The Genre of Magical Realism
The term "Magical Realism" was originally coined by Franz Roh, an art critic, in 1925. Shortly after, the term transferred to literary works, and finally theatre. Simply speaking, it is defined as a genre where fantasy is not questioned by those who live in the world of the play. There is a coexistence of the natural and supernatural.
Though the magic of the beans is questioned, and characters like the Baker and his wife have clearly not been as exposed to magic as other characters, the Woods is a place where strange things are expected to happen. In general, fantastical events are commonplace in Into the Woods, and thus aligns with magical realism as a genre.
Some of the characteristics of Magical Realist plays are as follows:
Non-human characters
Other worlds
A sense of mystery
Extraordinary events that cannot be explained by rational thought
Unusual time shifts
Myths/legends
A sense of timelessness
Within the past twenty years in America, this genre has been explored more and more by theatre artists. Below are some popular examples of magical realist plays and how each playwright utilizes the genre.
Defining Fantasy
*Photo is from Follies, where both young and older versions of each character is on stage simultaneously.
The psychological definition of the term 'fantasy' is an "imaginary scene in which the subject is a protagonist, representing the fulfillment of a wish in a manner that is distorted to a greater or lesser extent by defensive processes." This is heavily based on Sigmund Freud's work with subconscious desires.
Herbert Kupper explores this idea and its relationship to theatre arts as well as its prototype - fairy tales. Kupper elaborates on its cyclical nature: "The creation is a compromise during which the author's imaginative fantasies can be expressed. The approval of the audience who live their fantasies out through the play helps the author to live out his fantasies, and the actors to live out theirs."
Fantasies are rooted in the development of children and continues into their adulthood. Fairy tales and fantasies are a way for children to live out "forbidden feelings" without any consequence of guilt attached. Even as an adult, "…the real world is incorporated within the fantasies so that real people, real problems are never completely avoided but are faced in an attenuated form." It's simply a part of the human psyche that has always been there.
When not rooted in the magical or mythical, fantasy is often seen in plays with a duality to realism. Ande Jacobson, who discovered this common theme between two unrelated shows in preparation for her reviews of them, states that the fantasy featured was when the "protagonist breaks from reality and experiences an entirely different world while simultaneously on stage, others are firmly rooted in the present." The tricky part is establishing boundaries for the fantastical elements that, if broken, may lose the audience.
Some plays featuring this type of fantastical realism are A Streetcar Named Desire, Nine, Follies, and Death of a Salesman, among others.