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Three Plays: Amédée / The New Tenant / Victims of Duty
The author of such modern classics as The Bald Soprano, Exit the King, Rhinoceros, and The Chairs, Eugène Ionesco is “one of the most important and influential figures in the modern theater” (Library Journal). This crucial collection combines The New Tenant with Amédée and Victims of Duty—the plays Richard Gilman has called, along with The Killer, Ionesco’s “greatest plays, works of the same solidity, fulness, and permanence as [those of] his predecessors in the dramatic revolution that began with Ibsen and is still going on.”
166 pages
First published January 1, 1958
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About the author
Eugène Ionesco
457 books958 followersEugène Ionesco, born Eugen Ionescu, was a Romanian playwright and dramatist; one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd. Beyond ridiculing the most banal situations, Ionesco's plays depict in a tangible way the solitude and insignificance of human existence.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
September 6, 2017
review of
Eugène Ionesco's Three Plays
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - October 27, 2012
Why, it's practically sinful, a shame, a horror of sorts that I'm only now getting around to reading Ionesco after having known about his work for 30 or 40 yrs. Sure, sure, I can make excuses: 'I don't like reading plays', 'I prefer reading works by the originators like Jarry' & that sort of rot but, truth be told, Ionesco is now my favorite playwright (at least for today) & that's saying alot. [plane flies thru the review unnoticed by the reviewer]
In my life, I haven't been much of a theater-goer & yet it seems that I've seen some of the greatest theater I know of:
Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape"
Genet's "The Maids"
Pinter's "A Kind of Alaska" (based on the Oliver Sachs bk Awakenings)
Jarry's "Ubu Roi"
works by Studio Scarabee, Theatre X, Plan K, Impossible Theater
the list goes on & on (& simultaneously doesn't since I'm stopping it here)
but have I ever witnessed any plays by Ionesco? I really don't remember. Isn't that odd? I incorporated parts from the film version of his Rhinoceros into my feature-length movie Robopaths that I haven't been able to screen anywhere yet (HINT, HINT) Maybe I witnessed a play version as well..
"Choubert: [somewhat intrigued] No. I never knew them.
"Detective: Then how did you know his name ends in a t?
"Choubert: [very surprised] Why yes, of course, you're right... How do I know? How do I know?... How do I know?... I don't know how I know!
"Madeleine: [to Choubert] What's the matter with you? Answer him! When we're on our own you don't swallow your tongue. You talk so fast, you talk too much, such violent language too, and so loud. [To the Detective:] You don't know that side of him. He's a lot brighter than this, in private.
"Detective: I'll make a note of that.
"Madeleine: [to Detective] Still, I'm quite fond of him. After all, he is my husband, isn't he? [To Choubert:] Oh, come on, now! Did we know the Mallots or not! Say something! Try and remember!
"Choubert: [after struggling silently with his memory for a few moments, while Madeleine gets visibly more irritated and the Detective remains impassive] I can't remember! Did I know them or not!" (p 124, "Victims of Duty")
[truck w/ very muddy tires runs over last part rendering it semi-intelligible but remaining unnoticed by the reviewer]
All 3 of these plays are utterly, fantastically, wonderfully brilliant. & none of them are ruined for me by my having read them - I cd (& wish I wd) witness them as plays & be even more delighted. But, merdre!, I wish the translator, Donald Watson, hadn't written this in his "Retrospect" intro:
"Ionesco seems to have used The Bald Prima Donna as an experiment in verbal technique: it is more a question of finding equivalents in one's own language than of making a straight-forward translation, and the danger is that one may get carried away. An additional problem is the fact that this play is set in England and has some details that seem uncharacteristic to an English audience, and some references that are too specifically French: these, of course, had to be changed. This is not surprising when we realize that Ionesco had never been to England at the time: he found most of his inspiration in the Assimil Method of learning English. Though it must not be forgotten he has said that if he had been learning Spanish, the play would have been set in Spain."
I mean it makes me not quite trust the guy. Then again, it doesn't matter that much does it, eh? After all, The Bald Prima Donna isn't one of the plays in this collection.
These are all works of the imagination in the best possible sense. Ionesco goes every wch way & keeps things moving in a consistently interesting & surprising way. Take this bit from "Victims of Duty":
"Choubert: What do you think of the modern theater? What are your ideas on the drama?
