Theatre of the Absurd
Wed, 7 Mar 2007, 05:09 pmSean B11 posts in thread
Theatre of the Absurd
Wed, 7 Mar 2007, 05:09 pmRecently my drama class has been studying Theatre of the Absurd studying playwrights and dramatists such as Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett.
Over the holidays we had the set task of reading "The Bald Prima Donna" which (although not fully understanding what was going on over the holidays) I did enjpoy.
This was really our first actual study into this form of theatre, I have read extracts from plays such as "Waiting For Godot" and "Rhinoceros" which I found very interesting at the time.
In a few weeks we are off to see Geoffrey Rush in 'Exit The king' which I am also excited about as we will be able to see Absurdism on stage, a factor that ome students in the class are definately finding confusing...but is that what absurdism is meant to be?
(I'll review Exit The King on this site after I've seen it)
So what does everyone else think about Absurdism?
Has anyone been in any absurdist plays?
I'd really like to know, I find it all quite fascinating!
Read No Exit
Fri, 9 Mar 2007, 01:04 pmRead that play. It will give you a pretty clear idea of whats going on. To me its a discussion of why the characters in a particular set up are there and their attempts to deal with the fact that they know only as much as they can discern from their physical environment. Thats exactly what goes on in No Exit.
And just a side note isnt it six characters in search of an author? i read that last year and i loved the idea of the play.
When you go to watch Geoffrey Rush dont think that its a special stylised form of theatre (in my opinion) its just a character in a set of circumstances. The fact that existentialist ideas will arise is what would separate it from a more mainstream drama where the characters deal with life issues. But essentially its still the same.
enjoy!!,
Paul Mclaughlin.