 | 1936
 | Jean-Paul Satre begins
writing a series of philosophical treatises and fictional works |
|
| 1938
| Nausea, a fictional
work, is written by Jean-Paul Satre |
| Camus writes one of his
few plays Caligula, but it is not produced until 1945 |
| Samuel Beckett publishes his
first novel |
|
| 1942
|
| 1943
| Jean-Paul Satre writes Being
and Nothingness one of his best known philosophical writings |
| Satre writes his first
play The Flies after which he often uses the dramatic
medium to pursue and explain his ideas |
|
| 1944
| No Exit written by
Satre |
| The Misunderstanding
written by Camus |
|
| 1945
| Camus' Caligula produced
(written in 1938) |
| Arthur Adamov
begins to write
plays in order to deal with his anxieties (c. 1945) |
|
| 1947
| The Maids becomes the
first of Jean Genet's plays to be staged |
|
| 1948
| Dirty Hands written
by Satre |
| State of Siege
written by Camus |
| Deathwatch becomes the
second of Genet's plays to be staged (it was actually written before
The Maids which was produced in 1947) |
|
| 1949
| The Just Assassins written
by Camus |
|
| 1950
| Samuel Beckett completes his
first play Waiting for Godot |
| Eugène Ionesco writes his
first play The Bald Soprano, which he states was inspired by a
phrase book he was using to study English |
| Adamov's The Large and the
Small Maneuver staged |
|
| 1951
| The Devil and the Good
Lord written by Satre |
| Ionesco writes The Lesson |
|
| 1952
|
| 1953
| Roger Blin's staging of Waiting for Godot
brings absurdism to international recognition |
| Ionesco writes Notes sur le thèâtre |
| Adamov's Professor Taranne staged |
| Anouilh writes glowingly of Victims of Duty
bringing Ionesco recognition as a major new playwright |
|
| 1954
|
| 1955
| Adamov writes Ping Pong
changing his dramatic style to more social commentary rather than
absurdist |
|
| 1957
| Endgame written by
Beckett |
| Genet, after announcing that
he would give up drama, writes The Balcony |
| Adamov rejects absurdism
(Théâtre, argtent et politique - 1956) and
his earlier works and begins following the Brechtian style in his play
Paulo Paoli |
|
| 1958
| Krapp's Last Tape
written by Beckett |
|
| 1959
| The Condemned of Altona
written by Satre |
| Genet writes The Blacks |
|
| 1960
| The first of Ionesco's plays
appears in a major theatre when Barrault produces Rhinoceros
|
|
| 1961
| Happy Days written by
Beckett |
| Genet writes The Screens |
| Martin Esslin writes his
Theatre of the Absurd popularizing the term "absurd" |
| Adamov writes Spring '71
about the rise and suppression of the Paris Commune of 1871 |
|
| 1962
| Ionesco writes Exit the
King |
| Barrault produces another of
Ionesco's plays, A Stroll in the Air |
|
| 1963
|
| 1966
| The Comédie Française
presets Ionesco's Hunger and Thirst |
|
| 1969
| Beckett wins the Nobel Prize
for Literature |
|
| 1970
| Ionesco is elected to the
Frech Academy |
|
