Theater of the Absurd =

existentialism + symbolic satire

THEATER OF THE ABSURD

• emerged in Europe and the U.S. after World War II

• people were discouraged by the unjustness of the world

Existentialism

• Theater of the Absurd began at the same time as existentialism.

• Jean-Paul Sartre: “Man is only what he does. Man becomes what he chooses to be.”

• The existentialists often cited Hitler’s Nazi Germany and the atrocities of the Holocaust as examples of the dangers of conformity.

Existentialism

• Albert Camus: “There is no cause and effect.”• Truth is not knowable.• Human beings are individually responsible for

the decisions they make and for accepting the consequences of those decisions.

• Human decisions affect other people.• The most courageous human act is to make a

decision and live with the consequences.

Absurdism• Alienation and isolation from other humans• Alienation from history and culture• Alienation from social and physical

environment• Disharmony with nature• Chaotic and disorderly life• Failure of communication• Lack of religious certainty•

Absurdism offers different ways of perceiving reality that can be both

comic and horrifying.

GOAL of ABSURDISM

To experience the condition of absurdity

Eugene Ionesco’s plays convey the meaningless of modern man’s

existence in a universe ruled by chance.

in 1979 Albee said, “I like to think people are forced to rethink some things as a result of the experience

of seeing some of my plays, that they are not left exactly the way

they came in.”

Albee’s plays suggest that human beings have lost the ability to cope with their problems and anxieties

because they refuse to accept responsibility for their lives and

project responsibility onto others for their own and the world’s

inadequacies.

[“The Sandbox”] is an examination of American society, an attack on the substitution of artificial for real values in our society, a condemnation of complacency, cruelty, emasculation, and vacuity; it is a stand against the fiction that everything in

this land of our is peachy-keen.

- Edward Albee

“Who am I?” is a common theme in Samuel Beckett’s plays.

THEATER OF THE ABSURD

• name comes from The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus in which he states that there is a separation between “man and his life, the actor and his setting” that “constitutes the feeling of Absurdity.”

• Absurdist plays convey humanity’s sense of alienation and loss of bearings in an illogical, unjust, and ridiculous world

• Although serious, the plays can be quite comical . . . with much irony.

• The feeling of absurdity

Absurdist Plots

• No logical, traditional plots; unconventional

• Actions may begin and then disappear

• ridiculous and unbelievable

• Non-realistic• Anti-realistic• Nothing happens

• Storyless action• Rejection of theatrical

conventions• Disordered• Disharmony• Abrupt changes of

direction and tone• Logical illogic• Symbolic satire

Absurdist Characters

• Unbelievable characters• Psychological

complexity• Irrational beings• Cannot be understood• Abrupt changes• Alienated• isolated

• Satirical• Incoherent• Lack of communication• Ineffective

communication• Often exemplify an

existential point of view• Groups of symbols

rather than characters

Absurdist Language

• Inadequacy of language• Failure of

communication• Sometimes no language (mime or gesture)• Disconnected dialogue• Non-sequitors (does not follow= reply does not make sense)

• Abrupt changes of tone• Comic• Horrifying• Unnatural• Incoherent ramblings• Unexpected meanings

for even common words• Jargon

Absurdist Playlet Directions

EVERY STUDENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR READING ALL DIRECTIONS AND THE

SCORING RUBRIC. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.

All documents needed are available on the APE Lit survival guide web site plus additional resources, such

as sample scripts from previous students.

Directions (continued)

1. Collaborate with a group no larger than 5 or work by yourself – your choice. If you work by yourself, you will more than likely have to recruit other students to read the character parts you create. Select a director for your group. You will also need to select group members to serve as script writer, prop master, and publisher.

2. Each group (or solo individual) must write a script (see “The Sandbox” in the blue textbook for format). A script must be provided for each person involved with the play. See the rubric.

3. The play can be no more than five (5) minutes long.

4. Students do not have to memorize lines, but try your best not to simply read them. The audience needs to see your face (unless your script tells you to do otherwise). Try to not turn your back to the audience (unless your script requires you to do so). One of the most important parts of communication, performance, and understanding is the reaction that you give to other students’ lines. This project is an oral presentation, one of our objectives for competence with English. See the rubric.

5. The play can be live or filmed. 6. Follow the guidelines from the Intro to Absurdism powerpoint (see survivalguide website) and other resources available on the survivalguide website in order to create an absurdist play. Absurdism is not simply slapstick comedy or parody. Absurdism is often a form of satire that exposes a social structure or practice, character type, business procedure, educational program, relationship, or other situation in need of correction. Your group must identify the target of the satire, even if the target of the satire is the expectation of meaning. See the scoring rubric.

7. Each person in the group (or the solo individual) must write one well-developed, typed, double-spaced paragraph that explains and analyzes a specific aspect of the play. The group collaborates about which part of the play each person will write about. (For example, the play could be divided into language, characterization, target of satire, theme.) Each student’s name should be in (parentheses) at the end of the individually-written paragraph. Provide electronic copies of each paragraph to the publisher in your group. The publisher’s job is to add a brief introductory paragraph and then to arrange the other students’ paragraphs into a logical order in one document (including the publisher’s own analytical paragraph). Then print one copy. See the scoring rubric.

8. Each group (or solo individual) must turn in one typed copy of the script attached to one typed copy of the explanation/discussion/analysis. See the scoring rubric.

ABSURDIST PLAYLET RUBRIC

A. Logic of the illogical: incongruity, disharmony, paradox, juxtaposition, liberation 20

B. Satire and Symbols: satirical target and techniques,multiple symbols w/ multiple meanings 20

C. Performance elements: auditory? visual? consideration for audience? 5 min.time limit? 10

D. Use of Nonrealism and Absurdism characteristics: 25(communication dysfunction, alienation, isolation, existentialist, storyless action, incoherence, unbelievable characters, rejection of conventions of realism and theater, tolerance for ambiguity, comedy, horror, shock that provokes questioning) E. Documents: enough scripts? doublespaced, typed single page analysis, target of satire, EXPLANATION? 15

F. Originality: unique lack of predictability, unlike others 10Total 100