PIC-NIC by Fernando Arrabal – STUDY IN BLACK AND WHITE by Virgilio Piñera

PIC-NIC

by Fernando Arrabal

In Pic-Nic, Fernando Arrabal, one of the most renowned playwrights in the Theater of the Absurd, denounces the absurdity of war from a humoristic, illogical, and sometimes sinister standpoint through an unexpected situation: Zapo's parents - a recruited soldier in war - come to the battlefield to have a picnic with their son. Suddenly, an enemy soldier appears and they invite him to join in their Sunday field day in a friendly atmosphere. Much to their surprise, they discover that neither one wants to be at war and decide to end it.

ESTUDIO EN BLANCO Y NEGRO

de Virgilio Piñera

Virgilio Piñera, one of the greatest playwrights of the “literature of the absurd”, shows in his play Study in Black and White the conflicts that are created by the lack of communication between people. The action takes place in a park where two men argue about the colors white and black, one a fervent supporter of the first color and the other of the second. Each one, wanting to prove his point, tries to obtain ratification from a couple sitting on one of the park benches engaged in their love affairs. The couple, inadvertently, is involved in the debate. At the end a fifth character comes to this scene to offer an unexpected solution to the argument.