Theatre of the Ridiculous

The Theatre of the Ridiculous is a theatrical genre that began as an American movement in New York in 1965 with the beginnings of "The Play-House of the Ridiculous" and the spin-off group formed in 1967 "The Ridiculous Theatrical Company".

"The Theatre of the Ridiculous" made a break with the dominant trends in theatre of naturalistic acting and realistic settings. It employed a very broad acting style, often with surrealistic stage settings and props, frequently making a conscious effort at being shocking or disturbing. "Ridiculous" theatre brought some elements of queer/camp performance to avant-garde theater. Cross-gender casting was common, with players often recruited from non-professional sources, such as drag queens or other "street stars".

The scenarios used in "Ridiculous" plays were often parodies or re-workings of pop-culture fiction, used as vehicles for social commentary or humor. Improvisation played a large role in the often chaotic Ridiculous productions, where the script was treated as just a starting point.

The phrase "The Theatre of the Ridiculous" was created by the author Ronald Tavel to describe some of his works, which were later recognized as the beginning of the genre. In a reference to Martin Esslin's concept of a Theatre of the Absurd, in 1965 Tavel promoted the first "Ridiculous" performances with the one-line manifesto: "We have passed beyond the absurd: our position is absolutely preposterous."

Some more prominent productions from this movement are:

The Theatre of the Ridiculous became a strong influence on 1970s culture. Elements of it can been seen in glam rock, disco, and most directly in the Rocky Horror sub-culture. Since then, the genre has broken out into more mainstream theatrical productions, such as Bat Boy, Urinetown, and Reefer Madness.

The Play-House of the Ridiculous was an underground theater group founded in New York in the mid-1960s, with John Vaccaro as director, originally producing some works written by Ronald Tavel. They began with Shower and The Life of Juanita Castro, which were originally film scenarios intended for Warhol's Factory. When these were rejected by The Factory, Tavel resolved to have them performed as plays, putting them together on a double-bill, under the heading of "Theater of the Ridiculous".

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