Favourite absurdist play?
#2
Posted: 6/15/09 at 3:44pm
Rhinocerous by Ionesco.
Stephen: "Could you grab me a coffee?"
Me: "Would you like that with all the colors of the wind?"
#3
Posted: 6/15/09 at 3:48pm
The Chairs
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#6
Posted: 6/15/09 at 3:52pm
"The girl in your class who suggests that this year the Drama Club put on The Bald Soprano will be a thorn in people's sides all of her life."
? Fran Lebowitz
? Fran Lebowitz
#7
Posted: 6/15/09 at 5:13pm
i don't really have a favorite, but Durang's absurdist satire
Beyond Therapy
is really up there.
Beyond Therapy
is really up there.
#8
Posted: 6/15/09 at 5:25pm
The Chairs
Live long and prosper.
Marriage equity now!
#9
Posted: 6/15/09 at 5:47pm
FAR AWAY by Caryl Churchill.
The best play, absurdist or otherwise, written in the English language since TINY ALICE (and the year before that WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?) by Edward Albee.
And don't even tell me it's not absurdist.
P
The best play, absurdist or otherwise, written in the English language since TINY ALICE (and the year before that WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?) by Edward Albee.
And don't even tell me it's not absurdist.
P
#10
Posted: 6/15/09 at 7:26pm
Rhonoceros by Eugene Ionesco
Ubu Roi by Alfred Jerry
Zoo Story by Edward Albee
Ubu Roi by Alfred Jerry
Zoo Story by Edward Albee
#11
Posted: 6/15/09 at 7:27pm
Double Post*
Updated On: 6/15/09 at 07:27 PM
#12
Posted: 6/15/09 at 7:27pm
Waiting for Godot by Beckett
WASP by Steve Martin
WASP by Steve Martin
#13
Posted: 6/15/09 at 7:42pm
WAITING FOR GODOT by Samuel Beckett
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
#14
Posted: 6/15/09 at 9:39pm
I just mentioned Far Away by Churchill on here a couple days ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it both absurdist and a subtle satire.
When it mentions certain kinds of animals and ages of people that are on which side I was rolling but the friend I was with didn't get it and was profuse in her hate of it, just saying it was stupid. I don't take her to theatre any more. If she couldn't understand the play on the irrationality of all the different side-taking in wars, what's the use?
Here's an old thread I did. Looks like some of the posters may have vanished with their posts.
Here's to Absurdity
When it mentions certain kinds of animals and ages of people that are on which side I was rolling but the friend I was with didn't get it and was profuse in her hate of it, just saying it was stupid. I don't take her to theatre any more. If she couldn't understand the play on the irrationality of all the different side-taking in wars, what's the use?
Here's an old thread I did. Looks like some of the posters may have vanished with their posts.
Here's to Absurdity
#15
Posted: 6/15/09 at 9:53pm
Churchill is just simply too original for the masses today.
Original is the greatest compliment I can give, and originality defines a true artist of which Churchill is both (original and artist).
FAR AWAY along with A NUMBER and CLOUD 9 are three of the most original, thought-provoking and innovative plays of the last fifty years and among the very best of the modern era, for whatever that's worth.
I highly suggest seeking out all that's out there of hers, and while a lot of it is hit-or-miss nearly all of it is spine-tingling in its sheer ferocity and daringness... I mean in one of her plays the language itself evaporates by the end to only a mere word spoken by each of the two characters. There's some really thrillingly theatrical stuff everywhere running through her work. And her adeptness (DRUNK ENOUGH TO SAY I LOVE YOU notwithstanding) at political satire in truly unparallelled (Kushner? Ha!).
To use Durang as a comparison... well, there really is none. Though, I agree that BEYOND THERAPY along with BETTY'S SUMMER VACATION (which I enjoy for its horror film allusions) are fun nights in the theatre.
And your points, nomdeplume, are quite fascinating and I'm going to think on them for awhile before deciding what, exactly, I would call her oeuvre as a whole (absurdist/political satire/tragedy/comedy/etc).
SEVEN JEWISH CHILDREN. her newest play, is availible for free online and is as daring, original and controversial as you would expect. I loved it and hope to see it performed, or stage a production myself someday.
P
Original is the greatest compliment I can give, and originality defines a true artist of which Churchill is both (original and artist).
FAR AWAY along with A NUMBER and CLOUD 9 are three of the most original, thought-provoking and innovative plays of the last fifty years and among the very best of the modern era, for whatever that's worth.
I highly suggest seeking out all that's out there of hers, and while a lot of it is hit-or-miss nearly all of it is spine-tingling in its sheer ferocity and daringness... I mean in one of her plays the language itself evaporates by the end to only a mere word spoken by each of the two characters. There's some really thrillingly theatrical stuff everywhere running through her work. And her adeptness (DRUNK ENOUGH TO SAY I LOVE YOU notwithstanding) at political satire in truly unparallelled (Kushner? Ha!).
To use Durang as a comparison... well, there really is none. Though, I agree that BEYOND THERAPY along with BETTY'S SUMMER VACATION (which I enjoy for its horror film allusions) are fun nights in the theatre.