"Madeleine: You and your theater! It's an obsession, you'll soon be a pathological case.
"Choubert: Do you really think something new can be done in the theater?
"Madeleine: I've just told you there's nothing new under the sun. Even when there isn't any.
"[Silence]
"Choubert: You're right. Yes, you're right. All the plays that have ever been written, from Ancient Greece to the present day, have never really been anything but thrillers. Drama's always been realistic and there's always been a detective about. Every play's an investigation brought to a successful conclusion. There's a riddle, and it's solved in the final scene. Sometimes earlier. You seek, and then you find. Might as well give the game away at the start." (p 119)
Of course, Ionesco then goes on to fuck w/ this formula in so many ways that the "thriller" aspect of it is both in the plot & in the plot's formal presentation.. there're so many ideas. I wonder if Ionesco was deliriously happy when he wrote this one?
In "Amédée or How to get rid of It" the audience/reader is taken on a merry ride that even bests Jarry at his own pataphysical game & that I find far more engrossing than Beckett ever is. Details like having Madeleine [the wife's name in the 2 plays where there're wives] be a switchboard operator whose switchboard is in the home (a situation highly improbably in 'real life') enable the playwright to create a polyphony of interwoven dialogs - what an inspired device! "Amédée" even has 2 alternative endings to enable easier realization for the theater producer. In "Victims of Duty", too, there're alternatives such as this: [If the prducer so desires, the same character who appeared before can be spotlighted again at the other side of the stage: he still has his number and, in addition, an alpenstock, a rope or a pair of skies. Once again he vanishes after a few moments.] (p 145)
[clicks red shoes together & chants to himself: "I want to witness all the Ionesco plays, I want to witness all the Ionesco plays] By the end, I almost found myself agreeing w/ the tongue-in-cheek megalomania:
"Detective: [crushed] Oh, yes, Monsieur, you do write! [In increasing terror:] Everyone ought to write.
"Nicolas: No point. We've got Ionesco and Ionesco, that's enough!" (p 162)
Eugène Ionesco's Three Plays
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - October 27, 2012
Why, it's practically sinful, a shame, a horror of sorts that I'm only now getting around to reading Ionesco after having known about his work for 30 or 40 yrs. Sure, sure, I can make excuses: 'I don't like reading plays', 'I prefer reading works by the originators like Jarry' & that sort of rot but, truth be told, Ionesco is now my favorite playwright (at least for today) & that's saying alot. [plane flies thru the review unnoticed by the reviewer]
In my life, I haven't been much of a theater-goer & yet it seems that I've seen some of the greatest theater I know of:
Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape"
Genet's "The Maids"
Pinter's "A Kind of Alaska" (based on the Oliver Sachs bk Awakenings)
Jarry's "Ubu Roi"
works by Studio Scarabee, Theatre X, Plan K, Impossible Theater
the list goes on & on (& simultaneously doesn't since I'm stopping it here)
but have I ever witnessed any plays by Ionesco? I really don't remember. Isn't that odd? I incorporated parts from the film version of his Rhinoceros into my feature-length movie Robopaths that I haven't been able to screen anywhere yet (HINT, HINT) Maybe I witnessed a play version as well..
"Choubert: [somewhat intrigued] No. I never knew them.
"Detective: Then how did you know his name ends in a t?
"Choubert: [very surprised] Why yes, of course, you're right... How do I know? How do I know?... How do I know?... I don't know how I know!
"Madeleine: [to Choubert] What's the matter with you? Answer him! When we're on our own you don't swallow your tongue. You talk so fast, you talk too much, such violent language too, and so loud. [To the Detective:] You don't know that side of him. He's a lot brighter than this, in private.
"Detective: I'll make a note of that.
"Madeleine: [to Detective] Still, I'm quite fond of him. After all, he is my husband, isn't he? [To Choubert:] Oh, come on, now! Did we know the Mallots or not! Say something! Try and remember!
