THEATRE
OF THE ABSURD
Theatre of the Absurd is a term that refers to the tendency of the
dramatic literature that is found in
[Teatro
Del Absurdo. Ed. Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. 2001. 22 Dec. 2005.]
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_del_absurdo
Absurd authors wanted to represent the doubts about the life, the world…
and to express it, they use metaphors, and a particular language. In Absurd
plays the communication among characters isn’t enough. For example, in “Waiting
for Godot” (Samuel Beckett), the characters don’t understand one to other, the
communication in this play is bad. Using it, authors represent the bad
communication that exists in society, among people in general. In the Absurd
Theatre plays we can also emphasize that the characters are discovered in a
world which they do not understand, and this world is very absurd. In the plays
(for instance, in “Waiting for Godot”) characters pass the time talking without
sense, without hearing the other, or for instance, they play… (for example in
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” the characters play to guess “head or
tail”). The time isn’t important in these plays.
[Lecture
on Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Ed. Ian Johnston. 1999.
23Dec. 2005.]
< http://www.malaspina.edu/%7ejohnstoi/introser/stoppard.htm>
Furthermore the characters want to express something but they can’t,
they are contradicting other characters or him / herself. Sometimes the action
contradicts the words that characters have pronounced. Moreover some techniques
of the Theatre of the Absurd are the use of a peculiar decoration in the stage,
often very simple, where accessories and objects are stressed, because they are
important in the development of the action; and the representation of non-sense
situations that express the doubts of the world, the bad understanding of life…
The plot in Absurd plays seems to lack meaning and sense, the dialogues are
often repetitive, and sometimes the action doesn’t seem to have sequence and
sense, too.
Some important plays in this tendency are “Waiting for Godot” (1952), by
Samuel Beckett; “El Rinoceronte” (1956), by Ionesco, “La cantante calva” (1950)
by Ionesco, too…and more. We can emphasize that few authors use the label
“Absurd” for their plays. But three authors are undoubtedly important in the
Theatre of the Absurd: Beckett, Pinter and Stoppard.
[Lecture
on Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Ed. Ian Johnston. 1999.
22Dec. 2005.]
< http://www.malaspina.edu/%7ejohnstoi/introser/stoppard.htm>
<Enciclopedia
Gran Larousee Universal.
<Enciclopedia
Microsoft Encarta 2003>
Samuel Beckett with his play “Waiting for Godot” represents very well
this type of theatre. In this play, we can see two main characters that are
waiting for nothing. They are living, and they are passing the time. Their
lives do not make sense, and in the play, for example, they propose to hang
themselves. It reflects the absurdness of the world, the absurdness of the
life. These characters have ridiculous conversations and sometimes these
conversations do not make sense. Both characters have a poor communication,
because they don’t hear one to other. The action in this play doesn’t seem to
have sense, because it is very repetitive and the reader could not understand
the play. The play takes place in a field (very simple stage). Furthermore, the
plot and the topic in the play don’t seem to make sense at first, it seems to
be ridiculous, but later, it changes.
Beckett served as influence for a lot of authors.
<
Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. Ed. Faber and Faber Limited.
Another important author is Harold Pinter. We can emphasize his play
“The Dumb Waiter”, where we can see two main characters (assassins) that are
waiting in a basement for their victim. Similar to “Waiting for Godot”, the
characters are waiting, and they pass the time talking but one doesn’t hear the
other. In this way, Pinter reflects the life, the wrong society, the absurdness
of the world and the poor communication amongst people. The characters often
contradict themselves with commentaries that sometimes have different
interpretations. Pinter uses poor grammar and a lot of repetitions, and
something that is very common in Pinter’s plays: the use of silence and pauses.
It gives to the play a frightening atmosphere and in his Absurd plays, an uncertain
atmosphere. The decoration is very simple, too, like in “Waiting for Godot”,
because the action occurs in a basement. The action in the play is very common in plays
of the Theatre of the Absurd: it has odd acts, very amazing and often
illogical.
<Pinter,
Harold. The Dumb Waiter.
To sum up, we can stress other author: Tom Stoppard and his play
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead”. In it appear two main characters like
in “Waiting for Godot” and “The Dumb Waiter”. They pass the time questioning themselves
about life, the world, and fortune, and also they play. Another characteristic
that the Theatre of the Absurd uses is to put the death as a normal thing,
because it’s a normal process in the life. In this play, the action is very
odd, too, because at first we could not understand the play well.
<Stoppard,
Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Ed. Samuel French.
In my opinion, the Theatre of the Absurd is a good tendency, very famous
during 1650-1960. The Absurd authors seem to have reasons for the fight against
the society, and they want to explain the society, the world, and the life
using a different point of view: as an absurd world, an absurd universe. The
characteristic used in these plays are very peculiar, and using them, the
authors can express these situations that are an extreme position against the
society. Some of these authors explain in their plays some doubts that are in the
society and in the mind of people. These authors wrote good plays and if we
make an effort, we can enjoy a lot with these plays, because they represent the
society and the world in a different way.
REFERENCES:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_del_absurdo
http://www.malaspina.edu/%7ejohnstoi/introser/stoppard.htm
-Microsoft Encarta 2003
- Enciclopedia Gran Larousse Universal.
- Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. Ed. Faber and Faber
Limited.
-Pinter, Harold. The Dumb Waiter.
-Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Ed. Samuel
French.