Question: What was the final thing shown on the channel that employed the person who coined the term 'theatre of the absurd' before it shut down for the war?

full_context: Document 1: BBC Television: After a series of test transmissions and special broadcasts that began in August, regular BBC television broadcasts officially resumed on 1 October 1936, from a converted wing of Alexandra Palace in London, which housed two studios, various scenery stores, make-up areas, dressing rooms, offices, and the transmitter itself, now broadcasting on the VHF band. BBC television initially used two systems, on alternate weeks: the 240-line Baird intermediate film system and the 405-line Marconi-EMI system, each making the BBC the world's first regular high-definition television service, broadcasting Monday to Saturday from 15:00 to 16:00 and 21:00 to 22:00.
Document 2: BBC Television: The two systems were to run on a trial basis for six months; early television sets supported both resolutions. However, the Baird system, which used a mechanical camera for filmed programming and Farnsworth image dissector cameras for live programming, proved too cumbersome and visually inferior, and ended with closedown (at 22:00) on Saturday 13 February 1937.
Document 3: Mark Ronan: Mark Andrew Ronan (born 1947) is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Honorary Professor of Mathematics at University College London. He has lived and taught in: Germany (at the University of Braunschweig and the Free University of Berlin); in England, where from 1989 to 1992 he was Mason Professor of Mathematics at the University of Birmingham; and America at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where his teaching included courses on ancient literature from Mesopotamia, and on the history of the calendar, as well as mathematics.
Document 4: Theatre of the Absurd: Critic Martin Esslin coined the term in his 1960 essay ``Theatre of the Absurd. ''He related these plays based on a broad theme of the Absurd, similar to the way Albert Camus uses the term in his 1942 essay, The Myth of Sisyphus. The Absurd in these plays takes the form of man's reaction to a world apparently without meaning, and / or man as a puppet controlled or menaced by invisible outside forces. This style of writing was first popularized by the 1953 Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot. Though the term is applied to a wide range of plays, some characteristics coincide in many of the plays: broad comedy, often similar to vaudeville, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive; either a parody or dismissal of realism and the concept of the`` well - made play''. These plays were shaped by the political turmoil, scientific breakthrough, and social upheaval going on in the world around the playwrights during these times.
Document 5: Waldo Maguire: Waldo Maguire (31 May 1920 – 23 November 2005) was a British broadcaster for the BBC. He had a long career with the BBC, culminating in his appointment in 1966 as the Controller of BBC Northern Ireland. He served in this position until 1972.
Document 6: Waiting for Godot: Waiting for Godot (/ ˈɡɒdoʊ / GOD - oh) is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait for the arrival of someone named Godot who never arrives, and while waiting they engage in a variety of discussions and encounter three other characters. Waiting for Godot is Beckett's translation of his own original French play, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled (in English only) ``a tragicomedy in two acts ''. The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949. The premiere was on 5 January 1953 in the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. The English language version was premiered in London in 1955. In a poll conducted by the British Royal National Theatre in 1990 it was voted the`` most significant English language play of the 20th century''.
Document 7: BBC Television: On 1 September 1939, two days before Britain declared war on Germany, the station was taken off air with little warning; the government was concerned that the VHF transmissions would act as a beacon to enemy aircraft homing in on London. Also, many of the television service's technical staff and engineers would be needed for the war effort, in particular on the radar programme. The last programme transmitted was a Mickey Mouse cartoon, Mickey's Gala Premier (1933), which was followed by test transmissions; this account refuted the popular memory according to which broadcasting was suspended before the end of the cartoon.
Document 8: BBC Television: After a series of test transmissions and special broadcasts that began in August 1936, the BBC Television Service officially launched on 2 November 1936 from a converted wing of Alexandra Palace in London. ``Ally Pally ''housed two studios, various scenery stores, make - up areas, dressing rooms, offices, and the transmitter itself, which then broadcast on the VHF band. BBC television initially used two systems on alternate weeks: the 240 - line Baird intermediate film system and the 405 - line Marconi - EMI system. The use of both formats made the BBC's service the world's first regular high - definition television service; it broadcast from Monday to Saturday between 15: 00 and 16: 00, and 21: 00 and 22: 00. The first programme broadcast -- and thus the first ever, on a dedicated TV channel -- was`` Opening of the BBC Television Service'' at 15: 00. The first major outside broadcast was the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937.
