20P - Postmodern Drama Lesson

Similar to Postmodern poetry and prose, Postmodern drama serves as a reaction against Modernism. Postmodernist plays focus on creating circumstances that encourage viewers to introspectively question established truths, and experimental theatre incorporated dance and poetry in order to speak out about social issues. Two common dramatic movements arose during the Postmodernist period: the Theatre of the Absurd and the Angry Young men.

Elements of Postmodern Drama

Theatre of the Absurd

Theatre of the Absurd is a term for plays of absurdist fiction written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s, as well a term for the style of   theatre which has evolved from their work. Absurd means illogical, meaningless, hopeless, chaotic, or uncertain among other definitions, and absurdist fiction focuses on the experiences of characters in situations where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life—most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions.

Albert Camus, a French philosopher, coined the term and defined the human situation as meaningless and absurd. In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus introduces his "Philosophy of the Absurd" by comparing man's struggle to understanding the world and the meaning of life to Sisyphus, who was a figure in Greek Mythology condemned to an existence of continuously rolling a heavy stone up a mountain only to watch it roll to the bottom.

Many literary critics believe that World War II created doubts and fears among society, and many people began to question the purpose and meaning of life. The Theatre of the Absurd mirrored the feelings and confusion that the majority of society held by creating illogical and unconventional forms or plots.

Elements of Absurdism

Samuel Beckett (1906 - 1989)

Samuel Beckett was an Irish novelist, playwright, director, and poet regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20^th century. Beckett's plays feature dark humor coupled with a desolate outlook on the existence of humanity. Beckett was a main leader in the Theatre of the Absurd, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969.

Waiting for Godot (1953)

Waiting for Godot is a well-known play by Samuel Beckett and categorized as absurdist. The play features two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who wait endlessly for a person named "Godot". While the men wait, they partake in various, pointless activities and conversations. The setting consists of only two men on a barren road by a leafless tree. As a Postmodernist text, some themes in the play include themes of existence, time, and the absurd. Ironically enough, nothing of merit actually seems to happen plot-wise in the play, and some critics feel like the play represents the pointlessness of life that the Postmodernists focus on in their literature.

Read Act I and Act II of Waiting for Godot. Links to an external site.

When reading, try to look deeper into the use of the number two, or pairs. Similarly, note the meaning behind the only prop, the lifeless tree, and the seemingly mundane, meaningless existence of Vladimir and Estragon.

The Angry Young Men

The label "Angry Young Men" came about in the 1950's and represented writers who experienced disillusionment with traditional British society. The Angry Young Men wrote plays that expressed their dissatisfaction towards the social issues and class structure in Great Britain during the 1950's. They often heaped hatred on the middle and upper classes due to the hypocrisy shown by the wealthy by telling the story of a lower class protagonist with a scornful view towards society on his quest for upward mobility.

John James Osborne (1929 -1994)

John James Osborne was an English playwright known for questioning the social and political norms of Britain during the 1950's. His play Look Back in Anger, supposedly an autobiographical account of Osborne's unhappy marriage, transformed English theatre and spearheaded the "Angry Young Men" movement. Before the "Angry Young Men" movement, few plays focused on the lower class and their difficulties.

Look Back in Anger (1956)

Osborne wrote Look Back in Anger to reveal how people lived in England during the 1950's. Typical of the "Angry Young Men" movement, the play illuminates the struggles of lower class citizens simply attempting to survive as the middle and upper class citizens thrive. Look Back in Anger reveals the discrepancies among the social classes by featuring the story of a disillusioned lower-class man, his upper-class wife, and her snobby best friend. The protagonist of the play, Jimmy, represents the post-war generation questioning the political institutions that writers of the "Angry Young Men" movement featured in their plays.

Read through the summaries and critiques of Look Back in Anger. Links to an external site.

When reading, note how Osborne uses his characters to voice his opinions about the class structure and treatment of the lower-class people in Great Britain during the 1950's.  

Postmodern Drama Self-Assessment