THEA 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Gallows Humor, Martin Esslin, Tragicomedy
Document Summary
Games, jokes, songs, comedic business and bits are employed to avoid the impending abyss: communication with others is burdensome, real and unreal juxtapose each other in all elements: design, writing, acting. Born in ireland, moved to paris, wrote in both english and french. Ridiculed banal situations, mocked the commonplace and clich d. Highlighted the solitude and insignificance of human existence. Semiautobiographical character known as berenger is at the center of many of his plays: he was working out his own fears and issues by literally placing himself in the action of his own plays. Full title is waiting for godot: a tragicomedy in two acts. The play takes place over two days, the second day pretty much mirroring the first, with slight differences: none of the characters can really tell if this has all happened before or not. Originally written in french in 1949 by irish playwright beckett and premiered in paris in 53.