"Choubert: [after struggling silently with his memory for a few moments, while Madeleine gets visibly more irritated and the Detective remains impassive] I can't remember! Did I know them or not!" (p 124, "Victims of Duty")
[truck w/ very muddy tires runs over last part rendering it semi-intelligible but remaining unnoticed by the reviewer]
All 3 of these plays are utterly, fantastically, wonderfully brilliant. & none of them are ruined for me by my having read them - I cd (& wish I wd) witness them as plays & be even more delighted. But, merdre!, I wish the translator, Donald Watson, hadn't written this in his "Retrospect" intro:
"Ionesco seems to have used The Bald Prima Donna as an experiment in verbal technique: it is more a question of finding equivalents in one's own language than of making a straight-forward translation, and the danger is that one may get carried away. An additional problem is the fact that this play is set in England and has some details that seem uncharacteristic to an English audience, and some references that are too specifically French: these, of course, had to be changed. This is not surprising when we realize that Ionesco had never been to England at the time: he found most of his inspiration in the Assimil Method of learning English. Though it must not be forgotten he has said that if he had been learning Spanish, the play would have been set in Spain."
I mean it makes me not quite trust the guy. Then again, it doesn't matter that much does it, eh? After all, The Bald Prima Donna isn't one of the plays in this collection.
These are all works of the imagination in the best possible sense. Ionesco goes every wch way & keeps things moving in a consistently interesting & surprising way. Take this bit from "Victims of Duty":
"Choubert: What do you think of the modern theater? What are your ideas on the drama?
"Madeleine: You and your theater! It's an obsession, you'll soon be a pathological case.
"Choubert: Do you really think something new can be done in the theater?
"Madeleine: I've just told you there's nothing new under the sun. Even when there isn't any.
"[Silence]
"Choubert: You're right. Yes, you're right. All the plays that have ever been written, from Ancient Greece to the present day, have never really been anything but thrillers. Drama's always been realistic and there's always been a detective about. Every play's an investigation brought to a successful conclusion. There's a riddle, and it's solved in the final scene. Sometimes earlier. You seek, and then you find. Might as well give the game away at the start." (p 119)
Of course, Ionesco then goes on to fuck w/ this formula in so many ways that the "thriller" aspect of it is both in the plot & in the plot's formal presentation.. there're so many ideas. I wonder if Ionesco was deliriously happy when he wrote this one?
In "Amédée or How to get rid of It" the audience/reader is taken on a merry ride that even bests Jarry at his own pataphysical game & that I find far more engrossing than Beckett ever is. Details like having Madeleine [the wife's name in the 2 plays where there're wives] be a switchboard operator whose switchboard is in the home (a situation highly improbably in 'real life') enable the playwright to create a polyphony of interwoven dialogs - what an inspired device! "Amédée" even has 2 alternative endings to enable easier realization for the theater producer. In "Victims of Duty", too, there're alternatives such as this: [If the prducer so desires, the same character who appeared before can be spotlighted again at the other side of the stage: he still has his number and, in addition, an alpenstock, a rope or a pair of skies. Once again he vanishes after a few moments.] (p 145)
[clicks red shoes together & chants to himself: "I want to witness all the Ionesco plays, I want to witness all the Ionesco plays] By the end, I almost found myself agreeing w/ the tongue-in-cheek megalomania:
"Detective: [crushed] Oh, yes, Monsieur, you do write! [In increasing terror:] Everyone ought to write.
"Nicolas: No point. We've got Ionesco and Ionesco, that's enough!" (p 162)
September 12, 2023
Amedee: living with shit (guilt, death, etc). Tenant & Victim: existence/theatre as estrangement from convention/script.
June 7, 2012
[This is just for Amedee]:
Well, what a strange play. I greatly enjoyed the "try to keep things normal" while something greatly abnormal is occurring in the vicinity (that is, Amedee and his wife, Madeleine, are an unhappily married couple with a corpse that is growing in their house). There were a couple of sections that, without more research or a more thorough investigation of Ionesco and his theatre, were too much. In some cases, it felt like filling time (the dream/play sequence).
Of course the ending, where all normalcy is completely broken, is a climax of the absurd and bizarre (more in the alternate ending than the three Act version) that I truly long to see. In fact, this would be a very interesting play to see staged.
I would never want to actually be in charge of directing this, though. The technical elements of this play ... that's a nightmare that would grow and grow and grow ...
Well, what a strange play. I greatly enjoyed the "try to keep things normal" while something greatly abnormal is occurring in the vicinity (that is, Amedee and his wife, Madeleine, are an unhappily married couple with a corpse that is growing in their house). There were a couple of sections that, without more research or a more thorough investigation of Ionesco and his theatre, were too much. In some cases, it felt like filling time (the dream/play sequence).
