Two Early Absurd Plays in England

Abstract

PINERO IS USUALLY REMEMBERED as the writer of a few Victorian farces and so-called "problem plays." Moreover, it is often thought that he wrote little, if anything, after 1910 or so, the notable exception being The Enchanted Cottage (1922) which was later filmed. And it is certainly true that Pinero's major work and contribution to English drama was made by 1910, but the remaining twenty-four years of his life were by no means inactive. He wrote a further sixteen plays, a large proportion showing varying degrees of experimentation by the aging playwright. Two of these works are remarkable for the traits they exhibit of what is now widely called the Theatre of the Absurd. They are Playgoers and A Seat in the Park, one-act plays written in 1913 and 1922 respectively.