Absurdist Angles on History
Three Plays
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
From “HOW WORLD WAR I HAPPENED” Act I, Scene 3
(Headquarters of the Russian General Staff, 1913. General Nikita YANUSHKEVICH, Chief of the General Staff, is seated at a desk on and around which are heaps of cutout soldiers and cutout rifles. He is industriously cutting out more with scissors. Gregor RASPUTIN, dirty old monk who is a favorite of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, enters, intertwined with two WOMEN.)
OFFSTAGE VOICE
Headquarters of the Russian General Staff, 1913. General Nikita Yanushkevich, Chief of the General Staff, is hard at work when Gregor Rasputin, notorious dirty old monk who is a favorite of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra, enters.
YANUSHKEVICH
No women allowed in here.
RASPUTIN
No monks allowed, either, but here I am.
YANUSHKEVICH
Why don’t you take your broads somewhere else?
RASPUTIN
Where else? I go to
YANUSHKEVICH
You won’t find much fun here in General Staff Headquarters.
RASPUTIN
(Writhing with women)
How do we know unless we try, eh, dollies?
YANUSHKEVICH
Obviously I shall have to denounce you!
RASPUTIN
Oh, I forgot to tell you—the Chief of Police, the Minister of the Interior and the Bishop all got fired.
FIRST WOMAN
(As if hypnotized)
The Tsar and Tsarina know that Father Gregor is a holy man of God.
From “HOW KARL GOT OVER HIS BAD DREAM” Act I, Scene I
KARL
In the dream was an idea, horrible!
JENNY
But you only dreamt it.
KARL
So? Does that make a bad thought any the less bad?
JENNY
But you know what you say about dreams. How many times have you pooh-poohed the children’s dreams?
KARL
It’s not the dream that matters, it’s the idea it brings!
JENNY
(Mimicking)
“If you want to be superstitious, why not join a religion, and at least make new friends?” That’s what you always say
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About the Book
The plays in Absurdist Angles on History: Three Plays look at absurdities of modern history from three different angles. How World War I Happened applies absurdist dramatic treatment to the outbreak of the war, an episode largely absurd to start with. The wishful thinking and frivolous motivations of the main actors are more effectively highlighted by absurdist exaggeration than by customary historical analysis. How Karl Got Over His Bad Dream applies an absurdist twist to the origins of Marx’ and Freud’s key theories – an angle offering insights into the theories themselves at the same time as extracting maximum humor from farcical interpretations. How it All Might Have Ended, which has been professionally produced, posits a post – nuclear – war world with few survivors – a situation acknowledged during the cold war to be an actual possibility. The dramatic treatment in this case is not absurdist, since the human race placing itself at such risk is a fact absurd enough not to need enhancement. Although this play, in common with How World War I Happened, is for the most part comedic, both conclude in despair at Western civilization’s self – inflicted damage from chronic shortsightedness and perilous priorities.
About the Author
Merritt Abrash was well positioned to write Absurdist Angles on History: Three Plays, thanks to a background in both history and playwriting. His historical expertise centers on areas receiving absurdist treatment in the first two plays: nineteenth century