Of course the ending, where all normalcy is completely broken, is a climax of the absurd and bizarre (more in the alternate ending than the three Act version) that I truly long to see. In fact, this would be a very interesting play to see staged.
I would never want to actually be in charge of directing this, though. The technical elements of this play ... that's a nightmare that would grow and grow and grow ...
April 16, 2021
"Amédée" is one of Ionesco's best, despite being almost lighthearted in tone. Concerning a married couple living in a small flat with a corpse that will not stop growing larger and larger, I would love to see it on the stage. "The New Tenant" is interesting, but a very visual play it was difficult for me to visualize. Worth reading. "Victims of Duty" I couldn't even complete. It's strange that I find the majority of his plays either FUCKING BRILLIANT or FUCKING INSUFFERABLE. That could say more about me than about Ionesco, though.
February 6, 2018
Ionesco was a great innovator of drama. The New Tenant and Victims of Duty are two of his early plays, and explore through absurdist drama the alienation between people. They are menacing, strange things.
Amedee is the truly great play in this collection. It is morbid and absurd. The play follows Madeleine and Amedee, as they deal with a growing corpse in their apartment. Mushrooms sprout all over the place, and we are constantly confused as to whether Amedee murdered the person, or why they are not dealing with the corpse. Madeleine says to Amedee, “What have you been dreaming about until now? You always seem to discover the will to work at the last minute?” They struggle with concepts of forgiveness and guilt. Later, Madeleine says, “If he’d forgiven us, he’d have stopped growing. As he’s still growing, he must still be feeling spiteful. He still has a grudge against us. The dead are terribly vindictive. The living forget much sooner.” Ultimately, Amedee attempts to deal with the corpse, but is seen and undone through his efforts.
See my other reviews here!
Amedee is the truly great play in this collection. It is morbid and absurd. The play follows Madeleine and Amedee, as they deal with a growing corpse in their apartment. Mushrooms sprout all over the place, and we are constantly confused as to whether Amedee murdered the person, or why they are not dealing with the corpse. Madeleine says to Amedee, “What have you been dreaming about until now? You always seem to discover the will to work at the last minute?” They struggle with concepts of forgiveness and guilt. Later, Madeleine says, “If he’d forgiven us, he’d have stopped growing. As he’s still growing, he must still be feeling spiteful. He still has a grudge against us. The dead are terribly vindictive. The living forget much sooner.” Ultimately, Amedee attempts to deal with the corpse, but is seen and undone through his efforts.
See my other reviews here!
May 24, 2020
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Amédée
★ ★ ★ ★ The New Tenant
★ ★ ★ Victims of Duty
★ ★ ★ ★ The New Tenant
★ ★ ★ Victims of Duty
July 28, 2025
I only read Amedee. I don't what I read but I'm saving my full thoughts about the play for that project.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
June 27, 2007
"آمده"ی نمایش نامه نویس با همسرش "مادلین" در مورد جسدی که در اتاق دیگر است و پیوسته بزرگ می شود، صحبت می کنند. جسد قارچ هایی تولید می کند که تمام خانه را پر کرده و ممکن است سبب سوء ظن همسایه ها بشود. هرگز نمی فهمیم این جسد از کجا آمده. مادلین حدس می زند او معشوقش بوده که توسط "آمده" کشته شده اما "آمده" روایت متفاوتی دارد. در انتها آمده تلاش می کند جسد را با خود بکشد و به رودخانه بیاندازد. عابرین شاهد این تلاش اند، یکی به "آمده" اشاره می کند و می گوید این "اوژن" است (نام نویسنده). وقتی آمده خسته و کوفته شده، جسد روی آب می افتد و او را که توان مقاومت ندارد، با خود می برد.
شخصیت ها و گفتگوهای نمایش نامه های یونسکو شبیه بهم اند. "آمده" و همسرش "مادلین" در این نمایش نام، به پیرمرد و پیرزن "صندلی ها" شبیه اند، و گفتگوهای این زوج در مورد "جسد" نیز، به گفتگوهای آن زوج پیر در مورد بچه شان شباهت دارد.
"آمده، یا چطور از شرش خلاص شویم" نیز به فارسی ترجمه و منتشر شده است.
