THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
Alfred Jarry: UBU ROI (1896)
Avant-garde: 1920s &1930s
'Myth of Sisyphus'
Martin Esslin: works 1950s & 1960s
Conventions
The Theatre of the Absurd
was:
A reaction to the disappearance of the
religious dimension form our life
An attempt to restore the importance
of myth and ritual.
An attempt to make man aware of the
ultimate realities of his condition, by
instilling in him again the lost sense of
cosmic wonder and anguish.
Aspects of the Theatre of the Absurd
Distrust of language as a means of
communication
Absurd drama uses conventionalized
speech, clichés, slogans and
technical jargon
http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/Absurd.htm
Antonin Artaud
The Theater and Its Double (1938)
Rejects realism
Cherishes a vision of a stage of
magical beauty and mythical power.
Calls for a return to myth and magic
and to the exposure of the deepest
conflicts within the human mind
Demanded a theatre that would
produce collective archetypes, thus
creating a new mythology.
Theatre should pursue the aspects of
the internal world. Man should be
considered metaphorically in a
wordless language of shapes, light,
movement and gesture.
Theatre should express what
language is incapable of putting into
words.