Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Theatre Innovations
Many innovators of modern drama were
too confronting and different to be
accepted and understood in their own life
time
This was certainly the case with people
such as Brecht, Artaud and others
Their ideas have now been accepted and
allowed to influence many directors,
designers and actors
Theatre Styles
Theatre of Cruelty
Poor Theatre
Eugene Ionesco
Samuel Beckett
Jean Genet
Eugene Ionesco 1912 - 1994
Ionesco’s Plays
Rhinoceros
The Bald Soprano
The Chairs
Samuel Beckett 1906 - 1989
His plays
Waiting For Godot
Endgame
Krapp’s Last Tape
Jean Genet 1910 - 1986
His Plays
The Maids
The Balcony
The Blacks
Absurdist Plays
Absurdist plays highlight the meaningless
or absurdity of life and often feature an
underlying despair
The fundamental belief expressed in
absurdist works is that humankind is lost in
a godless universe, where their actions
and behaviour become absurd and
useless
The illogical and the irrational are at the
heart of most absurdist drama
Characters tend to be archetypal
Language is irrelevant in the sense that it
fails to convey meaning
Time and place have no real relevance
either
Despite this grim outlook, Absurdist
Theatre is essentially comic in nature
Humankind is deluded in its belief that it is
at the centre of the universe
This is seen as a ridiculous proposal which
warrants nothing more than laughter and
derision
Features of Absurdist Plays
Features may include:
Non-reality
No sense of time/place
Unusual characters
Absurd happenings
Chaos
Simple/minimal sets
Meaningless dialogue/word games
Repetition highlighting futility
Humour
Some people find Absurdist plays hard to
understand and cope with, however the
movement produced some very
impressive plays which are still staged
regularly today