Absurd Theatre, Essay Example

The French Evolution on the Absurd Theatre

During the onset of the theatrical developments in France, the theatre of the absurd became a trend that marked the French influence in the global scene of theatrical arts. Relatively, this particular truth has lead to the creation of a new genre of artistic presentation of both drama and the embodiment that it has with regards real living. First introduced in France in the 1960’s, this form of theatrical art is noted to have been the primary response of the French playwright society to the Second World War. The aim is to basically animate the presentation of what life has become after the war years. In the course of creating stories for this particular form of art, playwrights were keen enough to observe what was real and create a comedic way of presenting such truths in such a process that it would almost make no sense at all due to the utilization of confusing dialogues as well as senseless plots.

What makes this particular theatrical art interesting is that amidst its absurdity and confusing state, the viewers are expected to reflect on the stories created based on their own personal reflection of the situations involved in each plot. Exploration of reality through exaggeration is the primary concern of this form of art. Notably, with the power of the actor’s strong convincing capability to “wow” the audience with their performance, the playwrights used this aspect to measure the sense of symbolism that these plays would represent in line with the realistic situations that humans need to confer with in their lives.

With term “absurd theatre” being coined by Martin Esslin, this identity has given the said form of theatrical art a sense of definition that causes a sense of confusion to the viewers. Nevertheless, once the performances are given meaning and the stories be reflected upon, the viewers themselves would not have a hard time understanding what the real meaning of the plays’ metaphorical representations actually ought to define in consideration with real life accounts.

References

• Society, politics, and culture: pre- and post WWI West and East; a bit of a geography;
• Form as Meaning: Theatre of the Absurd and its precursors across the artistic genres: literature, commedia dell’arte, Symbolism, Futurism, Cubism, DADA, Dadaism, Surrealism, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, 19th century antecedent

Brook, Peter. The Empty Space: A Book About the Theatre: Deadly, Holy, Rough, Immediate. Touchstone, 1995.