The Problems of the Theatre of the Absurd in the Latest Georgian Theatre

In Georgia, interest in the theater of the absurd and other trends created in the second half of the 20th century—post-dramaturgy, new textuality, in-youth dramaturgy, etc.—began after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Among the playwrights of the so-called theater of the absurd, the plays of Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, and Edward Albee are most often staged. This, of course, was caused by the existence of Soviet censorship. Plays by the representatives of existentialists, absurdists, and even more so of later trends were banned and were not staged in the republics of the Soviet Union. Since the period of independence, anti-dramatic plays have not only been staged in Georgia; moreover, dramatists of a new generation of Georgians use techniques characteristic of absurdity or other directions in their plays. In the latest Georgian theater, directors of different generations intensively stage the works of absurdist playwrights. In addition to Beckett, Ionesco, and Albee listed above, they also turned to other playwrights. In the present article, I will try to determine why plays by representatives of the theater of the absurd are so often staged in the Georgian theater today, while the so-called theater of the absurd was in decline by the end of the 1960s. Some of its innovations were absorbed into the main directions of the theater (although they were ready for further experiments); some authors saw a new direction, while others continued in the same spirit. To analyze the problem, I will consider several performances realized on the stage of the Georgian theater over the past five years. In particular: Edward Albee’s „The Zoo Story“ staged by the young director Saba Aslamazishvili (2019), Samuel Beckett’s „Endgame“ directed by Robert Sturua (2020), Samuel Beckett’s „Happy Days“ interpreted by Giorgi Abkhazava (2022), and Eugène Ionesco’s „Rhinoceros“ staged by Zura Getsadze (2023). In 2019, the young director Saba Aslamazishvili staged The Zoo Story in the Meskheti Theatre. By that time, there were already several interesting performances based on the same play on the stages of Georgian theaters. What was outstanding and/or original about the interpretation of the almost novice director? The director used a polystylistic technique in the production, combining techniques of the theater of the absurd with forms of other theatrical directions. While watching the play, you would recognize documentary-interactive, naturalistic, realistic, expressionist, existential, epic, or non-epic theater techniques. He used Shakespeare’s famous phrase „All the world’s a stage“ to unite all these trends, but he also put irony into it. The director and the actors intensified the theme of homosexuality in the play and brought it to the fore. The problems that troubled Albee in the 60s are extremely relevant today: rejection of the different, hypocrisy, unforgiveness, incompatibility with society, alienation, loneliness, the search for the essence of life, and love. According to the director’s concept, the audience became not only a witness but also a direct participant in the story of Peter and Jerry. Beckett’s Endgame is a performance realized in the theatrical language, style, and form of Robert Sturua. Robert Sturua starts working on the play with text analysis, editing, and montage. Endgame is based on the same principle. He translated the play together with Nino Kantidze. In the so-called stage text, the director included excerpts from Revelation (bible), „Waiting for Godot“, and also added a few of his phrases. Despite these edits, Sturua preserved the rhythmicity, musicality, and rhythmical sound of Beckett’s text. In a performance, unlike a play, the same texts and actions are not repeated as often as with Beckett. Sturua enhanced the soul-crushing, inescapable, unending atmosphere of the play. This made the feeling of the apocalypse even more vivid and terrifying. Sturua created a deep, philosophical-existential farce, morality, and sometimes a carnival atmosphere on stage. Sturua’s performance begins and ends with the appearance of Christ. In this way, the director ties together the plot, message, form, and structure of the play. In the finale, Clov shoots Christ with the same hunting rifle he wanted to use to kill Hamm. The Son of God, who appeared as a savior, was again condemned to death by mankind. According to Robert Sturua’s interpretation, Endgame is a warning to mankind, an apocalypse that, in form, goes beyond a monodrama, morality, carnival, interactivity, epic and non-epic. In 2022, Giorgi Abkhazava staged Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days in his chamber theater. The director reduced the 42-page work to 7 pages, shortened and edited the text, and brought some of the characters mentioned in the play to life on stage (for example, Mr. and Mrs. Shower). Despite these changes, Beckett’s main point remained. Giorgi Abkhazava became a kind of directorauthor of Happy Days. Gia Kancheli’s musical phrases, created in different periods and not included in the works, define the style of the performance and create the mood. It is this music that evokes associative comparisons with Fellini’s extravaganza. In both the play and the performance, the main acting character is Winnie, Nino Gachechiladze; Tsotne Maisuradze’s Willie is a supporting character; and the revived Mr. and Mrs. Shower of Giorgi Tenadze and Tata Metskhovrishvili represent the carnival masks of people’s theater. Nino Gachechiladze’s Winnie is a tragic, tragic character. Winnie, conveying the thoughts and feelings of a person deprived of the sense of life, is the axis of the play—expressing the absurdity of the existing world. Based on the sarcastic-humorous title of the play, the main message of Giorgi Abkhazava’s performance is Becketian. Despite everything, life goes on, no matter how absurd it is. In 2023, Zurab Getsadze implemented the project of the Theater Development Fund in the Sukhumi Drama Theater—Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. The director scrupulously follows the author’s text. However, he changed the title of the play and called the play Rhinoceroses. The main message of the director and the creative team is that despite all the difficulties, alienation, and loneliness, Homo sapiens has to maintain his humanity in the crowd, deprived of the ability to think, with slave psychology, turned into rhinoceroses. Otherwise, one becomes a big, fat animal, a rhinoceros with a big mouth and a small brain, who does not care at all about understanding the essence of life and is driven only by animal instinct. Zura Getsadze’s play harmoniously combines drama, sarcastic humor, and comic elements. At the beginning of the article, I raised an interesting issue: Why are the plays of the playwrights of the theater of the absurd being staged with such frequency in the Georgian theater today? I think the analyzed plays will answer this question. In conclusion, I will say that the problems depicted in the plays of the absurdist playwrights are still very relevant today, not only in Georgia but throughout the world. Today, most of the world’s population is engaged in war. To gain power, different states either wage internal wars or fight other states for political or economic influence, territorial expansion, access to mineral resources, and further enrichment. Today, in the 21st century, there is still violence, oppression, discrimination, slavery, separatism, and gender inequality. Today, there is still religious fanaticism, fetishism of political figures, creation of idols, and/or „idolatry“. Today, there is still slave psychology, mass hysteria, etc. Today, the thinking intellectual still feels lonely, alienated, and thrown into a „hostile world“. Today, one is still searching for the meaning of true existence. Today, one still has a feeling of the absurdity of the world.