The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco (Plot Overview)

                                                                 THE CHAIRS 

by 

Eugene Ionesco

The Chairs is one of the most popular plays of Eugene Ionesco, first published in1952 and performed in Paris. This is the Third play of Ionesco. During its original production Ionesco said “As the world is incomprehensible to me I’m waiting for someone to explain it to me.”

This play comes under the genre of the absurd theatre, and considered to be the seminal example of it.

This play talks about the Loneliness and futility of Human existence. A one-act play featuring an old man and an old woman in their late 90’s. They host an event to which a group of people will come to listen to the old man’s wisdom. The people are all invisible. The setting of the play is a bar stage with a circular wall at the back with several doors and windows. Two chairs sits side by side facing the audience.

By the time the play was revived in Paris by 1956, most critics lauded Ionesco for his unique staging and profound sense of humour. And this play has been regularly performed and staged world-wide.

Plot Overview

Three characters: Old Man, Old Woman, and the Orator  and some invisible(guests)

Opens with the Old Man sitting on a stool looking out of the window. The old woman worries that he will fall out of the window, she pulls him and gets him to two chairs and the old man sits on her lap. She says that he has a message to the whole world. He’s excited and gets up and starts to pace. The old woman tells her husband how talented he is and that he must share this message to the world. And thus he gets ready to tell this message to the guests (invisible) that seems to be arriving.

Doorbell rings, the First guest: invisible woman and the old couple have a small talk and gets her a chair

Second: Colonel sits next to the first lady.

Third: Belle and her husband: the old woman grotesque sexual gestures to the Belles husband the old man intimates that he had been involved with Belle in the past.

More guests arrive, the old woman gets more chairs and cannot keep up and gets frustrated with the old man’s demands.

She repeats the same process for more guests

Other invisible guests keep coming in and they run out of chairs and the scenes turn more comical, she tries to sell the programs and food treats to the guests. Those guests without a chair are asked to stand against the wall. The crowd is so massive that they have to shout to each other to locate where they are in the room. They continue to make small talks with their guests assuring them the message will be spoken in a few minutes.

The Emperor arrives,  the crowd gives the Emperor the best seat in the room and the old couple is rather shocked to know that such an important person has come to their house. 

The Orator (40-50 yrs old)comes to announce the old man’s message. Unlike the other guests he is a real person and dressed in garb of the 19th century artist. The Orator mounts the dais and the old man asks the guest to get  the orator’s autograph. He signs them. The old man thanks the guest for coming. He tells the Emperor that his life will not be in vain after having to share his message to the guests. The old man thanks his wife and makes a final praise to the Emperor and the old couple jumps out of the window and commits suicide. The orator begins to speak but he is mute, and is deaf. He can only make throaty noises and to communicate the message he writes a few meaningless words on a chalkboard. He finally leaves and the noise of the invisible guests marks the end of the play.

Prepared by

Dr. Susan Mathew

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