Absurd Theatre: Laughter and Liberation

In this course we will study a series of French plays that confront the uncertainty of existence and, through the power of laughter, attempt to liberate spectators and readers from delusional modes of living. Alongside canonical playwrights of the so-called Theatre of the Absurd, which emerged in Paris after WWII, we will also read French dramatists—both contemporary and from earlier centuries—whose theater interrogates notions of identity, logic, power and language. Authors will include Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Yasmina Reza, Marie Ndiaye and Molière. Reading aloud and performing will be an integral part of this class.