From: Subject: THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 13:38:55 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/Absurd.htm X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3138 THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

THE WEST AND THE EAST

I. The West

'The Theatre of the Absurd' is a term coined by the critic Martin = Esslin for=20 the work of a number of playwrights, mostly written in the 1950s and = 1960s. The=20 term is derived from an essay by the French philosopher Albert Camus. In = his=20 'Myth of Sisyphus', written in 1942, he first defined the human = situation as=20 basically meaningless and absurd. The 'absurd' plays by Samuel Beckett, = Arthur=20 Adamov, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter and others all share = the view=20 that man is inhabiting a universe with which he is out of key. Its = meaning is=20 indecipherable and his place within it is without purpose. He is = bewildered,=20 troubled and obscurely threatened.

The origins of the Theatre of the Absurd are rooted in the = avant-garde=20 experiments in art of the 1920s and 1930s. At the same time, it was = undoubtedly=20 strongly influenced by the traumatic experience of the horrors of the = Second=20 World War, which showed the total impermanence of any values, shook the = validity=20 of any conventions and highlighted the precariousness of human life and = its=20 fundamental meaninglessness and arbitrariness. The trauma of living from = 1945=20 under threat of nuclear annihilation also seems to have been an = important factor=20 in the rise of the new theatre.

At the same time, the Theatre of the Absurd also seems to have been a = reaction to the disappearance of the religious dimension form = contemporary life.=20 The Absurd Theatre can be seen as an attempt to restore the importance = of myth=20 and ritual to our age, by making man aware of the ultimate realities of = his=20 condition, by instilling in him again the lost sense of cosmic wonder = and=20 primeval anguish. The Absurd Theatre hopes to achieve this by shocking = man out=20 of an existence that has become trite, mechanical and complacent. It is = felt=20 that there is mystical experience in confronting the limits of human=20 condition.

As a result, absurd plays assumed a highly unusual, innovative form, = directly=20 aiming to startle the viewer, shaking him out of this comfortable, = conventional=20 life of everyday concerns. In the meaningless and Godless = post-Second-World-War=20 world, it was no longer possible to keep using such traditional art = forms and=20 standards that had ceased being convincing and lost their validity. The = Theatre=20 of the Absurd openly rebelled against conventional theatre. Indeed, it = was=20 anti-theatre. It was surreal, illogical, conflictless and plotless. The = dialogue=20 seemed total gobbledygook. Not unexpectedly, the Theatre of the Absurd = first met=20 with incomprehension and rejection.

One of the most important aspects of absurd drama was its distrust of = language as a means of communication. Language had become a vehicle of=20 conventionalised, stereotyped, meaningless exchanges. Words failed to = express=20 the essence of human experience, not being able to penetrate beyond its = surface.=20 The Theatre of the Absurd constituted first and foremost an onslaught on = language, showing it as a very unreliable and insufficient tool of=20 communication. Absurd drama uses conventionalised speech, clich=E9s, = slogans and=20 technical jargon, which is distorts, parodies and breaks down. By = ridiculing=20 conventionalised and stereotyped speech patterns, the Theatre of the = Absurd=20 tries to make people aware of the possibility of going beyond everyday = speech=20 conventions and communicating more authentically. Conventionalised = speech acts=20 as a barrier between ourselves and what the world is really about: in = order to=20 come into direct contact with natural reality, it is necessary to = discredit and=20 discard the false crutches of conventionalised language. Objects are = much more=20 important than language in absurd theatre: what happens transcends what = is being=20 said about it. It is the hidden, implied meaning of words that assume = primary=20 importance in absurd theatre, over an above what is being actually said. = The=20 Theatre of the Absurd strove to communicate an undissolved totality of=20 perception - hence it had to go beyond language.