در مستاجر جدید 1955، مثل آثار دیگر یونسکو، مساله ی اصلی صحنه را پر می کند و شخصیت ها را در خود فرو می برد. محور اصلی در این نمایش نامه، اثاثیه ی خانه است. شخصیت های اصلی یک نجیب زاده، یک سرایدار اند، و دو نفر که پیوسته اثاثیه به صحنه می آورند. مستاجر جدید، در اصل اشاره به این دو نفر است.
قربانیان وظیفه، 1953، کارآگاهی به خلوت خانوادگی یک زوج (شوبرت و مادلین) وارد می شود و از آنها در مورد نام مستاجر قبلی آپارتمان بازپرسی می کند. بازپرسی بسیار بی م��نایی ست. نوشته اند که این نمایش نامه مورد علاقه ی یونسکو بوده، وسواس شوبرت نسبت به تیاتر، خود یونسکو را به یاد می آورد، خاطره ای که در ان، دست مادرش را گرفته و بعد از بمباران در خیابانی قدم می زنند... از خاطرات شخصی یونسکوست، و شخصیت کارآگاه، انعکاسی از شخصیت پدر یونسکوست که پیوسته با او مشاجره داشته، و صحنه ای که مادلین قصد خوردن سم دارد، به یادبودی از کودکی یونسکو باز می گردد که مادرش یک بار، برای سر لج انداختن شوهرش، سم خورده. و بالاخره شخصیت "نیکلاس دو" که شعر می گوید و مدعی ست که نویسنده نیست، و یونسکو کافی ست!
در مورد "تیاتر ابزورد" اینجا را بخوانید
http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
شخصیت ها و گفتگوهای نمایش نامه های یونسکو شبیه بهم اند. "آمده" و همسرش "مادلین" در این نمایش نام، به پیرمرد و پیرزن "صندلی ها" شبیه اند، و گفتگوهای این زوج در مورد "جسد" نیز، به گفتگوهای آن زوج پیر در مورد بچه شان شباهت دارد.
"آمده، یا چطور از شرش خلاص شویم" نیز به فارسی ترجمه و منتشر شده است.
در مستاجر جدید 1955، مثل آثار دیگر یونسکو، مساله ی اصلی صحنه را پر می کند و شخصیت ها را در خود فرو می برد. محور اصلی در این نمایش نامه، اثاثیه ی خانه است. شخصیت های اصلی یک نجیب زاده، یک سرایدار اند، و دو نفر که پیوسته اثاثیه به صحنه می آورند. مستاجر جدید، در اصل اشاره به این دو نفر است.
قربانیان وظیفه، 1953، کارآگاهی به خلوت خانوادگی یک زوج (شوبرت و مادلین) وارد می شود و از آنها در مورد نام مستاجر قبلی آپارتمان بازپرسی می کند. بازپرسی بسیار بی م��نایی ست. نوشته اند که این نمایش نامه مورد علاقه ی یونسکو بوده، وسواس شوبرت نسبت به تیاتر، خود یونسکو را به یاد می آورد، خاطره ای که در ان، دست مادرش را گرفته و بعد از بمباران در خیابانی قدم می زنند... از خاطرات شخصی یونسکوست، و شخصیت کارآگاه، انعکاسی از شخصیت پدر یونسکوست که پیوسته با او مشاجره داشته، و صحنه ای که مادلین قصد خوردن سم دارد، به یادبودی از کودکی یونسکو باز می گردد که مادرش یک بار، برای سر لج انداختن شوهرش، سم خورده. و بالاخره شخصیت "نیکلاس دو" که شعر می گوید و مدعی ست که نویسنده نیست، و یونسکو کافی ست!
در مورد "تیاتر ابزورد" اینجا را بخوانید
http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
May 22, 2011
My rating probably has to do with my personal preferences, rather than the literature. I am more of a Lower Depths kind of guy, rather than a Waiting For Godot to end person. Anyway, Amedee was certainly the best of the three in this collection. The interplay between the couple was interesting enough to override the growing dead guy in the apartment. The final act, however, was just absurd...not in a good way, but in a "the author just got tired of wring and needed to wrap it up" kind of way. The other two works in this collection were readable, yet instantly forgettable.
September 20, 2010
Absurd, absurd, absurd at its best .... I initially decided on three stars for this one, but feel more like 4+ now ... it is definitely Ionesco, representative and assertive in content.
If you are fond of this type of literature, I would think Ionesco is a must.
