The Theatre of Absurd

Theatre of absurd (absurd theatre) was a theatrical movement that emerged from around 1940s-1960s after WW2. After the horrifying period of war many people were left feeling empty and meaningless. This feeling of meaninglessness is covered in existentialism/ nihilism. 

 It explores the human condition and how humans have an inherent need to find the 'meaning of life'. Absurd plays like 'Waiting for Godot' - Samuel Beckett and 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead' - Tom Stoppard, present the idea that life is meaningless and humans have no control of their fate. The majority of the time the play itself has no meaning which only further points out the meaningless of life. 

Characteristics of Absurd Theatre:

• Nonsensical/ Circular Plot Line - Absurdist plays are meant to have no meaning and therefore their plot lines don't have meaning either. 
• Irrational events - Lots of the occurrences on stage are random and unpredictable
• Repetition - Repeated events or lines 
• Questioning of meaning: Absurdist works often question the meaning of life, death, and God.
• Exploration of feelings: Absurdist works often explore subjective feelings about existence.
• Isolation: Absurdist works often explore the isolation of the individual. 

Existentialism: 

According to existentialism existence is always particular and individual not one life is the same as another. Existence is primarily the problem of existence it is, therefore, also the investigation of the meaning of Being. That investigation is continually faced with diverse possibilities, from among which the existent (the human individual) must make a selection, to which he must then commit himself. Because those possibilities are constituted by the individual's relationships with things and with other humans, existence is always a being-in-the-world—in a concrete and historically determinate situation that limits or conditions choice. Humans are therefore called, in Martin Heidegger's phrase, Dasein ("there being") because they are defined by the fact that they exist, or are in the world and inhabit it.

More can be found on existentialism on the website referenced at the end of the page...

Abbagnano, N. (2019). Existentialism | Definition, Nature, History, & Issues. In: Encyclopedia Britannica. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/existentialism.