Absurd drama subverts logic. It relishes the unexpected and the = logically=20 impossible. According to Sigmund Freud, there is a feeling of freedom we = can=20 enjoy when we are able to abandon the straitjacket of logic. In trying = to burst=20 the bounds of logic and language the absurd theatre is trying to shatter = the=20 enclosing walls of the human condition itself. Our individual identity = is=20 defined by language, having a name is the source of our separateness - = the loss=20 of logical language brings us towards a unity with living things. In = being=20 illogical, the absurd theatre is anti-rationalist: it negates = rationalism=20 because it feels that rationalist thought, like language, only deals = with the=20 superficial aspects of things. Nonsense, on the other hand, opens up a = glimpse=20 of the infinite. It offers intoxicating freedom, brings one into contact = with=20 the essence of life and is a source of marvellous comedy.

There is no dramatic conflict in the absurd plays. Dramatic = conflicts,=20 clashes of personalities and powers belong to a world where a rigid, = accepted=20 hierarchy of values forms a permanent establishment. Such conflicts, = however,=20 lose their meaning in a situation where the establishment and outward = reality=20 have become meaningless. However frantically characters perform, this = only=20 underlines the fact that nothing happens to change their existence. = Absurd=20 dramas are lyrical statements, very much like music: they communicate an = atmosphere, an experience of archetypal human situations. The Absurd = Theatre is=20 a theatre of situation, as against the more conventional theatre of = sequential=20 events. It presents a pattern of poetic images. In doing this, it uses = visual=20 elements, movement, light. Unlike conventional theatre, where language = rules=20 supreme, in the Absurd Theatre language is only one of many components = of its=20 multidimensional poetic imagery.

The Theatre of the Absurd is totally lyrical theatre which uses = abstract=20 scenic effects, many of which have been taken over and modified from the = popular=20 theatre arts: mime, ballet, acrobatics, conjuring, music-hall clowning. = Much of=20 its inspiration comes from silent film and comedy, as well as the = tradition of=20 verbal nonsense in early sound film (Laurel and Hardy, W C Fields, the = Marx=20 Brothers). It emphasises the importance of objects and visual = experience: the=20 role of language is relatively secondary. It owes a debt to European = pre-war=20 surrealism: its literary influences include the work of Franz Kafka. The = Theatre=20 of the Absurd is aiming to create a ritual-like, mythological, = archetypal,=20 allegorical vision, closely related to the world of dreams.

Some of the predecessors of absurd drama:

THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

THE WEST AND THE EAST

II. THE EAST

At the time when the first absurd plays were being written and staged = in=20 Western Europe in the late 1940s and early 1950s, people in the East = European=20 countries suddenly found themselves thrown into a world where absurdity = was a=20 integral part of everyday living. Suddenly, you did not need to be an = abstract=20 thinker in order to be able to reflect upon absurdity: the experience of = absurdity became part and parcel of everybody's existence.

Hitler's attempt to conquer Russia during the Second World War gave = Russia a=20 unique opportunity to extend its sphere of influence and at the same = time to=20 'further the cause of [the Soviet brand of] socialism'. In the final = years of=20 the war, Stalin turned the war of the defeat of Nazism into the war of = conquest=20 of Central Europe and the war of the division of Europe. In pursuing = Hitler's=20 retreating troops, the Russian Army managed to enter the territory of = the=20 Central European countries and to remain there, with very few = exceptions, until=20 now. The might of the Russian Army made it possible for Stalin to = establish=20 rigidly ideological pro-Soviet regimes, hermetically sealed from the = rest of=20 Europe. The Central European countries, whose pre-war political systems = ranged=20 from feudal monarchies (Rumania), semi-authoritarian states (Poland) = through to=20 a parliamentary Western-type democracy (Czechoslovakia) were now = subjected to a=20 militant Sovietisation. The countries were forced to undergo a major = traumatic=20 political and economic transformation.

The Western Theatre of the Absurd highlighted man's fundamental = bewilderment=20 and confusion, stemming from the fact that man has no answers to the = basic=20 existential questions: why we are alive, why we have to die, why there = is=20 injustice and suffering. East European Soviet-type socialism proudly = proclaimed=20 that it had answers to all these questions and, moreover, that it was = capable of=20 eliminating suffering and setting all injustices right. To doubt this = was=20 subversive. Officially, it was sufficient to implement a grossly = simplified=20 formula of Marxism to all spheres of life and Paradise on Earth would = ensue. It=20 became clear very soon that this simplified formula offered even fewer = real=20 answers than various esoteric and complex Western philosophical systems = and that=20 its implementation by force brought enormous suffering.

