Rethinking the Theatre of the Absurd: Ecology, the Environment and the Greening of the Modern Stage

by Carl Lavery (Editor), Clare Finburgh (Editor)

Overview

Rethinking the Theatre of the Absurd is an innovative collection of essays, written by leading scholars in the fields of theatre, performance and eco-criticism, which reconfigures absurdist theatre through the optics of ecology and environment. As well as offering strikingly new interpretations of the work of canonical playwrights such as Beckett, Genet, Ionesco, Adamov, Albee, Kafka, Pinter, Shepard and Churchill, the book playfully mimics the structure of Martin Esslin's classic text The Theatre of the Absurd, which is commonly recognised as one of the most important scholarly publications of the 20th century. By reading absurdist drama, for the first time, as an emergent form of ecological theatre, Rethinking the Theatre of the Absurd interrogates afresh the very meaning of absurdism for 21st-century audiences, while at the same time making a significant contribution to the development of theatre and performance studies as a whole.

The collection's interdisciplinary approach, accessibility, and ecological focus will appeal to students and academics in a number of different fields, including theatre, performance, English, French, geography and philosophy. It will also have a major impact on the new cross disciplinary paradigm of eco-criticism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472513205
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	11/05/2015
Series:	The Talon Saga
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Carl Lavery is Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Glasgow, UK. His publications include Jean Genet Politics and Performance, with Clare Finburgh (2006), Sacred Theatre (2007), Walking, Writing and Performance: Autobiographical Texts by Dee Heddon, Carl Lavery and Phil Smith (2009), The Politics of Jean Genet's Late Theatre: Spaces of Revolution (2010), Contemporary French Theatre and Performance, with Clare Finburgh (2011), Good Luck Everybody. Lone Twin: Journeys, Performances and Conversations, with David Williams (2011), and he is editor with Nick Whybrow of a special issue of Performance Research 'On Foot' (2012).

Clare Finburgh is a senior lecturer in the department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex, UK. Her research focuses on French and UK contemporary performance, notably innovations in French modern and contemporary playwriting and directing; and representations of conflict in UK theatre. She has co-written Jean Genet (with David Bradby, 2011), and co-edited Genet: Performance and Politics (2006) and Contemporary French Theatre and Performance (2011).
Carl Lavery is professor of theatre at the University of Glasgow, UK. His publications include Jean Genet Politics and Performance, with Clare Finburgh (2006), Sacred Theatre (2007), Walking, Writing and Performance: Autobiographical Texts by Dee Heddon, Carl Lavery and Phil Smith (2009), The Politics of Jean Genet's Late Theatre: Spaces of Revolution (2010), Contemporary French Theatre and Performance, with Clare Finburgh (2011), Good Luck Everybody. Lone Twin: Journeys, Performances and Conversations, with David Williams(2011), and the is he editor with Nick Whybrow of a special issue of Performance Research 'On Foot' (2012).
Clare Finburgh is Senior Lecturer in the department of Drama at the University of Kent, UK. He research focuses on French and UK contemporary performance, notably innovations in French modern and contemporary playwriting and directing; and representations of conflict in UK theatre. She has co-written Jean Genet (with David Bradby, 2011), and co-edited Genet: Performance and Politics (2006) and Contemporary French Theatre and Performance (2011).

Table of Contents

Introduction: Greening the Absurd - Carl Lavery and Clare Finburgh

1. Caryl Churchill's 'Dark Ecology' - Elaine Aston
2. The Garden in the Machine: Edward Albee, Sam Shepard, and the American Absurd - Stephen Bottoms
3. Mutant Bodies: the Absurd in Eastern European Experience - Ralph Yarrow
4. Recycling Beckett - Joe Kelleher
5. Rare Butterflies, Persecution, and Pinball Machines: Environment, Subjectivity, and Society in the Theatre of Arthur Adamov - Franc Chamberlain
6. Ionesco's Green Lesson: Toxic Environments, Ecologies of Air - Carl Lavery
7. Nettles in the Rose Garden: Ecocentrism in Jean Genet's Theatre - Clare Finburgh
8. The Secluded Voice: The Impossible Call Home in Early Pinter - Mark Taylor Batty and Carl Lavery
Epilogue: David Williams

Notes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index