Theatre of the Absurd, Essay Example

The Introduction of the Absurd Theatre to Other Cultures: Institutionalizing Existentialism, Constructivism and Realism into theatre arts

As the years pass, the theatre of the absurd serves as much impact on the new form of story presentation as it did in the classical era. It could be analyzed that somehow, artists have found absurd theatre to be more than just a form of confusing art aided with senseless dialogue. As of today, absurd theatre and its principles are widely used to represent life’s most uncanny situations and circumstances in a lighter sense of performance. With the use of advanced media, the principles of realism and constructivism have been both embedded with the absurd presentation of characters and plots in stories. One example would be that of the long-running series of The Three Stooges. Absurd and likely noted as “stupefying”, the accounts in the said series are considered by critics as the satiric presentation of the real situations that humans have to deal with in life especially with regards political and social issues. While some view this matter as simply entertaining, the plots used to represent the characters in the story are more in depth in reaffirming the problems of the society at present. Existentialism on the other hand also supports the development of absurd theatre as it is presented in modern reading materials as well as media-produced performances. The belief of one matter and how it is defined in an absurd approach hopes both to tickle the minds of the audience and somewhat subject them into personal questioning as to whether what they believe in is true or not. At present, it is seen that futuristic forms of absurd theatre would thrive more on the course of reaffirming life’s realities in a lighter mood while leaving stronger messages on the audiences as they try to identify the real meaning of each presentation amidst the confusion and severity of the absurd accounts that occurred in the performance that they have just seen or read.

References:

• Amid the French Symbolists, a precursor of the Theater of the Absurd, inspiration for and anticipation of the Futurists, Surrealists, DADA: Alfred Jarry, UbuRoi (French, 1896);
• Futurism: art as a performance in the West and in Russia:

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