Metatheatre: Search of Identity in Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo

Majeed, May Ahmed

doi:10.37654/aujll.2023.141667.1043

	Metatheatre: Search of Identity in Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo
Anbar University Journal of Languages and Literature
Volume 15, Issue 3, September 2023, Pages 80-92 PDF (1.48 M)
Document Type: Research Paper
DOI: 10.37654/aujll.2023.141667.1043
Author
May Ahmed Majeed^*
College of Islamic Sciences / Anbar University
Abstract
The term Metatheatre is coined by Lionel Abel in 1963. The word meta is a Greek word which means beyond or above. So metatheatre is theatre about theatre, drama about drama, play within the play, story within the story, or any term that reflects the duplication of theatrical reality. It is a type of literature that is aware of itself as a literary object and refers to its artificiality. It is characterized with theatricality, self-awareness, self-reflexivity, and self-knowledge. This term and technique becomes potentially powerful to destabilize conventional forms and views and make theatre an effective place for education and communication. Metatheatre is meant to explore the complexity of the modern life and the anxieties that encounter the identity of modern man who is stuck in a cage of awareness. This study shows the metatheatrical moments in Edward Albee’s At Home At The Zoo and how the characters formulate their identities while struggling with illusion and reality. Albee explores the complexity of modern life and the anxieties that encounter man’s identity who is attached to the rife of self-awareness. This study sheds the light on Albee’s ability to expand the central theme through telling stories and self-reflexivity to evoke the audience to make meaning in favor of everyday reality.
Keywords
Keywords: metatheatre; illusion; storytelling; Albee

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