This work is an effort to investigate the relationship between Albert Camus' philosophic concepts of the absurd presented in "The Myth of Sisyphus" and the Absurdist Theatre as defined by Martin Esslin. Included in this thesis is a discussion of each of the above concepts. Focus is placed upon the characteristics of the Absurdist Theatre which constitute the basis for the label "Absurdity." The conclusion indicates that while the playwright's personal experiences and philosophies correspond to Camus', their plays fail to communicate or express that concept of absurdity satisfactorily. The major emphasis is on the lack of concrete reality used to communicate a concept based upon concrete reality.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to employ a theatrological approach to the work of one of the most original and influential Czech pantomime troupes of all time, entitled Pantomima Alfreda Jarryho (the Alfred Jarry Pantomime, AJP). The company was established in 1966 in Prague by two young mime artists Boris Hybner and Ctibor Turba and existed as late as the political liquidation of the troupe in 1972 that came due to the process of the so-called normalization period in the former Czechoslovakia. The thesis consists of four major parts that are divided into several subsections. The first part deals with the historical contexts of the art of mime, both international and domestic. The AJP troupe represents the second generation of Czech pantomime that refused the style of the so-called modern pantomime expressed in the international context by Marcel Marceau and in the Czech context by Ladislav Fialka at the Theatre Na zábradlí (Theatre on the Balustrade). Since there is no monograph strictly based on this theatre, although it played a major role among the newly established small theatres in the sixties (and had an important influence on the poetics of the AJP troupe), we briefly introduce the poetics of both the pantomime company led by Fialka and the drama company led by the director Jan Grossman,...