Besides the Theatre of Cruelty, the stage of 1950s witnessed (testimoniò) the beginning of the Absurd Theater. The first example was given by Samuel Beckett. His main concern (preoccupazione) was human suffering (sofferenza) and survival (sopravvivenza). He did not write a real plot (trama), but a series of concrete stage images (immagini da palcoscenico) and his characters struggle (lottano) with emptiness and the world of Nothing. They are lost (perse, sole) creatures who live in their empty, nightmerish world (mondo dominato dall’incubo) and devastated by a sense of confusion and sorrow (dolore). They do not communicate, they try to express the inexpressible. In his theatrical pieces (pezzi teatrali) Beckett shows the influence of the burlesque, vaudeville, music hall, commedia dell’ arte and of silent-film figures (personaggi di film muti) such as Keaton and Chaplin. Although English was his native language, his major works were originally written in French as he wanted the accuracy and economy of expression that an acquired (acquisito) language requests (richiede).