theatre of the absurd one of the more bizarre and out there theatrical movements one where
the absurdity of human existence is pushed to the forefront and thought and action have no
discernible conclusion but what exactly is this style and why is it important in making sense of
our own lives? Hello welcome to organic acting so what is theatre of the absurd we're going to
have to travel back to the first half of the 20th century to find our answer after the devastation
of two world wars many practitioners in Europe felt disillusioned for them it was difficult
to believe an aware omnipotent sympathetic god could exist after humanity had experienced such
death and brutality on a global scale as far as they were concerned the church's teachings
regarding a powerful yet benign figure way up in the clouds watching over man his creation
just didn't hold up the absurdists believed man was alone on earth abandoned
lost in a void of pointless futile actions think about it we get up get ready for school
so we can study so we can receive qualifications so we can get jobs go to work earn money to fill
our lives with things we don't need all until the day we're too old to work anymore and then we die
pretty heavy stuff using the Greek myth of Sisyphus as a metaphor 20th century philosopher
albert Camus demonstrated the absurdity of existence in the myth Sisyphus was punished
by Zeus and forced to roll the gigantic boulder up a mountain only for it to roll back down once
it neared the top Sisyphus would march back down the mountain and repeat the action again and again
and again for all eternity so where does this bring us into the theatrical world of the absurd
absurdist theatrical practitioners such as Beckett Adamov Ionesco Genet and later Pinter
represented theatrically an existence devoid of meaning if life didn't make sense why should
theatre? Theatre of the absurd rejects realism naturalism and logic preferring to use language
that attempts to communicate the impossible characters perform pointless long-winded actions
they make no progress literally or figuratively take Samuel Beckett's waiting for Godot a play
about two trumps Vladimir and Estragon on a country road by a tree waiting for the character
Godot to arrive by the play's end Godot hasn't turned up and Vladimir and Estragon are left
alone waiting choosing not to leave right back where they started characters performing pointless
long-winded actions check characters making no progress literally or figuratively check
in Beckett's one-act play end game four characters shelter in a bare room away from the outside world
following an unseen catastrophe Hamm is paralyzed his servant Clove is unable to sit down while
Hamm's legless parents Nagg and Nell live in two dustbins situated by a back wall the characters
are confined to the room with nowhere to go the outside world seemingly destroyed and dead
unlike traditional theatre it is impossible and in itself pointless to try and apply analysis
critique or to give absurdist pieces of meaning take this often quoted moment from the play itself
we're not beginning to to mean something? mean something you and I mean something
that's a good one! Well that was thoroughly weird it's even depressing however the exciting thing
about the theatre of the absurd is that although plays can be bleak dreamlike and even nightmarish
tragedy or in this case the tragic nature of a humanity without purpose
is often mixed with comedy absurdist theatre can be funny say I am happy I am happy
born in Dublin in 1906 Beckett is perhaps the most well-known
of the absurdist playwrights creating many weird and wonderful pieces for the stage
in his works language words and dialogue can seem confusing and disjointed but ultimately they work
alongside Beckett's love for Commedia del arte and music hall and can create some bizarre and
genuinely hilarious moments the absurdists were not interested in creating dramatic circumstances
through theatre or offering a solution this isn't Augusto Boal's theatre of the oppressed
but rather they preferred to present moments of bewilderment and ridiculousness
as well as mystery and anxiety to accurately represent this view of the human condition
we're going to move on from Samuel Beckett to one of my favourite playwrights of the genre
Harold Pinter Pinter the son of a Jewish tailor in hackney east London was heavily influenced by
Beckett and the tradition of the theatre of the absurd the world's Pinter creates are equally as
barren his characters as lost and without meaning however and this is for me where Pinter excels in
the theatre of the absurd he was extremely fond of a sense of menace the idea that the threat
of violence is always present an impulse to which all human beings are susceptible
it looks behind every smile every piece of small talk every handshake every companionable hug
Go on have a sip from my glass sit on my lap take a long cool sip
Put your head back and open your mouth take that glass away from me lie on the floor go on I'll
pour it down your throat. Characters can say one thing and mean something entirely different
they can demonstrate a simple intention and then tear off in an opposite direction
threat danger violence all hide within and without the subject waiting to pounce upon the unexpected
of course the entire notion of the theatre of the absurd of man alone
blind stumbling through the darkness supports Pinter's wish to present all unseen menaces
even those that exist beyond the room's four walls waiting to get in new neighbours pay a visit
old acquaintances knock at the front door a phone call from the past shatters the status
quo in Pinter's the dumb waiter two hired hitmen wait in a basement for their next target they talk
about tea stories in the newspaper and the room around them their situation is really discussed
while they're waiting the dumb waiter in the room springs to life and sends down a food order
the men scrambled to put some bits together even though they only have their pack lunch to hand
a message from the outside world arrives pitting one hitman against the other
in the room Rose shelters from the outside world in her broken down bed sit with her
husband Burt the landlord a visiting couple and a stranger from the basement all visit Burt and Rose
shattering the quote unquote normality of their lives and the safety of the four walls
like Beckett, Pinter's words and language can be used to dizzying effect the rhythm of the language
being more significant than the words themselves you used to love flowers didn't you do you still
love flowers he adores flowers the other day I saw him empty a piss pot into a bowl of lilies my dad
was a gardener not your granddad no my dad that's right it was it was always walking about with a
lawn mower well even in the old Kent road he was a man of the soil how about your granddad I've never
had one yet small talk the unnecessary banter we all use with each other doesn't just represent
the futility of our everyday lives and add comedy to the piece it draws the audience in and invites
them to make conclusions for themselves the characters do not tell the audience everything but
leave them to discover the incomplete parts they come up with hidden meanings from interpreting
instances of silence and repetition Pinter didn't wish to lay everything out on a silver platter
for an audience to devour without thought he was even less interested in instructing his audience
to make change although admittedly many of his later works were very political in their message
Pinter was once asked what his plays were about he responded the weasel under the cocktail cabinet
although the response was an offhand comment and Pinter himself regretted such a label forever
dominating his work I think it's rather fitting so what can we take from the theatre of the absurd
this is a theatrical movement less concerned with the slice of life of realism or naturalism
less concerned with the politics of Epic Theatre but rather a recognition of the futility of life
and all the bizarre pointless hopeless hilarious actions that come with it but can absurdism teach
us anything at all? Camus proposed that Sisyphus recognized the absurdity of his own plight every
time he travelled back down the mountain to find his fallen boulder ready to roll it back up and
start the process again in that moment he could be satisfied with his plight no longer striving
for something better or looking for answers from god he was in that moment truly happy
surely if we recognize the absurd in our own lives we are able to live content in a world
without meaning want to learn about other styles of theatre? Have a look-see at these
two videos here oh and don't be so absurd as to not click those like and subscribe buttons.