This course will introduce students to notions of the absurd in European theatre. We will discuss some of the major playwrights writing from the 1950s who were associated with this style of theatre. The plays will be analyzed for their focus on existentialism and the formal elements they deployed for this purpose, which included repetition, word plays, clichés, nonsense words and phrases to suggest the breakdown of meaning and purpose in a world of religious and political orthodoxy.