Please read for yourselves, for instance, how one can get captive in his own World of past illusions (i.e. the furniture, the "luggage") ...
If you are fond of this type of literature, I would think Ionesco is a must.
Please read for yourselves, for instance, how one can get captive in his own World of past illusions (i.e. the furniture, the "luggage") ...
June 16, 2009
I'm reading the first in this collection, "Amedee". Didn't like it. It feels weird for weird's sake. The beginning is great, and the alternate end has some interesting action, but this is probably only possible as a puppet extravaganza or a graphic novel.
January 27, 2012
Actually better than I remembered. Commentary (albeit absurdist) on American-occupied Europe post WWII, the prison of commodity culture, and psychology and absurdist theater. Still like to see some of these actually staged one of these days....
December 15, 2012
Of the three plays, I have only read Amédée. Though I'm a huge fan of the genre, Theatre of the Absurd, I found it a bit disturbing -pleasantly so. However, I did not appreciate the ending, or rather the two proposed endings. Too "absurd".
May 9, 2014
It's Ionesco! His plays are crazy-strange - but damn, they always make a statement about the absurdity of life. Give it a read. "The New Tenant" was my fave in this book.
December 12, 2014
چقدر ایده، چقدر نبوغ، سادگی، ایهام، ابهام، سکوت و ترس توی این نمایش هست ...
October 14, 2016
(i only read the new tenant)
July 12, 2018
I’ve had this book for many years, but somehow I always had the idea that “Rhinoceros” was one of the plays it included, so when I finally started reading it, I thought that this would be a good time to read “Rhinoceros.” I was wrong, so if I want to read “Rhinoceros” I’ll have to seek it out somewhere else.
The three plays it does include are interesting, if less well-known, examples of Ionesco’s absurdist drama. The first, “Amédée,” involves a couple who live with a terrible secret: there is a corpse in their bedroom that is slowly taking over their house and dominating their lives. The second, “The New Tenant,” is about a man who moves into a small apartment with far too much furniture to fit into the space. The last one, “Victims of Duty,” is about a detective’s investigation into the previous tenant of a flat currently occupied by a middle-aged couple. All of them have certain elements in common, notably the tendency of the characters to fixate on ideas or behaviors that constrict them and make happiness or transcendence impossible. Another thing I found pretty universal was a misogynist attitude towards the female characters: they are almost always a part of the problem (if not most of it), in terms of making the male protagonist’s life more difficult or impossible. This is mitigated in “The New Tenant” by the fact that the female character is not married to the protagonist (she’s just the caretaker, or superintendant) and that she leaves about 2/3 of the way through the play. All of the plays present serious staging difficulties, as written, and would require complicated effects to pull off, but so far as I can tell from looking on Youtube, directors and producers tend to get around this by leaving a good deal to audiences’ imaginations.
I found reading these as plays was interesting, but not entirely engaging. Probably for most people, the best first introduction to Ionesco is on the stage, or at least in a recorded medium. The funny bits are much more likely to get laughs when spoken as opposed to read. Still, it’s good to have the plays, in order to get an idea what challenges the producers had to overcome to bring these works to life.
The three plays it does include are interesting, if less well-known, examples of Ionesco’s absurdist drama. The first, “Amédée,” involves a couple who live with a terrible secret: there is a corpse in their bedroom that is slowly taking over their house and dominating their lives. The second, “The New Tenant,” is about a man who moves into a small apartment with far too much furniture to fit into the space. The last one, “Victims of Duty,” is about a detective’s investigation into the previous tenant of a flat currently occupied by a middle-aged couple. All of them have certain elements in common, notably the tendency of the characters to fixate on ideas or behaviors that constrict them and make happiness or transcendence impossible. Another thing I found pretty universal was a misogynist attitude towards the female characters: they are almost always a part of the problem (if not most of it), in terms of making the male protagonist’s life more difficult or impossible. This is mitigated in “The New Tenant” by the fact that the female character is not married to the protagonist (she’s just the caretaker, or superintendant) and that she leaves about 2/3 of the way through the play. All of the plays present serious staging difficulties, as written, and would require complicated effects to pull off, but so far as I can tell from looking on Youtube, directors and producers tend to get around this by leaving a good deal to audiences’ imaginations.
