Betsuyaku and the Comedy of Entropy

Abstract:

Betsuyaku Minoru was one of the leading postwar dramatists when he passed away in 2020. This special section looks at Betsuyaku’s career from his early 1960s plays to his monumental 2007 work Yattekita Godot (Godot Came). The essays look at Betsuyaku’s relationship with the Theatre of the Absurd, both in Japan and in the West. This is especially true when one looks at the influence of Beckett and how Beckett was received in Japan. In this introductory essay, I argue that the perception of absurdism, inimically linked with tragedy, missed the connection to comedy, especially entropic comedy. Betsuyaku’s works are filled with this comic form wherein bodies, identities and social structures fall to decay and dissolution. Even as these bodies and structures decay, however, a dark humor pervades in Betsuyaku’s work; seeing his work through this comedic lens allows for greater understanding and appreciation of this major playwright.