From the beginning it was clear that the simplified idea was absurd: = yet it=20 was made to dominate all spheres of life. People were expected to shape = their=20 lives according to its dictates and to enjoy it. It was, and still is, = an=20 offence to be sceptical about Soviet-type socialism if you are a citizen = of an=20 East-European country. The sheer fact that the arbitrary formula of = simplified=20 Marxism was made to dominate the lives of millions of people, forcing = them to=20 behave against their own nature, brought the absurdity of the formula = into sharp=20 focus for these millions. Thus the Soviet-type system managed to bring = the=20 experience of what was initially a matter of concern for only a small = number of=20 sensitive individuals in the West to whole nations in the East.

This is not to say that the absurdity of life as experienced in the = East=20 differs in any way from the absurdity of life as it is experienced in = the West.=20 In both parts of the world it stems from the ambiguity of man's position = in the=20 universe, from his fear of death and from his instinctive yearning for = the=20 Absolute. It is just that official East-European practices, based on a = contempt=20 for the fundamental existential questions and on a primitive and = arrogant faith=20 in the power of a simplified idea, have created a reality which makes = absurdity=20 a primary and deeply-felt, intrinsic experience for anybody who comes in = contact=20 with that reality.

To put it another way: the western Theatre of the Absurd may be seen = as the=20 expression of frustration and anger of a handful of intellectuals over = the fact=20 that people seem to lead uninspired, second-rate and stereotyped = existences,=20 either by deliberate choice or because they do not know any better and = have no=20 idea how or ability by which to help themselves. Although such anger may = sound=20 smug and condescending, it is really mixed with despair. And when we = look at=20 Eastern Europe, we realise that these intellectuals are justified in = condemning=20 lives of mediocrity, even though many people in the West seem to lead = such lives=20 quite happily and without any awareness of the absurdity. In Eastern = Europe,=20 second-rateness has been elevated to a single, sacred, governing = principle.=20 There, mediocrity rules with a rod of iron. Thus it can be seen clearly = what it=20 can achieve. As a result, unlike in the West, may people in the East = seem to=20 have discovered that it is very uncomfortable to live under the command = of=20 second-rateness.

(The fact that mediocrity is harmful to life comes across so clearly = in=20 Eastern Europe either because East-European second-rateness is much = harsher than=20 the mild, West-European, consumerist mediocrity, or simply because it is = a=20 single, totalitarian second-rateness, obligatory for all. A single = version of a=20 simple creed cannot suit all, its insufficiencies immediately show. This = is not=20 the case if everybody is allowed to choose their own simplified models = and=20 prejudices which suit their individual needs, the way it is in the West = - thus=20 their insufficiencies are not immediately noticeable.)

The rise of the Theatre of the Absurd in the East is connected with = the=20 period of relative relaxation of the East European regimes after = Stalin's death.=20 In the first decade after the communist take-over of power, it would = have been=20 impossible for anyone to write anything even distantly based on his = experiences=20 of life after the take-over without endangering his personal safety. The = arts,=20 as indeed all other spheres of life, were subject to rigid political = control and=20 reduced to serving blatant ideological and propagandistic aims. This was = the=20 period when feature films were made about happy workers in a steelworks, = or=20 about a village tractor driver who after falling in love with his = tractor=20 becomes a member of the communist party, etc. All the arts assumed = rigidly=20 conservative, 19th-Century realist forms, to which a strong = political=20 bias was added. 20th -Century developments, in particular the = inter-war experiments with structure and form in painting and poetry = were=20 outlawed as bourgeois decadence.

