In what ways has modern Chinese drama been influenced by the West?

After the reform and opening up, with the spread of modern Western drama, especially modern and post-modern drama, in our country, it had an impact on the then relatively conservative Chinese drama, thus promoting the development of Chinese drama.

Absurd drama emerged in France in the late 1940s, and later spread to Western countries such as Britain and the United States, where it became very popular for a time.

It is a reflection of the desperate social reality in the West after World War II on the drama stage. It is a huge challenge and breakthrough for traditional drama.

Its pioneers, Beckett, Ionescu, Adamov, and Genet, as well as later playwrights such as British Pinter and American Albee, were influenced by the existential philosophical trends of Sartre, Camus, and others.

The play describes the pain of existence, the "absurdity and meaninglessness" of life, shows the "gap" between ideals and cruel reality, and vividly expresses the "absurdity" and "tragedy" in the life process.

The most influential absurd plays are Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" and Ionescu's "The Bald Showgirl".

The themes of this type of work are obscure. For example, "Waiting for Godot" first found "friends" among a group of "prisoner" audiences four years after its performance, and began to understand its ideological content and social significance; the characters in absurd plays often

It has been downplayed, and most of the images of "group characters" are created to show their universal significance; the stories in the play are incoherent, the coherence of time and space are broken, the role of stage props is strengthened, and the role of language is devalued.

In short, it broke through the traditional drama model and became a fashion in Western drama.

The Chinese Dramatists Association began compiling and publishing "Foreign Drama Materials" in the late 1970s, specifically introducing Western dramas.

The fourth issue in 1979 published Xiao Man's "Absurd Theater and its Representative Writer Ionescu", which introduced the rise and main characteristics of Absurd Theater, and also attached some photos of absurd theater performances, which were quite eye-opening.

Shanghai Translation Publishing House also published the "Collection of Absurd Dramas" in December 1980. In the preface to the publication, Comrade Zhu Hong discussed the characteristics of absurdist dramas, the philosophical and ideological background of their emergence, and his influence on Pinter and Albee and others.

The influence of drama.

It includes "Waiting for Godot" and "The Food Elevator" translated by Shi Xianrong, "Amadi or Escape Technique" translated by Mei Shaowu and Tu Zhen, and "The Story of the Zoo" translated by Zheng Qiyin.

These novel works immediately attracted people's attention. Articles commenting on absurdist drama appeared frequently in newspapers and periodicals, including several articles written by the author such as "Truth in Absurdity, Reality in Nightmares".

In 1992, Liu Guobin translated and published the classic academic work on absurd drama - "The Drama of the Absurd" by Aislin; in 1996, "The Drama of the Absurd" edited by Huang Jinkai was published.

These show that Chinese scholars are gradually deepening their research on absurdist drama.

As early as the early 1980s, some Chinese playwrights began to create and perform imitations of absurd dramas, such as Fei Chunfang and Sun Huizhu's "Chinese Dream", Wei Minglun's "Pan Jinlian", etc., all of which have more or less the characteristics of absurd dramas.

certain characteristics.

It has been reported that Sha Yexin's "new drama "Confucius, Jesus and Lennon" using absurd techniques is about to be released," but it seems that it has not been seen so far.

The drama that caused the greatest shock and controversy at that time was undoubtedly the drama "Pan Jinlian".

The script was published in the second issue of "Drama and Film" in 1986 and was first performed by the Sichuan Opera Troupe of Zigong City, Sichuan Province. The author Wei Minglun has repeatedly stated that this is an "absurd Sichuan Opera".

However, some scholars believe that it is a "fake absurd drama", and the author also felt the same after reading the script.

Martin Esling emphasized in his book "Absurd Drama" that absurdist playwrights "simply give up rational techniques and reasoning thinking to try to express the meaninglessness of life and the lack of rationality in life", that is, using absurdist words

The formal expression of absurd reality is the core and essence of absurd drama.

In the play "Pan Jinlian", Wei Minglun only used absurd form to reveal a "reasonable core", that is, a rational theme, to "overturn the verdict" of Pan Jinlian, a recognized villain.

He called his plays absurd and was proud of them.

This is very different from the fact that none of the Western playwrights openly claim that their plays are absurd plays.

When the author visited Edward Albee, America's "number one" absurdist playwright, in New York City in 1981, he asked him his opinion on the term "absurd drama". He pointed out without hesitation that "it is an absurd term" and

He was "annoyed" by critics who called him a playwright of the absurd.

This shows that Chinese and Western playwrights have significantly different understandings and attitudes towards absurd drama.

With the deaths of Beckett and others, the founders of absurdist drama, the absurdist drama as a genre gradually died out, but its creative achievements and influence still exist.

Paris is the birthplace of absurd theater, where "The Bald Showgirl" is still "perpetually performed".

In early 2000, Beijing's "People's Art" also staged the absurd drama "Extraordinary Mahjong", which showed that the influence of absurd drama still exists in China.

Western modernist and postmodernist literary and artistic trends have undoubtedly had a huge impact on world drama, but at the same time, the solid position of drama based on realism in the Western theater world cannot be easily shaken.

Its symbol is the achievement of dramatic creation by the recently deceased, famous American playwright Arthur Miller.

Miller's plays are close to reality, have keen insights, and have unique artistic expression techniques. They have always occupied an important position in the world's theater circles today.