“Lady Eureka and the Lion-Lamb” references biblical symbolism and the fantasy world of the “Elegant Gothic Lolita” as a performance art piece that is subtitled, Theatre of the Absurd. Whereas traditional theatre attempts to create a photographic representation of life as we see it, the Theatre of the Absurd aims to create a ritual-like, mythological, archetypal, allegorical vision, closely related to the world of dreams.
The critic Martin Esslin coined Theatre of the Absurd in 1961. In the first edition of The Theatre of the Absurd, Esslin saw Albert Camus’ Existentialist philosophy as a life inherently without meaning as illustrated in his work, “The Myth of Sisyphus”. Existentialists hold that there are certain questions that everyone must deal with if they are to take human life seriously, questions such as death, the meaning of human existence and the role of God. In “Lady Eureka and the Lion-Lamb”, there is much parody about life and salvation, life after death in the images of “Hail Mary”, “Salvation” and the “4th Dimension”.
The term, Theatre of the Absurd applies to plays, which are often similar to Vaudeville, mixed with horrific or tragic images. Characters are caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions, dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense. Plots are cyclical or absurdly expansive, within parody or dismissal of realism. An example of Theatre of the Absurd is “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Barclay Beckett, an Irish writer, dramatist and poet who was considered one of the key writers of Martin Esslin’s “Theatre of the Absurd.”
The theme of “Lady Eureka and the Lion-Lamb” playfully references the element of waiting as in the ‘Judgment Day’. The theme of waiting borrows from Beckett’s most significant play, “Waiting for Godot”. To amuse herself, Lady Eureka creates different scenes to pass time, from posing with the “Lion-Lamb” and playing with her fan in scenes such as “Confession” and “Love Me Today”.
In the play, “Waiting for Godot”, the two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait for the mysterious Godot expectantly and unsuccessfully to arrive for two days. They claim he is an acquaintance, but in fact hardly know him and admit that they would not recognize him were they to see him. To occupy themselves, they eat, sleep, converse, argue, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, and contemplate suicide — anything “to hold the terrible silence at bay”.
“Waiting for Godot” was relaunched on April 30th 2009 in London’s West End, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. The landmark production stars Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart as the two lead roles of Vladimir and Estragon, with much critical acclaim. McKellen and Stewart are both renowned Shakespearean actors at Stratford-upon-Avon, in the West End and on Broadway.
The final reference to the waiting theme is the image of “Lady Eureka and the Lion-Lamb”, called “Rapture”, the moment prior to judgment on the earth and Jesus’ Second Coming for the purpose of Ascension to the Light of the “Peaceable Kingdom”.
“Ascension”
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