In the years after Stalin's death in 1953, the situation slowly = improved. The=20 year 1956 saw two major attempts at liberalisation within the Soviet = Bloc: the=20 Hungarian revolution was defeated, while the Polish autumn managed to = introduce=20 a measure of normalcy into the country which lasted for several years.=20 Czechoslovakia did not see the first thaw until towards the end of the = 1950s:=20 genuine liberalisation did not start gaining momentum until 1962-63. = Hence it=20 was only in the 1960s that the first absurdist plays could be written = and staged=20 in Eastern Europe. Even so, the Theatre of the Absurd remained limited = to only=20 two East European countries, those that were the most liberal at the = time:=20 Poland and Czechoslovakia.

The East European Absurd Theatre was undoubtedly inspired by Western = absurd=20 drama, yet it differed from it considerably in form, meaning and impact. = Although East European authors and theatre producers were quite well = acquainted=20 with many West-European absurd plays from the mid to late 1950s onwards, = nevertheless (with very few exceptions) these plays were not performed = or even=20 translated in Eastern Europe until the mid-1960s. The reasons for this = were=20 several. First, West-European absurd drama was regarded by East-European = officialdom as the epitome of West-European bourgeois capitalist = decadence and,=20 as a result, East European theatrical producers would be wary of trying = to stage=20 a condemned play - such an act would blight their career once and for = all,=20 ensuring that they would never work in theatre again. The western = absurdist=20 plays were regarded a nihilistic and anti-realistic, especially after = Kenneth=20 Tynan had attacked Ionesco as the apostle of anti-realism: this attach = was=20 frequently used by the East European officialdom for condemning Western = absurd=20 plays.

Secondly, after a decade or more of staple conservative realistic = bias, there=20 were fears among theatrical producers that the West European absurd = plays might=20 be regarded as far too avantgarde and esoteric by the general public. = Thirdly,=20 there was an atmosphere of relative optimism in Eastern Europe in the = late 1950s=20 and the 1960s. It was felt that although life under Stalin's domination = had been=20 terrible, the bad times were now past after the dictator's death and = full=20 liberalisation was only a matter of time. The injustices and = deficiencies of the=20 East European systems were seen as due to human frailty rather than = being a=20 perennial metaphysical condition: it was felt that sincere and concerted = human=20 effort was in the long run going to be able to put all wrongs right. In = a way,=20 this was a continuation of the simplistic Stalinist faith in man's total = power=20 over his predicament. From this point of view, it was felt that most = Western=20 absurdist plays were too pessimistic, negative and destructive. It was = argued=20 (perhaps partially for official consumption) that the East European = absurdist=20 plays, unlike their Western counterparts, constituted constructive=20 criticism.

The line of argument of reformist, pro-liberalisation Marxists in=20 Czechoslovakia in the early 1960s ran as follows: The Western Theatre of = the=20 Absurd recorded the absurdity of human existence as an immutable = condition. It=20 was a by-product of the continuing disintegration of capitalism. Western = absurd=20 plays were irrelevant in Eastern Europe, since socialist society had = already=20 found all answers concerning man's conduct and the meaning of life in = general.=20 Unlike its Western counterpart, East European absurd drama was = communicating=20 constructive criticism of the deformation of Marxism by the Stalinists. = All that=20 the East-European absurdist plays were trying to do was to remove minor=20 blemishes on the face of the Marxist model - and that was easily = done.

It was only later that some critics were able to point out that West = European=20 absurd dram was not in fact nihilistic and destructive and that it = played the=20 same constructive roles as East European drama attempted to play. At = this stage,=20 it was realised that the liberal Marxist analysis of East European = absurd drama=20 was incorrect: just as with its Western counterpart, the East European = absurdist=20 theatre could be seen as a comment on the human condition in general - = hence its=20 relevance also for the West.

On the few occasions that Western absurdist plays were actually = staged in=20 Eastern Europe, the East European audiences found the plays highly = relevant. A=20 production of Waiting for Godot in Poland in 1956 and in = Slovakia=20 in 1969, for instance, both became something nearing a political = demonstration.=20 Both the Polish and Slovak audiences stressed that for them, this was a = play=20 about hope - hope against hope.

