Theatre of the Absurd

A postwar theatrical movement that presents human existence as disjointed, unstable, or lacking clear meaning, often through circular dialogue, illogical situations, and disrupted plots.

Existentialism: A philosophical tradition examining freedom, responsibility, and the search for meaning in human existence. Its questions about meaning and existence overlap with the movement’s recurring dramatic concerns.
World War II: A global armed conflict fought from 1939 to 1945 between the Allied and Axis powers. Its destruction and aftermath formed the historical backdrop for the movement’s bleak theatrical outlook.
Circular narrative: A narrative structure that returns to its starting point or repeats events without clear forward progress. Repeated situations make dramatic time feel stalled rather than directed toward resolution.
Waiting for Godot: Samuel Beckett’s play about two men waiting for an absent figure who never arrives during its two acts. Its suspended action and repeated encounters exemplify the movement’s refusal of conventional resolution.
Well-made play: A nineteenth-century dramatic form built around tightly arranged plots, revelations, and a decisive resolution. Its orderly causality provides a sharp counterpoint to absurdist plots that resist closure.
Surrealism: An artistic movement that used dreams, unexpected juxtapositions, and the unconscious to disrupt conventional representation. Its illogical imagery helped shape the movement’s break with realistic theatrical conventions.
Samuel Beckett: An Irish novelist and playwright whose works include the absurdist play Waiting for Godot. His spare, influential dramas became central examples of the movement.
Non sequitur: A statement or event that does not follow logically from what precedes it. Abruptly disconnected exchanges undermine the expectation that dialogue will convey stable reasoning.
The Bald Soprano: Eugène Ionesco’s play in which domestic conversation breaks down into clichés and linguistic disorder. Its collapsing dialogue turns everyday social speech into a comic absurdity.
Realism (theatre): A theatrical movement that seeks to represent ordinary life through plausible behavior, settings, and dialogue. Absurdist drama disrupts the credible everyday world realism attempts to stage.

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