And your points, nomdeplume, are quite fascinating and I'm going to think on them for awhile before deciding what, exactly, I would call her oeuvre as a whole (absurdist/political satire/tragedy/comedy/etc).
SEVEN JEWISH CHILDREN. her newest play, is availible for free online and is as daring, original and controversial as you would expect. I loved it and hope to see it performed, or stage a production myself someday.
P
#16
Posted: 6/15/09 at 10:33pm
Definitely Waiting for Godot.
My money is its one of the top 5 plays ever written. Period.
My money is its one of the top 5 plays ever written. Period.
#17
Posted: 6/15/09 at 10:36pm
Even though I don't know the play, GODOT is probably the "greatest". I love The Bald Soprano.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
#18
Posted: 6/15/09 at 11:29pm
Pgenre, if you could provide a link to where you may read Churchill's new play free I would appreciate it. She is my favorite living woman playwright, while Durang is my favorite living male playwright.
I have thought of a couple other plays, oddly they are all falling into the absurdist/satire new combo category we got goin' here.
It was a while ago I saw it at Roundabout, but Paula Vogel's Mineola Twins is one.
And another rather fun one to see was Omnium Gatherum by both Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros. After we were all sick and tired of the damn jets buzzing overhead in Manhattan in the middle of the night in the aftermath of 9/11. They have something like that in the play. It is very funny. I really liked the scene with the poor firefighter they were making much of at the table who couldn't get a piece of bread because "there is no bread anymore" at dinner parties. I won't give it away any more but you must read it.
I have thought of a couple other plays, oddly they are all falling into the absurdist/satire new combo category we got goin' here.
It was a while ago I saw it at Roundabout, but Paula Vogel's Mineola Twins is one.
And another rather fun one to see was Omnium Gatherum by both Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros. After we were all sick and tired of the damn jets buzzing overhead in Manhattan in the middle of the night in the aftermath of 9/11. They have something like that in the play. It is very funny. I really liked the scene with the poor firefighter they were making much of at the table who couldn't get a piece of bread because "there is no bread anymore" at dinner parties. I won't give it away any more but you must read it.
#19
Posted: 6/15/09 at 11:33pm
what is the best Durang play that is published that i can read now? i saw WTGWATPWLT(<-that's a little ridiculous)and LOVED it. i'd love the check out some of his other stuff. from what most of you are saying should i get Beyond Therapy?
BROADWAY IMPACT!
TAKE ACTION! EQUALITY!
http://www.broadwayimpact.com/
BROADWAY IMPACT!
TAKE ACTION! EQUALITY!
http://www.broadwayimpact.com/
#20
Posted: 6/15/09 at 11:44pm
Go to Barnes and Noble and read every Durang play you can find on the shelf.
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You is one I've loved for like 20 years.
Another comedy that I adore which pushes its way into absurdism, though I have never seen a production of it that mined the inherent humor of the piece or did it any justice, is Lanford Wilson's Burn This. I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard while reading it. The absurdity of it is the bizarre surviving brother's apparent absurd animal magnetism when he shows up, which seems to overwhelm the fact that he is a jerk and possibly gives him some sort of potential, eventual worth.
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You is one I've loved for like 20 years.
Another comedy that I adore which pushes its way into absurdism, though I have never seen a production of it that mined the inherent humor of the piece or did it any justice, is Lanford Wilson's Burn This. I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard while reading it. The absurdity of it is the bizarre surviving brother's apparent absurd animal magnetism when he shows up, which seems to overwhelm the fact that he is a jerk and possibly gives him some sort of potential, eventual worth.
#21
Posted: 6/15/09 at 11:51pm
Oh, and Pgenre, if you haven't read Churchill's The Skriker, which I had the JOY of seeing at the Public, be sure to get your mitts on it.
It is the finest play of hers that I have read and behind it is a great knowledge of British folklore. She, Yeats and Ibsen all spent years studying and collecting folklore and myths, at times from the mouths of locals in their chosen regions, and it gives them a HUGE background of stories behind them from which to write their plays.
I gather aces25 is a Brit what with the "favourite." Kinda gives the non-yankee away. Yeah, could be a sneak-in Canadian or Aussie. You been found out!
It is the finest play of hers that I have read and behind it is a great knowledge of British folklore. She, Yeats and Ibsen all spent years studying and collecting folklore and myths, at times from the mouths of locals in their chosen regions, and it gives them a HUGE background of stories behind them from which to write their plays.
I gather aces25 is a Brit what with the "favourite." Kinda gives the non-yankee away. Yeah, could be a sneak-in Canadian or Aussie. You been found out!
Updated On: 6/15/09 at 11:51 PM
#22
Posted: 6/16/09 at 8:36am
ZOO STORY by Edward Albee is my favorite.
#23
Posted: 6/16/09 at 8:48am
Beckett's Happy Days
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#24
Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:41am
Waiting for Godot, hands down. In terms of least favorite, definitely Play About A Baby, by Albee.
#25
Posted: 6/16/09 at 12:54pm
I haven't read all that many absurdist plays (honestly, I haven't read all that many plays, period, in the grand scheme of things. I'm on a reading frenzy this summer though!), but of the ones I have read, I LOVED Endgame by Beckett.
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