I found reading these as plays was interesting, but not entirely engaging. Probably for most people, the best first introduction to Ionesco is on the stage, or at least in a recorded medium. The funny bits are much more likely to get laughs when spoken as opposed to read. Still, it’s good to have the plays, in order to get an idea what challenges the producers had to overcome to bring these works to life.
September 9, 2024
Someone was dumping a book collection right near my door. The collection was super interesting and mostly concentrated on theatrical stuff and plays. The largest part of it were Strindberg and Ibsen. I started with Ibsen, hoping to find something really fascinating, knowing that I won't. Knowledge defeated hope, and I couldn't get through act number one. This hurt me and my expectations from plays in general.
But I didn't want to give up, and Ionesco was a part of these findings. So, with low expectations and knowing that it is the theater of the absurd, I was expecting something even less comprehensible and entertaining than Ibsen's work. But to my surprise, I couldn't stop reading. Everything was so engaging and as if written for me only. Ionesco has this unique talent of mixing things that are meant to be in opposite spectrums of human experiences.
For example, the first play, which I found the most interesting, is about a family couple who shut themselves from the world due to a constantly growing dead body in their apartment. Ionesco manages to make the story both haunting, very scary, like a very good horror movie, and yet very, very funny.
The self-referencing and reflections in these meta-narratives about theater and the role of theater are also fascinating. He covers this in every play, with some musings on the purpose and design of plays and theater in people's lives. In Ionesco's world, everything is mixed up and blurred. It is profound and ironic at the same time. This theme reaches its conclusion in the last play, "Victims of Duty," where one of the characters literally says that there is no point in writing anymore because we have Ionesco, and that's enough. I cannot agree with this more.
But I didn't want to give up, and Ionesco was a part of these findings. So, with low expectations and knowing that it is the theater of the absurd, I was expecting something even less comprehensible and entertaining than Ibsen's work. But to my surprise, I couldn't stop reading. Everything was so engaging and as if written for me only. Ionesco has this unique talent of mixing things that are meant to be in opposite spectrums of human experiences.
For example, the first play, which I found the most interesting, is about a family couple who shut themselves from the world due to a constantly growing dead body in their apartment. Ionesco manages to make the story both haunting, very scary, like a very good horror movie, and yet very, very funny.
The self-referencing and reflections in these meta-narratives about theater and the role of theater are also fascinating. He covers this in every play, with some musings on the purpose and design of plays and theater in people's lives. In Ionesco's world, everything is mixed up and blurred. It is profound and ironic at the same time. This theme reaches its conclusion in the last play, "Victims of Duty," where one of the characters literally says that there is no point in writing anymore because we have Ionesco, and that's enough. I cannot agree with this more.
February 6, 2022
"Amédée or How To Get Rid Of It" was written in 1954 and has the same energy as all of Ionesco's early plays. The character Amédée is a balding middle-aged playwright who can't get any work done as he and his wife Madeleine, a switch board operator and sole breadwinner for the couple, argue back and forth about the life they have ended up living inside. The greatest source of their argument, of course, is the corpse in the next room. The one that keeps growing and aging. The one they can't seem to agree on the details of how it got there or how it came to be dead in the first place. The one that now, after having been there for their entire marriage, is growing at an even more rapid rate until it's feet burst out of its room and into their living area. But will Amédée do as his wife says and finally take action to get rid of it? Or will they divorce?
The character Amédée could be an early prototype for Berenger, who later becomes Ionesco's chief protagonist in later plays. And as other reviewers have noted, the back and forth between Amédée and Madeleine is in fact reminiscent at times of the old couple in "The Chairs".
While I do believe the third act goes a little off the mark once the setting is moved outside of the couple's flat, I can't help but give this play five stars for Ionesco's constant humor, satire, and his commitment to the Theatre of the Absurd. Ionesco tells us that the theatre can do anything and everything, even better than film, and he is absolutely correct.
The character Amédée could be an early prototype for Berenger, who later becomes Ionesco's chief protagonist in later plays. And as other reviewers have noted, the back and forth between Amédée and Madeleine is in fact reminiscent at times of the old couple in "The Chairs".
While I do believe the third act goes a little off the mark once the setting is moved outside of the couple's flat, I can't help but give this play five stars for Ionesco's constant humor, satire, and his commitment to the Theatre of the Absurd. Ionesco tells us that the theatre can do anything and everything, even better than film, and he is absolutely correct.
January 2, 2025
First Furniture Mover: 'Day to you!
