Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)

STUDIES - Judit Kádár: The Figure of 'Everyclown'in Jack Richardson's Gallows Humour

JUDIT KÁDÁR THE FIGURE OF 'EVERYCLOWN' IN JACK RICHARDSON'S GALLOWS HUMOUR I suspect that this transition from one form to another might take place by means of an intermediate stage in which they were deprived of all form but were not altogether deprived of existence. —St Augustine

— Besides Edward Albee, Arthur Kopit, Jack Gelber and Sam Shepard, Jack Richardson was said to be one of the most promising playwrights of the 1960s, and he proved so. His second Off-Broadway play, Gallows Humour (1961) is an outstanding experiment to merge the various influences of the European predecessors with a peculiarly American voice and subject in a uniquely personal way. In the following paper I intend to point out some distinctive features of the dramatic technique, personality and the characteristics of the Rebellious Absurd Play through the example of a modern Parable Play. This newly emerging genre has similarities with both the Absurd Drama and Black Humor fiction of the same period, the final result is a powerful cohesion of all. 45