Theatre of Chaos: Beyond Absurdism, into Orderly Disorder

Abstract

In this study, chaos theory and quantum mechanics are employed as the basis for a clearer understanding of the often confusing contemporary theatre world. Examining numerous antecedents to contemporary thought on chaos and the cultural roots of the notion of chaos, William Demastes suggests links to playwrights ranging from Shakespeare and Ibsen to Tom Stoppard, Sam Shepard, and Tony Kushner. The author investigates parallel developments across the arts and sciences: connections between the dramatic naturalism of the late nineteenth century and Newtonian thought, for example, and theatre of the absurd and chaos theory. After centuries of isolation and increased specialization, Demastes contends, it may once again be time to consider the "arts" and "sciences" together and to acknowledge their interrelations. These intersections confirm that "orderly disorder" is displacing a far more rigid and less viable system of knowing our world, and ushering in a rich, varied, and forward-looking theory of existence for contemporary society.

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