Search - List of Books by Martin Esslin

Martin Julius Esslin OBE (6 June 1918 24 February 2002) was a Hungarian-born English producer and playwright dramatist, journalist, adaptor and translator, critic, academic scholar and professor of drama best known for coining the term "Theatre of the Absurd" in his work of that name (1961). John Calder, dramatic material publisher and Samuel Beckett confidante, found Esslin's book "the most influential theatrical text of the 1960s."

Born Julius Pereszlényi () in Budapest, Esslin moved to Vienna with his family at a young age. He studied Philosophy and English at the University of Vienna and also graduated from the Reinhardt Seminar as a producer. Of Jewish descent, he fled Austria in the wake of the Anschluss of 1938.

Esslin defined the 'Theatre of the Absurd' as that which

... strives to express its sense of the senselessness of the human condition and the inadequacy of the rational approach by the open abandonment of rational devices and discursive thought.


Esslin's definition encompassed not only Beckett's works but those of Eugčne Ionesco, Harold Pinter, Jean Genet, Günter Grass and Edward Albee amongst others.

He began working for the BBC in 1940, serving as a producer, script writer and broadcaster. He was head of BBC Radio Drama 1963-77, having previously worked for the external European Service. After leaving the BBC he held senior academic posts at Florida State and Stanford Universities.

He also adapted and translated many works from the original German, for example many plays of Wolfgang Bauer between 1967 and 1990. Original works included the seminal Theatre of the Absurd, and The Field of Drama.
This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Martin Esslin", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 53
Das Theater des Absurden
2006 - Das Theater Des Absurden (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9783499556845
ISBN-10: 3499556847
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
  ?

The Theatre of the Absurd
2004 - The Theatre of the Absurd (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781400075232
ISBN-10: 1400075238
Genres: Arts & Photography, Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

The Age of Television
2001 - The Age of Television (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780765808882
ISBN-10: 0765808889
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
  ?

Antonin Artaud
1993 - Antonin Artaud (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780714542041
ISBN-10: 0714542040
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
  ?

The Field of Drama How the Signs of Drama Create Meaning on Stage and Screen
1988 - The Field of Drama How the Signs of Drama Create Meaning on Stage and Screen (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780413192608
ISBN-10: 0413192601
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
  ?

The Theatre of the Absurd  3rd Edition
1987 - The Theatre of the Absurd 3rd Edition [Penguin Literary Criticism] (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780140137286
ISBN-10: 0140137289
Genres: Arts & Photography, Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
  ?

1987 - The Theatre of the Absurd [Peregrine Books] (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
1980 - Brecht a Choice of Evils [Modern Theatre Profiles] (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
An Anatomy of Drama
1977 - An Anatomy of Drama (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780809005505
ISBN-10: 0809005506
Genres: Arts & Photography, Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
  ?

1973 - Pinter a Study of His Plays [Modern Theatre Profiles] (Hardcover)Paperback