Document 9: The Apple Cart: The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza is a 1928 play by George Bernard Shaw. It is a satirical comedy about several political philosophies which are expounded by the characters, often in lengthy monologues. The plot follows the fictional English King Magnus as he spars with, and ultimately outwits, Prime Minister Proteus and his cabinet, who seek to strip the monarchy of its remaining political influence. Magnus opposes the corporation "Breakages, Limited", which controls politicians and impedes technical progress.
Document 10: Toralv Maurstad: Maurstad graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London in 1949. Through the years he has not only worked as a leading actor but is also a respected stage director, and was the head of Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo New Theatre) from 1967 to 1978 and most notably the head of Norway's National Theatre Nationaltheatret from 1978 to 1986. He is considered perhaps the greatest interpreter of Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt", having played the part numerous times (he even performed excerpts from the play as late as the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City).
Document 11: Ron Neil: Ronald John Baillie Neil CBE (born June 1942) is a former BBC television journalist and news editor, who rose to become the BBC's overall director of news and current affairs in the late 1980s. He retired in 1998, but was recalled in 2004 to review BBC journalism and values in response to the criticisms made by the Hutton inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly.
Document 12: BBC Television: Mechanically scanned, 30-line television broadcasts by John Logie Baird began in 1929, using the BBC transmitter in London, and by 1930 a regular schedule of programmes was transmitted from the BBC antenna in Brookmans Park. Television production was switched from Baird's company to what is now known as BBC One on 2 August 1932, and continued until September 1935. Regularly scheduled electronically scanned television began from Alexandra Palace in London on 2 November 1936, to just a few hundred viewers in the immediate area. The first programme broadcast – and thus the first ever, on a dedicated TV channel – was "Opening of the BBC Television Service" at 15:00. The first major outside broadcast was the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937. The service was reaching an estimated 25,000–40,000 homes before the outbreak of World War II which caused the service to be suspended in September 1939. The VHF broadcasts would have provided an ideal radio beacon for German bombers homing in on London, and the engineers and technicians of the service would be needed for the war effort, in particular the radar programme.
Document 13: Theatre of the Absurd: Critic Martin Esslin coined the term in his 1960 essay ``Theatre of the Absurd ''. He related these plays based on a broad theme of the Absurd, similar to the way Albert Camus uses the term in his 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus. The Absurd in these plays takes the form of man's reaction to a world apparently without meaning, or man as a puppet controlled or menaced by invisible outside forces. This style of writing was first popularized by the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot (1953). Although the term is applied to a wide range of plays, some characteristics coincide in many of the plays: broad comedy, often similar to vaudeville, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive; either a parody or dismissal of realism and the concept of the`` well - made play''. These plays were shaped by the political turmoil, scientific breakthrough, and social upheaval going on in the world around the playwrights during these times.
Document 14: Jean Martin: Jean Martin (6 March 1922 – 2 February 2009) was a French actor of stage and screen. Martin served in the French Resistance during World War II and later fought with the French paratroopers in Indochina. Theatrically, he is perhaps best known for originating two roles in Samuel Beckett's most famous plays: Lucky in "Waiting for Godot", and Clov in "Endgame". During the 1950s, he was a performer at the Théâtre National Populaire and also worked for radio plays.
Document 15: Ronald Mason (drama): Ronald Mason (8 September 1926 – 16 January 1997) was a director and producer of drama for the BBC, a BBC executive in his native Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, the Head of BBC Radio Drama as successor to Martin Esslin and was active in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
ground_truth: Mickey's Gala Premier
sub_queries: who coined the term the theatre of the absurd Answer: Martin Esslin
Martin Esslin >> employer Answer: BBC
What was the final thing shown on the BBC before it was shut down for the war? Answer: Mickey's Gala Premier