Reimagining Beckett in African-American Theater

This article scrutinizes conventions of Absurdism in two African-American playtexts that draw on Samuel Beckett’s tragicomedy Waiting for Godot: Antoinette Nwandu’s Pass Over (2017) and Dave Harris’s Tambo and Bones (2022). Focusing on the intersections between the Theater of the Absurd and Black existentialism, the article strives to detect the sociopolitical potential behind post-Absurdist reiterations of Beckett’s canonized play. Although the Absurdist theater emerged in the post-World War II period, its mechanics endured as a means of questioning human existence. Subsequent playwrights have resorted to it during the ensuing sociopolitical crises, including contemporary African-American dramatists who discard the established stage conventions, opting instead for non-linear plots, static situations, one-dimensional characters, and incoherent dialogues. By identifying the interface between the Absurdist discourse and Black existential thought, this study aims to shed light on the insidious nature of racism, which has been rooted in American society since its inception.