The Theatre of the Absurd
The theatre of the absurd grew out of the so-called
"modern era". First there was "The Great War", then
"The Depression", the industrial revolution of the 1800's
finally manifested itself in terms of the
"dehumanization of people". There were lots of "the"'s
oppressing man in what should have been the beginning
of the golden age.
Film of this genre include Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times"
-- where he is forced work in a repeititive job (his
boss is "fed into a machine" but miraculously escapes
alive). Literature that led up to the theatre concept
include Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", and other socialist,
communist, and nihilist inspired "questioning" of the
"New Age". Another movement was the Fabian Society in
England (HG Wells being one of the more notable memebers),
as well as the so-called DaDa movement that swept France,
Germany and much of Europe.
[Marcel Duchamp, and DaDaism on the MAC account!]
In Russia, writers reflected this as the "loss of promise"
of the revolution. Art of the time includes the Cubists,
Picasso, Dali, etc.
Man's lot seemed to be getting worse and worse.
Up until this time, theatre (like most of the world's
literature) revolved around kings, famous people and
the like.
This culminated in:
The Theatre of the Absurd
In these plays, even God was un-able to do anything,
being despondent. Then just as things couldn't get any
worse, along came World War II. While at first French
philosophers Camus and Sartre (who had been resistance
fighters for the French) were "merely" writing about
the absurdity of life in the post-war era.
Refer to "No Exit" by Sartre; note that there
are no mirrors for these three people trapped
in hell and that "hell is other people". Also,
"The Myth of Sisyphus" by Camus
However, when the Irish-borne Philosopher-
Writer Samuel Becket wrote
-["Waiting for Godot"]-
-[Godot (local pages)]-
-- about two men waiting for God (manifested
as hope, salvation, and simple death). They
encounter "the Devil" ?? , and a whole host
of "lost souls". This play changed the
world of the theatre forever.
Not just "experimental" theatre, it dared to
challenge the nature of existence: The fact that
Paris had nearly been destroyed as a
final fit of anger by Hitler, spared by one of
his Generals who realized the absurdity of
the war. An absurdity that continues to this
day:
Tyrants thrive, the common folk only want peace.
The very nature of existence, freedom, free
will, and the purpose of philosophy amd
religion was finally brough into the lime light.
Further reading:
The Plague Albert Camus
The Flies Jean-Paul Sartre
And more items written in style of the absurd:
"Marvin the Paranoid Android" in The Hitch Hiker's
Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams 42
The Original Batman Movie with Adam West and Burt Ward, et al
Link to: Absurd writings (Gubbish)
The Query, a play in one act by Woody Allen
(a man whose only real fault is that he some-times forgets his hat)
"Waiting for Godot"
...(and now, we present the plays)...