The tremendous impact of these productions in Eastern Europe can be = perhaps=20 compared with the impact of Waiting for Godot on the = inmates of a=20 Californian penitentiary, when it was staged there in 1957. Like the = inmates of=20 a gaol, people in Eastern Europe are possibly also freer of the numbing = concerns=20 of everyday living than the average Western man in the street. Since = they live=20 under pressure, this somehow brings them closer to the bare essentials = of life=20 and they are therefore more receptive to the works that deal with = archetypal=20 existential situations than is the case with an ordinary Wes-European=20 citizen.

On the whole, East European absurd drama has been far less abstract = and=20 esoteric than its West European counterpart. Moreover, while the West = European=20 drama is usually considered as having spent itself by the end of the = 1960s,=20 several East European authors have been writing highly original plays in = the=20 absurdisy mould, well into the 1970s.

The main difference between the West European and the East European = plays is=20 that while the West European plays deal with a predicament of an = individual or a=20 group of individuals in a situation stripped to the bare, and often = fairly=20 abstract and metaphysical essentials, the East European plays mostly = show and=20 individual trapped within the cogwheels of a social system. The social = context=20 of the West European absurd plays is usually subdued and theoretical: in = the=20 East European plays it is concrete, menacing and fairly realistic: it is = usually=20 covered by very transparent metaphors. The social context is shown as a = kind of=20 Catch-22 system - it is a set of circumstances whose joint impact = crushes the=20 individual. The absurdity of the social system is highlighted and = frequently=20 shown as the result of the actions of stupid, misguided or evil people - = this=20 condemnation is of course merely implicit. Although the fundamental = absurdity of=20 the life feature in these plays is not intended to be metaphysically = conditioned=20 - these are primarily pieces of social satire - on reflection, the = viewer will=20 realise that there is fundamentally no difference between the 'messages' = of the=20 West European and the East European plays - except that the East = European plays=20 may be able to communicate these ideas more pressingly and more vividly = to their=20 audiences, because of their first-hand everyday experience of the = absurdity that=20 surrounds them.

At the end of the 1960s, the situation in Eastern Europe changed for = the=20 worse. After the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, it became apparent = that=20 Russia would not tolerate a fuller liberalisation of the East European=20 countries. Czechoslovakia was thrown into a harsh, neo-Stalinist mould, = entering=20 the time capsule of stagnating immobility, in which it has remained ever = since.=20 Since it had been primarily artists and intellectuals that were = spearheading the=20 liberalising reforms of the 1960s, the arts were now subjected to a = vicious=20 purge. Many well-known artists and intellectuals were turned into = non-persons=20 practically overnight: some left or were later forced to lea the = country.

All the Czechoslovak absurdist playwrights fell into the non-person = category.=20 It is perhaps quite convincing evidence of the social relevance of their = plays=20 that the establishment feared them so much it felt the need to outlaw = them.=20 Several of the banned authors have continued writing, regardless of the = fact=20 that their plays cannot be staged in Czechoslovakia at present. They = have been=20 published and produced in the West.

As in the 1960s, these authors are still deeply socially conscious: = for=20 instance, V=E1clav Havel, in the words of Martin Esslin, 'one of the = most=20 promising European playwrights of today', is a courageous defender of = basic=20 human values and one of the most important (and most thoughtful) = spokespersons=20 of the non-establishment groupings in Czechoslovakia.

By contrast, the Polish absurdist playwrights have been able to = continue=20 working in Poland undisturbed since the early 1960s, their plays having = been=20 normally published and produced within the country even throughout he = 1970s.

It is perhaps quite interesting that even the Western absurd = dramatists have=20 gradually developed a need to defend basic human values. They have been = showing=20 solidarity with their East European colleagues. Ionesco was always = deeply=20 distrustful of politics and the clich=E9d language of the political = establishment.=20 Harold Pinter, who took part in a radio production of one of V=E1clav = Havel's=20 plays from the 1970s several years ago, has frequently spoken in support = of the=20 East European writers and playwrights. Samuel Beckett has written a = short play=20 dedicated to Havel, which was staged in France in 1984 during a ceremony = at the=20 University of Toulouse, which awarded Havel an honorary doctorate.

=A9Dr Jan Cul=EDk, 2000