Search and Destroy: Theatre of the Absurd

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My crusade to turn this into a film and literature forum continues.

― sundar subramanian, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Martin Esslin's 'The Theatre of the Absurd' is a good place to start.

That and Ionesco's eleven volumes of plays.

― Will, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

did Becket count? cos, er, he's quite good. (sorry, we weren't allowed to study anything post-1970 during my degree!)

― katie, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, absolutely! Beckett one of the few "absurd" playwrights (cf. Pinter, Genet) to not lapse utterly into some horribly face-value attempt at fulfilling Constantin's cry in The Seagull for "new forms, new forms!" I like Endgame, Waiting for Godot, and Krapp's Last Tape (N.B. as a young frosh I played Krapp, yes the pun is intentional). Ionesco's "The Chairs" is a frightening parable of fascism blah blah.

"The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster has always felt to me like it was in this tradition of existentialist absurdity. For what it's worth. Would be neat to see a play of it, though it probably would not work.

Does anyone have opinions about Pinter?

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I love Absurdist Theatre.

Any Pinter play I've seen has been very enjoyable. They did a great season of his short plays over here in sunny Dublin, I saw a good few of them and they were top.

Ionescu is great, he manages to head beyond just being funny to communicate a great sadness about the human condition.

That Martin Esslin book, I think I've read it, yes, read it, great.

― DV, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

One of my teachers always gets riled about the notion of a "Theater of the Absurd", because he points out that it came from all sorts of different countries and aesthetics, and the playwrights were unfairly and inaccurately lumped together.

Anyway, search Pinter, Albee, Beckett, Ionesco and you can't go too far wrong, particular recommendations for each of those might go The Birthday Party, Zoo Story, Godot, and The Lesson.

Destroy Happy Days, I never liked it. But most of the other Becketts esp. the three Tracer mentions are all good.

― Ian, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Anyone for Adamov?

― Will, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

yes yes but in cats at least the dancers = all v.sexy

― mark s, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I wish it weren't called 'Theatre of the Absurd'. It makes me want to punch it.

― Nick, Thursday, 8 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ooh look, Nick's getting hard on the internet again.

― chris, Thursday, 8 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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