Theatre of the Absurd

Finally adding some real work....

Here is a piece I submitted for my second to last assessment of my degree.

A short minimalist performance, that given more time could easily evolve into a 45min/1hour video. Given a simple stage door representing a transition from one act to another, the character drifts between social states; indulging in cliched small talk, pretending to care for being late for work, playing the role of sales assistant, laughing at private jokes, etc. The performance seeks to include every "act" that when performed out of context or in this case in quick succession becomes thoroughly absurd.

Accompanying Text

Theatre of the Absurd – Looped Video (2011)

Humanity must resign itself to the belief that any individual is ever fully “themself”. We all live under an act and an influence that belies our true demeanour. Outward appearance and social interaction demand perpetual permutation of oneself. To not conform in this sense is to be alien.

Routine acts (often determined by context) performed place to place give us clarity and so validate us as human(e). By adhering to expected social etiquettes and principles of conversation we are all (more or less) essentially pretending to feel and to be something that we are not.

In that sense, the world must ultimately be absurd. 

 

Nathan Elliott