Education
He studied Philosophy and English at the University of Vienna and graduated from the Reinhardt Seminar as a producer. Actor Milo Sperber was a classmate.
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He studied Philosophy and English at the University of Vienna and graduated from the Reinhardt Seminar as a producer. Actor Milo Sperber was a classmate.
This work has been called "the most influential theatrical text of the 1960s" by some reviewers. Born Pereszlényi Gyula Márton in Budapest, Esslin moved to Vienna with his family at a young age. Of Jewish descent, he fled Austria in the wake of the Anschluss of 1938.
He defined the "Theatre of the Absurd" as follows:
This attribute of "absurdity" was not accepted by many of the playwrights associated with this trend.
Ionesco stated that he did not like labels. Ahmad Kamyabi Mask criticized Esslin for a purported "colonialist" quality of this title for the Avant-garde theater.
He began working for the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1940, serving as a producer, script writer and broadcaster. He headed British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Drama from 1963-1977, having previously worked for the external European Service.
After leaving the British Broadcasting Corporation he held senior academic posts at Florida State University and Stanford University.
He adapted and translated many works from the original German, for example many plays of Wolfgang Bauer between 1967 and 1990. Original works included Theatre of the Absurd, and The Field of Drama. Esslin died in London on 24 February 2002 after a long battle with Parkinson"s disease, aged 83.