In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, theater was evolving rapidly in Europe. Impresarios like Georg II, Duke of the Duchy of Saxe Meinengen (in what is now Germany), were pushing theater troupes to new heights of realism. New methods of staging, acting, set building, and even rehearsing were making plays more realistic than ever. These practices spread to France with Andre Antoine's Theatre Realisme, and from there spread across Europe.