Gentleman: Is the furniture here?
First Furniture Mover: Can we bring it up?
Gentleman: Yes, if you like.
First Furniture Mover: Very well, Sir. [He goes out.]
Caretaker: You won't never be able to arrange all that furniture by yourself, Sir.
Gentleman: That will be all right. I shall have the removal men to help me.
from The New Tenant
Oh Ionesco, Ionesco--what are we to make of your plays exactly? In The New Tenant, Ionesco presents a play about the accumulation of materials to fill up the emptiness of our lives. It doesn't read very well since the play primarily functions through the spectacle of the new tenant's apartment or house being filled beyond capacity with furniture--and reading descriptions of how the movers come in and go out and how the furniture comes in and is placed does get tedious.
So do I recommend this play? Hmmm, I don't know. I wonder if even watching this performed would become rather tedious or would the wonder of whether or not they can cram any more furniture onto the stage override the tedium? I'm not sure where to place my sentiments about this play right now.
Gentleman: Is the furniture here?
First Furniture Mover: Can we bring it up?
Gentleman: Yes, if you like.
First Furniture Mover: Very well, Sir. [He goes out.]
Caretaker: You won't never be able to arrange all that furniture by yourself, Sir.
Gentleman: That will be all right. I shall have the removal men to help me.
from The New Tenant
Oh Ionesco, Ionesco--what are we to make of your plays exactly? In The New Tenant, Ionesco presents a play about the accumulation of materials to fill up the emptiness of our lives. It doesn't read very well since the play primarily functions through the spectacle of the new tenant's apartment or house being filled beyond capacity with furniture--and reading descriptions of how the movers come in and go out and how the furniture comes in and is placed does get tedious.
So do I recommend this play? Hmmm, I don't know. I wonder if even watching this performed would become rather tedious or would the wonder of whether or not they can cram any more furniture onto the stage override the tedium? I'm not sure where to place my sentiments about this play right now.
June 10, 2023
Quirky plays
January 31, 2024
Amédée: 5/5
The New Tenant: 3/5
Victims of Duty: 4/5
The New Tenant: 3/5
Victims of Duty: 4/5
May 10, 2024
5⭐️: The New Tenant
4⭐️: Amédée
3⭐️: Victims of Duty
4⭐️: Amédée
3⭐️: Victims of Duty
October 12, 2024
4 for Amedee, 2 for The New Tenant, 3 for Victims of Duty
June 4, 2025
I only read the new tenant, but it was typical Ionesco madness. Would be very fun to stage!
January 8, 2026
i don't rate this because i love it. its because i understood it. a solid work of writing. Eugene just proved to me why he is my favorite of the Absurdist writers next to Jean Satire.
February 10, 2021
وكعادة يوجين يونيسكو يبهرنا بمسرحية عجائبية لا تملك ان تكرهها ولا أن تحبها ولكن تتابع أحداثها بلهاث غريب.. هذا الساكن الجديد الصامت في غالبية الوقت في ما عدا إعطاء الأوامر الى البوابة والحمالان لا يكف عن جلب الأثاث، أثاث كثير لا نهاية له حتى انه يحجب الرؤية عن نهر السين.
مسرحة آخرى لا تعرف هل تحبها ام تكرهها ولا تعرف تحديدا ما هو الهدف منها..
هى تسلط الضوء على مشاكل ذاك العصر الحديث الذي كتبت فيه في ذلك الوقت ولا تزال هذه المشاكل قائمة لللآسف ، فكلما تقدم الإنسان وازدهر عصره كلما كثرت كراكيبه التي لا فائدة منها والتي يصر على تكويمها وتكديسها فوق بعضها حتى لو لم يكجد مكان يعيش فيه، وحتى لو سدت الطريق إلى النهر .
مسرحة آخرى لا تعرف هل تحبها ام تكرهها ولا تعرف تحديدا ما هو الهدف منها..
هى تسلط الضوء على مشاكل ذاك العصر الحديث الذي كتبت فيه في ذلك الوقت ولا تزال هذه المشاكل قائمة لللآسف ، فكلما تقدم الإنسان وازدهر عصره كلما كثرت كراكيبه التي لا فائدة منها والتي يصر على تكويمها وتكديسها فوق بعضها حتى لو لم يكجد مكان يعيش فيه، وحتى لو سدت الطريق إلى النهر .
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