What is an absurd play?

One of the most influential schools of western drama after World War II rose in France. In the 1950s, plays by playwrights such as Yunescu, Beckett, adamov and Genet were staged on the Paris stage. Under the influence of the popular surrealist literature in the 1920s, especially under the influence of Aalto's drama theory, these playwrights broke the traditional drama writing skills and created many dramas with unique characteristics in content and form, that is, the philosophy of absurd drama. They lost confidence in human society, which is the ideological reflection of the reality of western capitalist society after the Second World War. Absurd playwrights refuse to reflect absurd life in a traditional and rational way like existential playwrights, but directly express absurd existence in an absurd way. The absurd drama has the following artistic characteristics: ① it opposes the drama tradition and abandons the logic and coherence of structure, language and plot; ② Symbols and metaphors are usually used to express the theme; ③ Express the serious tragic theme in a relaxed comedy form. Among the absurd plays, Waiting for Godot by Beckett (1952) is the first and the most typical one. The most extreme thing is his breath (1970), which doesn't even have a line. Other famous absurd plays include The Bald Singer and Chair by Yunescu, Maid and Balcony by Genette, A Room by Pinter and Birthday Party. Absurd drama enjoys a high reputation in western drama, but its heyday actually passed when Eslin's absurd drama was published. Most absurd playwrights have to compromise to win the audience. Younescu's plays are becoming more and more allegorical, Beckett's plays are becoming shorter and shorter, adamov simply abandons absurdity and turns to Brecht's epic, and Pinter's new plays have more comic elements than absurdity. Absurd drama, as a powerful drama trend, has become a thing of the past, but this drama school has far-reaching influence on the western drama world.