Existentialism

 

Existentialism is a concept that became popular during the second

World War in France, and just after it. French playrights have often used

the stage to express their views, and these views came to surface even

during a Nazi occupation. Bernard Shaw got his play "Saint Joan" past the

German censors because it appeared to be very Anti-British. French

audiences however immediately understood the real meaning of the play, and

replaced the British with the Germans. Those sorts of "hidden meanings"

were common throughout the period so that plays would be able to pass

censorship.

 

Existentialism proposes that man is full of anxiety and despare

with no meaning in his life, just simply existing, until he made decisive

choice about his own future. That is the way to achieve dignity as a human

being. Existentialists felt that adopting a social or political cause was

one way of giving purpose to a life. Sartre is well known for the "Theatre

engage" or Theatre 'commited', which is supposedly commited to social

and/or political action.

 

On of the major playwrights during this period was Jean-Paul

Sartre. Sartre had been imprisoned in Germany in 1940 but managed to

escape, and become one of the leaders of the Existential movement. Other

popular playwrights were Albert Camus, and Jean Anouilh. Just like

Anouilh, Camus accidentally became the spokesman for the French Underground

when he wrote his famous essay, "Le Mythe de Sisyphe" or "The Myth of

Sisyphus". Sisyphus was the man condemned by the gods to roll a rock to the

top of a mountain, only to have it roll back down again. For Camus, this

related heavily to everyday life, and he saw Sisyphus an "absurd" hero,

with a pointless existance. Camus felt that it was necessary to wonder

what the meaning of life was, and that the human being longed for some

sense of clarity in the world, since "if the world were clear, art would

not exist". "The Myth of Sisyphus" became a prototype for existentialism in

the theatre, and eventually The Theatre of the Absurd.

 

Right after the Second World War, Paris became the theatre capital

of the west, and popularized a new form of surrealistic theatre called

"Theatre of the Absurd". Many historians contribute the sudden popularity

of absurdism in France to the gruesome revelations of gas chambers and war

atrocities coming out of Germany after the war. The main idea of The

Theatre of the Absurd was to point out man's helplessness and pointless

existance in a world without purpose. As Richard Coe described it "It is

the freedom of the slave to crawl east along the deck of a boat going

west". Two of the most popular playwrights of this time include Samuel

Beckett, who's most famous piece was "Waiting for Godot", and Eugene

Ioensco with "Exit the King". Most absurdist plays have no logical plot.

The absense of the plot pushes an emphasis on proving the pointless

existance of man. Quite often, such plays reveal the human condition at

it's absolute worst.

 

Absurdist playwrites often used such techniques as symbolism, mime,

the circus, and the commedia dell'arte, which are quite evident in the more

popular plays of the time, such as Waiting for Godot, The Bald Prima Donna,

and Amedee.