In a house on an island a very old couple pass their time with private games and half-remembered stories. With brilliant eccentricity, Ionesco's 'tragic farce' combines a comic portrait of human folly with a magical experiment in theatrical possibilities.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing absurdist tragic farce,
By
This review is from: The Chairs (Faber plays) (Paperback)
Probably one of the more understood plays by Eugene Ionesco is this 1952 tragic farce "The Chairs". But what would really enhance the reading of the play is to see it performed on stage, provided the actors are superior enough to carry this one off. It would require great competence, not only with the excess dialogue, but with an ability to interact with invisible characters, a manipulation through 11 stage doors and with a stage full of empty chairs.French dramatist, Ionesco died in 1994 and is known as a foremost playwright in the theatre of the absurd. In an internet article by Dr. Jan Culik on Theatre of the Absurd, French philosopher Albert Camus defined the human situation as meaningless and absurd. Playwrights of the absurd agree that man is inhabiting a universe with which he is out of key. This play is comprised of three live characters: Old Man, Old Woman and Orator. Included are several invisible characters; However, the third character, the Orator, has little to say and appears at the end. Two old people, a man 95 years old and his wife, 94, have an endearing relationship and live surrounded by water where the only transportation is by boats. Their existence is mundane as they repeatedly share old stories. In his earlier days, the Old Man believes he suffered enormously as merely a man soldier or general factotum (an assistant) and, early in the play, his wife frequently reminds him that he lacked willpower or ambition to have been a head admiral, a head president, a head general, or head doctor, etc. Now, he invites a room full of guests (invisible) who will occupy the many chairs. The guests include all the intellectuals to hear his philosophical message because he believes that humanity must profit by what he has learned. He hires a professional orator to relay this message. And right here, is where the play seems like a bad dream, as the orator plays a small but significant role. Like any other great literary work, to fully benefit, it may require a second reading. This is an excellent and very unique play with the Ionesco-style tragic dream/nightmare ending. Read it. ....MzRizz
17 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absurdly pessimistic masterpiece.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Chairs (Faber plays) (Paperback)
This play is about a man who had many chances to be great in life but just led a simple life with his wife. Then after many years he decides to tell the dignitaries of his society his secret which starts the absurdities. You see the man and the woman talk to nobody and ask questions and respond to what that person probably would have said in a normal circumstance. "The Chairs" are representative of people that really aren't there because the only characters in the play are the old man, woman, and the person he hires to tell the world his big secret. The end is very surprising and in a sense funny but disturbing. In all it is a very worth while play that will stick with you for a long time.
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