Journey to absolute happiness in dinsman’s absurd play it is not a suicide

Abstract

The influence of the Theatre of the Absurd is believed to have emerged in Malaysia during the political upheaval following the tragedy of the May 13th 1969 racial riot. Since then, absurd theatre style has become prominent among young playwrights during the period of Experimental Theatre. Regardless of its rejection by many local theatre critics and audience for its influence and epistemology, absurd theatre style is viewed to be able to portray the ideas that are deemed impossible to be presented through typical realistic theatre. Whilst many Malay dramatists focused on the aesthetic elements in their plays, Dinsman on the other hand had examined the thematic preoccupations as well as the philosophical underpinnings. Realizing the social background of the local audience in which were still considered to be strongly adhered to their religious and cultural values, Dinsman had intelligently appropriated the typical absurd play to become a play that is uniquely his own. This paper focuses on the style applied by Dinsman in his translated play, It Is Not a Suicide. It further examines the playwright’s discourse on human spiritual inadequacies through the framework of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas’s The Concept of Happiness. This article intends to highlight the subject on the nature of man who wishes to fulfil his metaphysical needs; the one of many aspects that has been overlooked by many local theatre critics on Malay absurd works.