Theatre of the Absurd
The term "theater of the absurd" first appeared in the works of theater critic Martin Esslin, who wrote a book with that title in 1962. Esslin saw in certain works the artistic embodiment of Albert Camus' philosophy of the meaninglessness of life at its core, which he illustrated in his book The Myth of Sisyphus. It is believed that the theater of the absurd is rooted in the philosophy of Dadaism, poetry from non-existent words and avant-garde art of the 1910-1920s. Despite sharp criticism, the genre gained popularity after the Second World War, which demonstrated the uncertainty and ephemeral nature of human life. The introduced term was also criticized, there were attempts to redefine it as "anti-theater" and "new theater".  According to Esslin, the absurdist theatrical movement was based on the productions of four playwrights - Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet and Arthur Adamov, but he emphasized that each of these authors had his own unique technique that went beyond the term "absurdity".  The following group of writers is often distinguished - Tom Stoppard, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Fernando Arrabal, Harold Pinter, Edward Albee and Jean Tardieu. Eugene Ionesco did not recognize the term "theater of the absurd" and called it "the theater of mockery."