Theatre of the Absurd 

      The term was coined by Critic Martin Esslin,  relating the plays based on a broad theme of absurdity, roughly similar to the  way Albert Camus uses the term. 

     The plays expressed the belief that, in a godless universe, human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion, silence. 

    The Absurd in these plays takes the form of man's reaction to a world apparently without meaning or man as a puppet controlled or menaced by an invisible outside force. 

     Though the term is applied to a wide range of plays, some characteristics coincide in many of the plays: broad comedy, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations, forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive; either a parody or dismissal of realism and the concept of the "well-made play". 

       Playwrights commonly associated with the Theatre of the Absurd include Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Fernando Arrabal, and Edward Albee.

荒诞派戏剧

荒诞派戏剧是指1940年代至1960年代主要兴起于欧洲的一个戏剧流派。“荒诞派戏剧”一词首先由马丁·艾斯林提出，他认为这些剧作家的作品是加缪在《西绪福斯神话》(The Myth of Sisyphus )中提出的哲学观念——“人生本来就是没有任何意义的”的文学表达。这些戏剧的共同特点是：类似杂耍，包含可怖的或悲剧的形象，人物处于无望境地、被迫重复无意义的举动，对白充满陈词滥调、文字游戏和废话，情节重复出现、或荒谬的展开，对现实主义的滑稽模仿或消解。主要代表有塞缪尔·贝克特、欧仁·尤内斯库、哈罗德·品特、让·热内、爱德华·阿尔比、瓦茨拉夫·哈维尔等。

The Myth of Sisyphus

       Inspired by the myth of a man condemned to ceaselessly push a rock up a mountain and watch it roll back to the valley below, The Myth of Sisyphus transformed twentieth-century philosophy with its impassioned argument for the value of life in a world without religious meaning.　

      To answer the question of living or not living in a universe devoid of order or meaning, Albert Camus brilliantly posits a way out of despair, reaffirming the value of personal existence, and the possibility of life lived with dignity and authenticity.

“一个人只有在达不到目的时才会有值得为之生、为之死的理想,从而才能找到自我。在绝望的境地里继续抱有希望的人,比别人更接近星光灿烂、彩虹高挂的天堂。”