The Absurd in French Dada and Pre-Surrealist Theatre

This publication focuses on the absurd and its theatrical potential in French Dada and early Surrealist theatre. The corpus consists of three texts that have not yet been the subject of adequate research: two of them have not been evaluated from a theatrical perspective (T. Tzara: The First Celestial Adventure of Mr. Antipyrine, R. Vitrac: The Mysteries of Love), and the third has almost entirely escaped attention (A. Breton – P. Soupault: If You Please). The author views the absurd as an aesthetic category applicable to theatrical analysis as a whole – in contrast to the popular concept of the 'theatre of the absurd' by British critic M. Esslin (defined in relation to the avant-garde of the 1950s), which is often criticised for its imprecision but has not yet been subjected to any rigorous analysis. The conclusion is dedicated, among other things, to an evaluation of Esslin's concept of the absurd in theatre.