Amerian expressionist playwright was Eugene O'Neill. Some of his plays that are still performed to this day are The Hairy Ape, All God's Chillun Got Wings, and The Emperor Jones.
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