• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.46
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• pp.281-296
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• 2017

Andrei Amalrik's plays are a unique phenomenon in the 70 years' history of Soviet drama. Half a century after the Soviet theater had intentionally forgotten its own achievements of avant-garde dramaturgy in the early 20th century, his bizarre plays suddenly emerged in the Soviet theater environment, completely separated from contemporary Western practices of the experimental theater. Surprisingly even now, Amalrik's plays have almost been forgotten not only in Russia but also by foreign Russian literary scholars. Amalrik's autobiographical essay is his only book published in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet regime. There is no collection of his works, and reevaluation of his work is not found even in Russia. However, Amalrik is a writer who should get a proper evaluation. The purpose behind studying his plays is to restore the tradition of Russian grotesque-absurd dramaturgy, which has been inherited from Gogol, Khlevnikov, Mayakovsky, and Oberiu. In this paper, we will analyze the mechanism of composition in Amalrik's plays.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.78-85
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• 2014

Europeans experienced the horror and cruelty of war through the first and second World Wars. They began to raise fundamental questions and doubt about the preexisting World Order of God and humans leading to the birth of Existentialism. The Theater of the Absurd is one of the genres in theater resulting from the existentialist theories. The Theater of the Absurd has a format opposed to the traditional Realist Theater and emphasize the absurdity of human and society's existence. In particular, Fernando Arrabal who is a French Absurdist playwright, expressed the absurd human conditions using his unique forms and contents and his work 'Fando et Lis' depicts the absurdity of the adult world through the eyes of a child. Many unrealistic elements typical and inherent in the Absurdist plays are present in his work. Especially, the actors were required to apply not only the realistic acting approach but also to study and analyze characteristics of all Absurdist plays and internalize them based on the creative foundation of recreation. Then, they were asked to examine the characters' personality, emotions, and actions and think hard about creating an unrealistic action of voice and movements. This creative process by actors is a must in developing the reliable and trustworthy Absurdist acting.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.33
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• pp.95-120
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• 2013

This study is about small theaters in Paris which produced the theater of the avant-garde(or theatre of the absurd) in the 50s. Paris was at the center of astonishing passion by small theaters in terms of spectacle. Small theaters actively embraced young actors/actresses, theater troupe and playwrights who created a new way to express their plays. They were mostly obscure but showed talent and genius. So playwrights came from abroad such as E. Ionesco, S. Beckett, A. Adamov and others were able to create a new type of comedy and experience theatrical realization. On the other hand, a great many drama creators such as R. Blin, N. Bataille, J.-M. Serreau, J. $No{\ddot{e}}l$ and others appeared. We focused on studying about life of small theaters in Paris as mentioned earlier. The space of representation were limited. They were mostly about ridiculing of dramaturgy of comedy and theatrical realization. The substandard situations and conditions of small theaters fell far short of advantages of spectacle. Some of the theaters - Babylone, Noctambules, Nouveau Lancry, Quartier-latin - have not been able to survive up to this day. Other Theaters - Huchette and Poche-Montparnasse - have been able to last by performing creative activities. The theaters of the avant-garde are historic places of Drama Art. It is quite astonishing that some of the monuments did not last any longer. These were the places where La Cantatrice chauve by Ionesco and En attendant Godot by Beckett were premiered. When will they be restored to their original state? Meanwhile, the theater of Huchette have performed the comedies of Ionesco for last 60 years without a break. It becomes the museum of theater of the absurd that is the cradle of modern play. In conclusion, a great many play creators like playwrights, directors and set designers saw the light of day because of small theaters when there were not enough support fund. Their passion and curiosity still make us look forward to emerging of new drama.